Unit 16: Systems and programming
LO1: Understand programming techniques
Using flow charts
Learner activity sheet
Activity 1
Flow charts are an extremely useful tool for planning out the sequence of operations of an activity. They
are often used in computer programming to plan out the sequence of events and operations that the
computer program must perform. They can form the basis for how the program is written.
Flow charts can also assist when testing a computer program and finding faults (de-bugging).
Flow charts consist of blocks to represent actions such as processes and decisions, and also
terminators.
An activity that requires some form of planning and sequencing is making a cup of tea. Look at the
operations below and sequence them to produce a flow chart for making a cup of tea. There is no single
correct answer!
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Activity 2
Produce a flow chart for another operation. Examples might include developing a flow chart for:
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a light emitting diode flashing at one second intervals
sequence of operations of traffic lights
Remember to include on your flow chart processes (rectangles), decisions (diamonds) and terminators
(lozenges).
You could also investigate other types of symbols that can be used on flow charts such as delays,
manual operations and data and try and include these.
A useful way of creating flow charts is using flow chart software. There are many free software
applications available (such as http://www.nchsoftware.com/chart/).
Try and produce your flow chart using one of these applications.
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