Python - Level 1 material

I've been running introductory Python sessions with students and teachers from around Wellington for the last few months looking at the material relevant to NCEA level 1, 2 and 3 digital technologies achievement standards. In the interests of discussion and improvement I'm going to post what I cover here along with the Challenges I pose to participants along the way to get people to use the knowledge I'm allegedly imparting to them over the course of the session. So without further ado here's Elf short, sweet foray into Level 1 Python (I'll cover level 2 and 3 in other posts). Feel free to copy and paste this code into ipython or a python script and run it as you go so you get a feel of what each block does.

Level 1 Python Topics

• User information (input())
• String editing and concatenation 
• For Loops (for i in range():)
• Counting (i+=1)
• Random numbers and modules (import)
• Conditional logic (if:)
• While Loops (while True:)

User Information and string editing

Challenge: 

Ask the user for their name, address, phone number and the colour of their house. Then print out a description in the form of: "Your name is <name> and you live in a <colour> house at <address> and I can call you on <phone_number>".

For Loops

Challenge:

Using a for loop within a for loop print the numbers 0-10 3 times.

Counting/Iterating

Challenge:

Ask the user for a number then count down from that number.

Random and modules

Challenge:

Ask the user for a number and then print that many random numbers between 10 and 100. Hint: you will need to convert your user unput from a string to an integer using the int() command.

Conditional Statements

Challenge:

Pick a random number. If less than 10, or if equal to 30, or if it's not greater than 50 print 'Yes'.

Otherwise print 'No'.

While Loops

Challenge:

Set a while loop that picks and prints a random number that has a 1/100 chance of breaking from the loop.

Final Challenge:

I find the best way to learn these concepts is to have a challenge that uses them all. A nice simple example is creating a computer game of Rock, paper, scissors which you should be able to make using only the coding elements I've described above. You will need to ask the user for their choice of rock, paper or scissors (can you allow the user to ONLY select from these somehow?) - then get the computer to pick as well (those random commands might come in handy) - then compare the two inputs and decide who wins and (as games usually run the best of 3) you will need to count each players score and decide which player has won. And once the game has completed you might want to ask your players if they want to play again? 

Finally - if that's all too easy for you I suggest creating an 'expansion' to your game that plays rock, paper, scissors, lizard, spock following this logic: