Move & Turn 🧭
What You'll Learn
- How turning changes the turtle's direction
- How to combine moves and turns to trace paths
- How to plan a program before you build it
Directions and Turning
The turtle always moves in the direction it is currently facing. When it starts, it faces right. A Turn Left 90° rotates it a quarter-turn counterclockwise.
Here are all four directions after turning from the starting position:
- Start → facing Right
- Turn Left once → facing Up
- Turn Left twice → facing Left
- Turn Left three times → facing Down
- Turn Left four times → back to Right
Turn Right works the same way in the opposite direction. Four turns in either direction always brings the turtle back to where it started facing.
A full circle is 360 degrees. Turning 90° is one quarter of a full circle — like turning at a street corner. That's why the four compass directions are exactly 90° apart!
Planning Before You Code
The best programmers plan first, code second. Before building a program in the widget, try sketching the turtle's path on paper with arrows.
For example, to make the turtle trace a right angle:
- Move Forward 100 → turtle goes right
- Turn Left 90° → now facing up
- Move Forward 100 → turtle goes up
Sketch it, predict the result, then build it to check. If your prediction was wrong, figure out why — that thinking is what real programmers do every day.
Confused about which way to turn? Stand up, face the direction the turtle is facing, and turn your own body left or right. Your body is the turtle!
Part 1: Build a program that makes the turtle trace the letter L: move down, turn right, move right.
Part 2: Can you trace the letter T? Think about how many moves and turns that needs. Sketch it on paper first!
Hint for T: you will need to go forward, turn around (two right turns), go back part way, then turn and go to the side.
1. The turtle is facing up. You click Turn Right 90°. Now it faces…
2. How many 90° turns does it take to make the turtle face the opposite direction?
3. What is the best first step when writing a new program?