

Find the Bug: Python Debugging Warm-Ups for Grades 6–8 is a low-prep resource featuring 30 Python 3 debugging challenges that teach middle school students how to identify, explain, fix, and test real coding errors. Instead of simply searching for incorrect lines, students learn to use evidence from output, tracebacks, code behavior, and expected results to systematically diagnose problems.
The resource includes six PDF files: a six-page Teacher Guide with implementation guidance, questioning scripts, standards alignment, scope and sequence, and a two-week pacing option; a two-page Student Reference with the debugging cycle and eight-step checklist; two Recording Pages for responses, bug-type tracking, and progress monitoring; 30 Python Bug Cards; and a 10-page Answer Key containing corrections, explanations, misconceptions, and alternate valid solutions when appropriate.
The 30 challenges cover six major bug types: Order and Flow; Loops and range(); Loop Control; Booleans and Logic; Variables and Types; and Lists and Indexing. Three difficulty levels allow teachers to differentiate instruction, from easily identifiable errors to subtler problems requiring careful tracing and testing.
Each card follows a consistent process: Goal, Code, What Really Happens, Find It, Explain It, Fix It, and Test. Students compare expected and actual output, read Python errors and tracebacks, trace variables and loops, check data types, test boundary cases, and explain why their corrections work.
The cards are flexible enough for daily bell-ringers, stations, substitute plans, targeted reteaching, or additional programming practice. A card takes approximately six minutes for independent or partner work, while five cards can support a 15-minute station rotation. The activities can be completed on paper, although students with access to devices can run the code and deepen their understanding. No login or prior computer science knowledge is required for using the cards as structured debugging practice.
Learning goals include systematic program testing and refinement, problem decomposition, understanding Python errors, Boolean logic, data types, loops, lists, indexing, mutation, and aliasing. The resource aligns with CSTA standards including 2-AP-17 and 2-AP-13, with additional connections to 2-AP-11, 2-AP-12, 2-AP-16, and 2-AP-19, as well as selected Common Core mathematical practice standards.
A major strength is the misconception-focused Answer Key, which helps teachers identify why students make particular errors and target reteaching more effectively. Students can also track their progress and identify challenging bug types.
Overall, this resource turns authentic Python errors into structured learning opportunities while building debugging habits that transfer directly to real programming.
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