A collection of turtle graphics python programs I wrote, esp. for teaching code to kids.
To run these programs (or your own Python programs), download a copy of Python here: https://www.python.org/downloads/
Turtle graphics have been used to teach programming concepts since the 1970’s. Seymour Papert -- an MIT mathematician, computer scientist, and a student of Jean Piaget -- invented the LOGO programming language. His goal was to create a simple language that new learners could master.
“The most popular Logo environments have involved the Turtle, originally a robotic creature that sat on the floor and could be directed to move around by typing commands at the computer. Soon the Turtle migrated to the computer graphics screen where it is used to draw shapes, designs, and pictures.”*
The robotic turtle migrated to the computer screen, where students create a “turtle,” an on-screen cursor that they command to draw lines and objects in the same way turtle robots drew on paper.
The modern Python programming language stayed true to the spirit of Papert’s turtle graphics concepts by including a full turtle graphics module that works a lot like the original LOGO turtle graphics worked.
Some online resources for learning and teaching Turtle Graphics:
*For more about Seymour Papert and Logo, visit the Logo Foundation site here: http://el.media.mit.edu/logo-foundation/what_is_logo/history.html