JavaScript lesson 15: Parameters and return
UK version. UK school years and UK spelling. · US version of this lesson
Parameters are the names in the brackets of the function: in function area(w, h), calling area(3, 4) puts 3 in w and 4 in h. A complete 40-minute JavaScript lesson for beginners (Year 8, KS3), from Unit 6: Functions. It runs right here in your browser – nothing to install.
- Time
- 40 minutes + 20 min homework
- Year
- Year 8, KS3 (ages 12–13)
- You need
- A computer or tablet, paper and a pencil
- Marked
- Instantly, with explanations
For parents: how to use this lesson
You don't need to know JavaScript yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, the way Mr Babbage, our Head of Computing, likes it: a worked example first, then a go for your child. Code questions run your child's program in the browser – marked straight away.
- Read what your child will learn together.
- Press Start the lesson below. Sit with your child for the teaching and the worked example (about 16 minutes): ask them to say what each line does.
- Let them do the practice on their own. When code goes wrong, the error message is a clue – let them read it out and try again before you help.
- Finish with the talk question: Explain the difference between return and console.log to someone at home.
Watch out for
- console.log inside a function returns the value. console.log(f()) then prints undefined too.
- Code after return still runs. return ends the function.
Miss Lovelace's tip for home: ask your child to explain one line of their program to you in their own words. If they can explain it, they understand it – and every error message is a clue, not a failure.
What your child will learn
We are learning to pass values in with parameters.
Success looks like
- I can pass values in with parameters.
- I can send a value back with
return. - I can tell
returnfromconsole.log.
Key words
parameter · argument · return · undefined · return value
What to have ready
- A device with a web browser (the code runs in the browser – nothing to install)
- Paper for tracing
- A keyboard helps for typing code (a tablet or phone works too)
The big ideas (for the adult)
Parameters are the names in the brackets of the function: in function area(w, h), calling area(3, 4) puts 3 in w and 4 in h.
return sends a value back to where the function was called, and ends the function straight away. The call is then replaced by that value.
A function with no return gives back undefined. console.log only SHOWS a value; return lets the rest of the program use it.
Worked example – see it
function add(a, b) {
return a + b
}
console.log(add(3, 9))It prints:
12
The lesson, step by step
| Part | Time | How it is checked |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | 5 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Teaching input | 8 min | Read, watch and talk |
| See it, then predict | 8 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Put it in order, write it, fix it | 14 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Plenary and exit ticket | 5 min | Marked by Classfern + self-check |
The lesson
It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – progress is kept only in this browser. Each visit picks a new mix of questions.
Homework
20 minutes: 7 questions – predict what code prints, write or fix a short program, and check the key ideas – then a short reflection. New questions every time, all marked instantly.
Practice tests
Curriculum
National curriculum in England, computing, key stage 3: pupils should be taught to use 2 or more programming languages, at least one of which is textual, to solve a variety of computational problems; make appropriate use of data structures [for example, lists, tables or arrays]; design and develop modular programs that use procedures or functions.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board. JavaScript is a trademark or registered trademark of Oracle Corporation in the U.S. and other countries; Classfern is not affiliated with or endorsed by it.