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Lesson 1: Mars Rover

Calculating the distance from Earth to Mars to help visualise how far information sent and received has to travel.
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image of robot on lunar landscape

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Learning objective

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Before the lesson

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Lesson plan

1. Recap and recall

Before starting this unit, check the children can recall:

  • What a branching database is.

  • Filtering data will show only selected data.

  • Logging information means recording data.

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Teach in presentation mode

In this unit

Assessment – Computing Y5: Mars Rover 1
Lesson 1: Mars Rover
Lesson 2: Binary codeLesson 3: Computer architectureLesson 4: How computers store data using binaryLesson 5: Using binary – text
Created by:
Kapow Primary Team
Kapow Primary Team
Our team comprises experienced classroom teachers who love the foundation subjectsFind out more
Maintained by: Kapow Primary teamLast update: 15 April 2026

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Assessment – Computing Y5: Mars Rover 1
ComputingYear 5

Assessment – Computing Y5: Mars Rover 1

Assessment quiz and Knowledge catcher for use at the start and/or end of the unit to assess pupil progress.

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Lesson 2: Binary code
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Lesson 2: Binary code

Learning that information collected by Mars Rover has to travel as ‘data’ and be translated into binary code.

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Lesson 3: Computer architecture
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Lesson 3: Computer architecture

Learning that the more Random Access Memory (RAM) the robot has, the more instructions it can carry out in a row, pupils play a game that simulates programming a Mars Rover.

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