Homeschool coding and math in Alberta

Sources: Home Education Regulation, AR 89/2019 (King's Printer) and Alberta, curriculum: how we got here, read 22 October 2026. Families must check the current official text.

The question. Seedlings must be 30 cm apart and at least 15 cm from the edge of a raised bed. Is it better to plant in square rows, or in staggered rows where every second row shifts half a space along? In staggered rows the rows can sit closer together, 30 times the square root of 3 divided by 2, about 26 cm, because each plant sits in the gap between two plants of the next row and stays 30 cm from both.

# Our Garden Bed Planner: square rows or staggered rows? (Grades 8 to 10 math with code)
import math

def count(length, width, spacing, margin, staggered):
    usable_l = length - 2 * margin          # plants stay margin cm from every edge
    usable_w = width - 2 * margin
    gap = spacing * math.sqrt(3) / 2 if staggered else spacing   # distance between rows
    rows = math.floor(usable_w / gap) + 1
    plan = []
    for r in range(rows):
        shift = spacing / 2 if (staggered and r % 2 == 1) else 0
        per_row = math.floor((usable_l - shift) / spacing) + 1
        plan.append(per_row)
    return plan

for length, width in [(240, 120), (225, 160)]:
    square = count(length, width, 30, 15, staggered=False)
    stagger = count(length, width, 30, 15, staggered=True)
    print(f"Bed {length} x {width} cm: square {sum(square)} plants {square}, "
          f"staggered {sum(stagger)} plants {stagger}")

Bed 240 x 120 cm: square 32 plants [8, 8, 8, 8], staggered 30 plants [8, 7, 8, 7]
Bed 225 x 160 cm: square 35 plants [7, 7, 7, 7, 7], staggered 42 plants [7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7]

1. Predict first. Most students guess that staggered rows always win, because the rows are closer together.
2. Read the first result. In a 240 by 120 cm bed, square rows hold 32 plants and staggered rows only 30. The usable width, 90 cm, fits four rows either way, and the shifted rows lose one plant each.
3. Read the second result. In a 225 by 160 cm bed, staggered rows hold 42 against 35. The usable width, 130 cm, now fits a sixth staggered row but only five square rows.
4. Explain why. Staggering helps only when the spare width is enough for an extra row. The student writes this as a sentence, then tests it on a bed of their own measurements.
5. Check by hand. Draw one bed to scale on squared paper and count. The drawing and the program must agree, or one of them is wrong.

Sources: AR 89/2019 s.6; Alberta, diploma exams overview; Alberta, PATs. All read 22 October 2026.