The Missing Slice of Cake Coding Mystery

Today is the principal’s surprise birthday celebration! Some children have made
cards and decorations for Mrs Peti and the staff have brought some yummy kai
to share at lunchtime. And of course, there is a delicious cake hidden away in
the fridge, ready to surprise Mrs Peti with!
While the principal is in a meeting, Mr Brooklyn took his class into the
staffroom to get everything set up. The decorations were strung up and the
food was put onto the table. Finally, it was time to get the special birthday
cake out.
To Mr Brooklyn’s horror, there is a giant slice of cake missing! One of the
teachers had obviously felt peckish and decided to sneak into the staffroom to
help themselves to a piece.
Luckily, there was a witness. Can you follow the clues to discover which greedy
teacher snuck in for a snack and ruined the principal’s birthday cake?

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 The Missing Slice of Cake Coding Mystery

Name Hair Length Lesson Got to School Teaches T-Shirt Colour

Felix Fox long Maths car Year 6 red

Adriaan Aroha short English bus Year 5 yellow
Hanna Hapiata long Art bike Year 4 blue
Maddi Moon long PE bus Year 2 yellow
Oliver Olander long English car Year 1 red
Aapu Ami long Art bike Year 4 green
Benji Bush short PE car Year 4 blue
Justina Johnston short Maths walk Year 3 red
Heidi Holland long Art walk Year 4 green
Tui Tuhoro short English bike Year 6 yellow
Nicole Neep short Maths walk Year 1 green
Mickey Macloud long PE bus Year 4 yellow
La’ei Latoa long English walk Year 3 red
Masina Maariaka long Maths car Year 2 yellow
Courtney Chin long Art bike Year 2 blue
Piri Pakana short English walk Year 5 red
Jet Jackson long PE car Year 1 blue
Kerry King short Maths bus Year 4 yellow
Henare Hokomou long Art bike Year 5 green
Xing Fu short Art car Year 1 blue
Arai Ahomiro long Art bike Year 4 red
Molly Michaels long English car Year 5 green
Aramahou Anderson short Maths car Year 2 blue
Emily Earling long PE bike Year 3 yellow
Jansen Jack short Art bike Year 4 blue

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 The Missing Slice of Cake Coding Mystery

Clue 1
The culprit was seen with an item from the lesson they just taught. Follow the algorithms
below to the different objects. One object does not have an algorithm; use this to figure out
what the teacher was carrying.

start here

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 The Missing Slice of Cake Coding Mystery

Move right Move down Move left Move down Move left Item:
4 squares 2 squares 2 squares 2 squares 2 squares

Move up Move right Move down Move left Move down Item:
3 squares 5 squares 5 squares 1 square 2 squares

Move right Move up Move right Move down Move left Item:
2 squares 3 squares 4 squares 2 squares 1 square

Which object did not have an algorithm leading to it? This is what the teacher was
seen carrying. ______________________________

The culprit last taught an _____ lesson.

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 The Missing Slice of Cake Coding Mystery

Clue 2
Cut out and sort the devices below, depending on if they are input or output devices.

input output

If there are more input devices, the teacher has long hair.
If there are more output devices, the teacher has short hair.

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 The Missing Slice of Cake Coding Mystery

keyboard headphones mouse speaker

microphone remote control game controller printer

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 The Missing Slice of Cake Coding Mystery

Clue 3
Find the following words in the word search. Unscramble the remaining letters to find out
how the teacher got to school.

a l g o r i t h m k

d e v i c e a b d e

o u t p u t o i a i

c o m p u t e r t n

s e q u e n c e a p

r d e c o d i n g u

d e b u g r o b o t

data input
computer output
coding debug
algorithm robot
sequence device

How did the teacher get to school? 

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 The Missing Slice of Cake Coding Mystery

Clue 4
Help! The following algorithm is all out of order and someone has created a bug by adding
in an extra step. Reorder the steps into the correct sequence to find out what year level
the culprit teaches.

start

end

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 The Missing Slice of Cake Coding Mystery

forward 2 squares

forward 5 squares

forward 2 squares

quarter turn to the left

forward 3 squares

quarter turn to the left

quarter turn to the right

quarter turn to the left

forward 3 squares

quarter turn to the left

forward 1 square

quarter turn to the right

If there is an extra ‘quarter turn to the right’, the teacher has a Year 5 class.
If there is an extra ‘quarter turn to the left’, the teacher has a Year 4 class.
If there is an extra ‘forward 2 squares’, the teacher has a Year 3 class.
If there is an extra ‘forward 3 squares’, the teacher has a Year 1 class.

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 The Missing Slice of Cake Coding Mystery

Clue 5
The witness remembers that the teacher was wearing a bright coloured t-shirt. Can you
follow the instructions below to work out which colour it was?

X
one square right one square left one square up one square down colour that square in

Always beginning inside the top left square, follow the algorithms to colour in the empty grids.
What shape does each one make?

1.

R X R R X D D L X L L D X D R X R X R X R U X

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 The Missing Slice of Cake Coding Mystery

2.

R R X D X D X D X L X R R X D L X

3.

D D D X R X R X R X R X U L X L X L X U R X

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 The Missing Slice of Cake Coding Mystery

Which of the following shapes was there not an algorithm for? Circle the answer.

triangle square smiley face upside down t

red t-shirt blue t-shirt yellow t-shirt green t-shirt

The teacher who ate a big slice of the principal’s birthday cake is ______________.

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