[the academy_of_code]

Grade 2
Unit 4

Python Programming

www.theacademyofcode.com/handouts
Lesson 1 - Input/Output Devices
Learning Outcomes:
● Treating computers with care
● Input and Output devices
● Design a poster
● Coding Basics - Lightbot

REMEMBER: Put up your hand. We love to help!

Input/ Output Devices

Some devices input data into the computer. Some devices output data.
Have a look at the tech items below. In which categories do they belong?

2
 Talking Time

Steven says “a keyboard is an input

device.” Is he Correct? Why?

Carol says “a printer is an

input device.” Is she Correct? Why?

A teacher uses a projector to show you their presentations :

Is it an input device or output device?

Why?

Playing on a games console (PlayStation/Xbox):

What is an Input device used to play on it?

What is an output device you could use?

How many input and output devices can you see in this room?

What are they?

How many have we used so far today?

3
 Game Time - Typing Skills

We’ve had an awesome 6 weeks with HTML and CSS. We’re about to
start into a module on Python which will involve a bit of typing. Lets polish up on
our typing skills. Today’s three typing activities are:
● BBC Dancemat
○ https://www.taoc.ie/bbcdm1
○ https://www.taoc.ie/bbcdm2
○ https://www.taoc.ie/bbcdm3
● Keyboard Climber
○ https://www.taoc.ie/keyboardclimber
● Typing Attack
○ https://taoc.ie/typeattack

Game Time - An Introduction to Python

For the remainder of the class, we’re going to use python to battle
through the dungeon in CodeCombat. This is a fun way to practice and learn the
python programming language to a high high level.

You can play at this link

www.codecombat.com/play/dungeon
4
Lesson 2 - Block Turtle I
Learning Outcomes:
● Meeting and talking about Tina
● Making Tina draw some simple shapes in Block Turtle
● Working out different locations for Tina to get to on a map.
● Drawing multiple circles.

REMEMBER: Put up your hand. We love to help!

Block Turtle

Today we’re going to get started with

coding with Python Blocks. We can create images

and graphics in Python Blocks with Tina the Turtle.

Tina the turtle moves around your screen just like the mouse arrow,
but unlike the mouse, Tina leaves a trail behind her. Tina can draw all kinds
of shapes and pictures - you just need to give them the right commands.

A very advanced drawing example. Can you see Tina?

5
 Let’s Get Coding
Open Trinket, if it isn’t already open. CTRL + CLICK
www.bit.ly/blankblocktrinket

If there are blocks already here, Right Click on this white area and
Left Click on ‘Delete Blocks’ to clean up your workspace.

Now we’re ready to code. We are going to draw a simple shape (a circle)
using Tina the Turtle.

Set the style of the turtle with a function called shape.

Set the turtle’s speed, choosing a number between

1 and 10 (10 is the fastest).

Set the colour that the turtle will use to draw the shape.

Now, tell your turtle to draw a circle. 6

Run the code above. You should get a result like this:

Fill the inside of the circle with a colour (same

colour as the outline) using the following block.

Challenge
If you’ve finished this tasks, play around with the other blocks for a few
minutes to see what else you can do with Tina.
See if you can:
● Make Tina draw another circle
○ in a different colour
○ In a different position
● Make Tina write some text
● Try and position a few circles in different areas (we’re doing this
next week, so don’t worry if you can’t).
7
Lesson 3 - Block Turtle II

Learning Outcomes:
● Working out different locations for Tina to get to on a map.
● Drawing multiple circles and different x & y coordinates

REMEMBER: Put up your hand. We love to help!

Game Time
For the first few minutes, have a go at whatever games you didn't try in last
week's warm up.

● BBC Dancemat
○ https://www.taoc.ie/bbcdm1
○ https://www.taoc.ie/bbcdm2
○ https://www.taoc.ie/bbcdm3
● Keyboard Climber
○ https://www.taoc.ie/keyboardclimber
● Typing Attack
○ https://taoc.ie/typeattack

● Code Combat (above)

○ www.codecombat.com/play/dungeon 8
 Drawing Location - coordinates
Sometimes we may wish to move the turtle before we start drawing
something so we can draw shapes in different locations on the screen.

Drawing Location - Treasure Hunt

Remember this map? We used it for Scratch before. As a class, try
and guess the approximate coordinates of each of the items of treasure for Tina.

Barrel of Oil Bottle of Poison

(-150,_____) (-50,_____)

Whale Lighthouse
(100,_____) (-100,_____)

Ship Desert Island

(____, -75) (____,____)

Cannonballs Bomb
(____,____) (____,____)

Treasure Anchor
(____, 150) (____,____)
9
 Task 1 - Drawing Two Circles
www.bit.ly/blankblocktrinket

Set up Tina the Turtle as before being sure

to include shape, speed, colour and circle.

Now we want to move her to a different location.

We need to use Pen up to make sure Tina does
not draw lines while moving to a different location.

Tell Tina to go to a particular point on the screen

by telling her the x-coordinate (horizontal/ left right)
and the y-coordinate (vertical/up-down) (70,-100) is here

Put the pen back down on the screen using Pen Down
so that Tina can start drawing again.

Start drawing your shape.

10
 Task 2 - Drawing Four Circles

Finish the code on the right so that it

makes four circles similar to the drawing below.

Challenge
Try making the image these images.

11
 Now it’s time to Save our Work

Make sure you do this properly, you’ll need it next week!

To save your Python project:

Open the drop down menu.

Click Link

Paste the Link into Notepad and save to your USB

If you’re not sure to do any of this, ask your tutor.

Extra Challenge
If you’re teacher is happy with your work and when you’ve saved it
properly, play the Basics section (Part 1) of Lightbot at this LINK.

12
Lesson 4 - Block Turtle III
Learning Outcomes:
● Making Tina draw some simple shapes at different
locations on the map - Olympics Rings
● Making a miniature house
● Make other shapes with Tina

REMEMBER: Put up your hand. We love to help!

Game Time
Today we’re going to look at how to draw different shapes apart from just
circles. Before we look at how to draw these shapes we’re
going to play Lightbot which can be accessed at
www.lightbot.com/flash.html. The concepts we will learn in
Lightbot will link in nicely with drawing some of these shapes.

Refresher Task - Multiple Circles

Lets see if you can remember some of the things we learned about last
week (it’s ok to look back!). As a test, make multiple circles in various
colours and positions. If you are stuck, open last weeks work. You will need:
● Shape
● Speed
● Colour
● Pen Up
● Go to
● Pen Down
● Circle
http://www.taoc.ie/turtle2
13
 Must-Do Challenge
This challenge should be a tricky one. Imagine The
Olympic Council of Ireland have asked you to draw the Olympic
flag with Python so they can use it on their new website.

Use what you have learned in this lesson to write code to make Tina the Turtle draw
the Olympic flag. https://taoc.ie/olympicstarter

Drawing Squares

We can draw shapes other than circles. Although drawing other shapes
isn’t just as easy. Think about how you
would make Lightbot move to make
a square.

How would we do this?

Drawing a square with Tina must be done in a similar

way. Drawing 4 separate straight lines and with four
90 degree angles.

Let’s get coding! www.bit.ly/blankblocktrinket

We are now going to make Tina draw a square.

Set up Tina like we did in the last lesson

(set color, set speed etc.).

14
 Expert Tip
Now Tell Tina to do the following code
Be careful where you
put the fill or color
commands. You will get
different results depending
on where you put them.

Try drawing a triangle for a roof and another square for

the window to make a house

Using the begin fill and end fill commands, colour

the shapes

Other Shapes

Have a try and see if you can

finish some other shapes based on
what you’ve learned about drawing
a square.

Expert Tip
The angle which Tina turns
isn’t the degrees of each angle.
The Turn Angle or Outside
Angle is calculated by taking the
inside angle away from 180°.
eg Pentagon is 180° - 108° = 60°
Hexagon is 180° - 60° = 120°

15
 Lesson 5 - From Blocks to Code I

Learning Outcomes:
● Learning how to make text with Tina the Turtle
● Make a pizza for Fat Tony’s Pizza company
● Converting block python into typed python code (Grade 2)

N.B. Have you washed your hands before getting started?

Writing with Turtles

Other than drawing lines and shapes, Tina the Turtle can also write words
and sentences onto the canvas. We are now going to write something onto the
canvas using Tina the Turtle. To practice this open up a blank block trinket:
www.bit.ly/blankblocktrinket. Grade 3 - start with these blocks and click View
Code and click Convert to Python.

Set up Tina the Turtle

Make turtle, set color, set speed etc.

Tell Tina what to write on the canvas.

Run the code above.

Change the color of the font.

Hello
Change the font size. World!

Grade 3 - Expert Tip (What the line means)

Using the write

command from Align Font Size and
‘Your Message’ Move 16
the turtle library left/ center/ Family
true/false
right
 Your Main Task
Block Version: https://taoc.ie/pythonpizzastarter
Code Version: https://repl.it/@DamienAOC/Python-Pizza

Fat Tony, a sweaty, overweight, middle-aged pizzeria owner

wants you to come up with a new pizza recipe to lure in new
customers. Use Text along with a picture of the pizza.
Use what you have learned so far to write code to make Tina
the Turtle draw a delicious new pizza design with your own
favourite toppings.

Hint: Once you have drawn the outer crust and base of the
pizza, draw different shapes with different colours to draw
your different toppings.

Some examples from

our students in St.
Conleth’s Junior School

Finished Early?
Try recreating some of the advanced art cards at:
https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activities/Turtle_Art/Turtle_Cards
17
 Lesson 6 - From Blocks to Code II

Learning Outcomes:
● Revising Shapes and introducing For Loops
● Make a house scene with as many items as possible with
the view to using different shapes

REMEMBER: Put up your hand. We love to help!

Revision - Shapes and Angles

A few lessons ago we asked you to try and make a miniature

house similar to the one on the right. Today we’re going to expand on
this to make a house scene that contains a list of essential items.

Click on one of the links below and for practice draw and fill
each one of the shapes on the right.

Block Version:
https://taoc.ie/turtle4
Code Version:
https://taoc.ie/replturtle4

Want to save time? Use For Loops

They can help us save time here. Instead
of using many lines of code to draw a
square for example, we could just say:

18
 House Scene Challenge
Block Version: https://trinket.io/embed/blocks/563fe95f6b
Code Version: https://repl.it/@DamienAOC/Python-House

Your challenge is to use everything you’ve earned to make a house. Around

this you could have a road, a car, a UFO or whatever you feel like but your scene
MUST HAVE the following:
● a house with a roof, door and windows
● a tree (a rectangle with circles or triangles)
● a sun (a circle)
● Stop sign (a line/rectangle with a red octagon on top
as in the second example on the second row below)

Stop Sign

Extra Challenge
Try recreating some of the advanced art cards at:
https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activities/Turtle_Art/Turtle_Cards 19
 Traffic Scene (to be worked on over two lessons/ for homework)
Block Version: https://taoc.ie/trafficstarter (Only use if you really need)
Code Version: https://taoc.ie/repltrafficstarter

Here a scene you’ll most likely need to

save to work on over two lessons. Have
a look at this digital artist’s HUGE AND
AMAZING code of a 3D city scene,
made using Turtle Graphics. This isn’t
what we’re looking for, but it may give
you some inspiration.

Your Starting Code What you do is up to you!

Start by trying to draw a car or maybe a skyscraper. Then after that, it’s up to you!

NB: If you intend to do a big scene or even if you just feel like being lazy and calling upon
your two best mates ‘Copy’ and ‘Paste’ to save you time (find me someone who doesn’t?!)
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE USE THE CODE VERSION instead of the block version.
It will save you so much time and hassle and you’ll be coding like a pro!
20
YOU CAN DO THIS!!
Lesson 7 - From Blocks to Code III

Learning Outcomes:
● To Learn the importance of For Loops and Variables
● Making a Shape Maker App
● Letting Python Do the Maths

REMEMBER: Put up your hand. We love to help!

For Loops and Variables

As mentioned before, loops are a super important concept in coding.. A “for”

loop completes a task a set number of times, then completes and exits.

Bad Code Better Code (Less work!) The ‘Real’ python code

Students who have used Scratch before will know variables as being a
container of data, data which can change in a programme - score, bullets left,
X-position, the amount of coins collected etc. If we wanted the above shape to
change when the user wants it to, we could use variables.

Variables

Incase you haven’t notices, ALL codes on this page do this exact same thing, but
some are more professional than others.
21
 Making a Shape Maker App
Starting code: https://taoc.ie/shapemakerstarter
Your task is to turn the starting code into the code below. The app has 5 variables,
sides, length, colour, speed (values all determined by the user) as well as angles
(which the computer calculates itself by dividing 360 by ‘sides)’.

This code if typed correctly

should make a solid, closed shape
each time. Be careful putting in
ridiculous numbers. Long variables
WILL make your programme crash
and you may lose your work.

Extra Challenge
Develop the code on the right
to make a Custom Shape Spirograph
Making app. The variable
will need to be another question.
NB Watch out for those tabbed spaces in the for loop! 22
 Letting Python do the Maths

People who don’t know much about code often think that you need to be good
at maths to be good at coding. However, smart coders get computers to do the
maths for them! We’re going to let Python work out how old a user will be in 2100.

CTRL+CLICK https://taoc.ie/blankpython
and type in the code as it appears here.
Instead of 2009, put in your birth year).

Improve your program by using

input() to ask the user their
age and store it in a variable called born.

Run your program and then enter the year you were born. Did you get another
error message? That’s because anything typed into your program is text, and it
needs to be converted to a
number. You can use int() to
convert the text to an integer
(‘integer’ means ‘whole number’ like 5, 929 or 1,000,000 not 2.1 or 5.65 etc).

Adding another Variable

So far we used a variable called born, and we asked a question that generates
a number. To make the programme make more sense to the user, change your
code to exactly as it appears below. But first, think about what it does.

23
 Extra Challenge - Dog Years

Your challenge is to write a programme that asks users their age and then tells
them their age in dog years.

Expert Tip
In python, the symbol
for multiplication is *, and
is usually shift+8 on the
keyboard.

Extra Challenge - Art Challenge

Work out what this code does.

Now type out this code. Can you

make any word drawings or
patterns of your own?

24
Lesson 8 - Python II - Rock Paper Scissors
Learning Outcomes:
● Creating a rock/paper/ scissors game
● Using simple if statements
● Announcing the winner

REMEMBER: Put up your hand. We love to help!

Let’s Get Coding

CTRL+CLICK repl - https://taoc.ie/turtleracestarter
trinket - https://taoc.ie/blankpythontrinket

This project contains these words.

We’ll use them later to generate random numbers.

First, we’re going to let the player choose Rock, Paper or Scissors by typing
r, p or s. Add the blue lines of code. The second will print the player’s choice.

Now to code the computers guess. randit will generate a random number to
decide between rock,
paper and scissors.
Add in the blue lines
and test it a few times
to see that you’re getting a random number.
25
 Coding the Computer

In our code, 1 = rock (r), 2 = paper (p) and 3 = scissors(s). We’re going to
use an if statement to check if the number 1 (for example) is randomly chosen, the
computer will see that as a rock. Add the lines in blue making sure to indent (move
to the right). We can use two spaces or a ‘tab’ for this. Tab is usually above the
Caps Lock button on your keyboard.

Add the rest of the

code on the left, but
first, what does it
Short for
“else if” do? When finished,
test your code to see
if it works.

The computer’s choice gets printed on a new line. You can fix that by adding
end=' ' after vs. This tells Python to end with a space instead of a new line. Play
the game a few times by clicking Run and making a choice. For now you’ll have to
work out who won yourself. Next you’ll add the Python code to work this out.

26
 Announcing the Winner

Lets look at a case where the player choses ‘r’ (rock). If the computer chose ‘s’
(scissors) then the player wins (rock beats scissors). If the computer chose ‘p’
(paper) then the computer wins (paper beats rock). We can check the player choice
and the computer choice using the word and.

Add in more elif’s so that every ‘p’ and ‘s’ combination is covered.

Challenge: ASCII Art

Instead of using the letters r, p and s
to represent rock, paper and scissors,
can you use ASCII art? For example:

Challenge: Create a new game

Can you create your own game like Rock, Paper, Scissors with different objects?
Click the ‘Duplicate’ button to make a copy of your Rock, Paper Scissors project to
start from.

This example uses Fire,

Logs and Water:

27
Lesson 9 - Python III - Turtle Race
Learning Outcomes:
● Make a random race which races turtles for fun
● Learning about for loops
● Customising your game

REMEMBER: Put up your hand. We love to help!

Let’s Get Coding

CTRL+CLICK this video

to see the end result. The game
will be similar to a horse racing
game you may have seen before.

CTRL+CLICK this link:

https://taoc.ie/turtleracestarter
https://taoc.ie/blankpy (trinket)
Write this code and see what
happens. Then change the code so
that it makes a pattern from 1-5 using
the pattern below:

On the next page we’ll discuss for

loops, a method of making writing this
long code easier, but for now, copy the
code on the right.

28
 For Loops - Making it easy

The code we wrote is very repetitive.

There is an easier way to code this in
python called a for loop. Change your
code so it looks like the code on the right.
We need to give it a range of 6 because there are 6 numbers between 0 and 5.

Expand the code so that it

matches what appears on the left.
But first, what does it do?

To draw the lines, we’re going to have to turn the turtle to the right, before
putting a pen down, drawing a line of 150, picking the penup and moving backward to
the start of the line. Add the code in blue below and see what happens.

right(90) makes the turtle turn right 90 degrees (a right angle.) Moving
forward(10) before putting the pen down leaves a small gap between the number
and the start of the line. After drawing the line you lift up the pen and go
backward(160) the length of the line plus the gap.
29
 Racing Turtles

When you use commands like forward(20)

you are using a single turtle. But you can
create more turtles. Add the following code
to the end of your script (but make sure it’s
not indented)!

The first line creates a turtle called ‘red’. The next lines set the colour and
shape of the turtle. Now it really looks like a turtle!

Now you need to make the turtle race by moving a random number of steps
at a time. You’ll need the randint
function from the Python random
library. Add this import line to the
top of your script. The randint function returns a random number between the
values chosen. The turtle will
move forward 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5
steps each turn.

Test the code and you should get a one-turtle race! We’ll add more next.

30
Adding more Turtles

Copy

A one turtle race isn’t much of a

game! Add the code on the left
to get the remaining turtles

Paste going.

You should be able to see a

pattern here so don’t forget...

Paste REMEMBER TO:

COPY (CTRL + C)
AND
PASTE (CTRL + V)
Paste

Copy and Paste are a coders

best friends!
Copy
Paste
Paste
Paste

31
 Challenge: Do a twirl

Can you use a for turn in range(): loop to make each turtle do a 360 degree
twirl after they get to the starting line? You’ll need to make sure they are facing in the
right direction at the start of the race!

redTurtle.right(36) will turn the red turtle right by 36 degrees.

Hint: A full turn is 360 degrees. A turtle could turn right 10 degrees 36 times, or left 5
degrees 72 times, or any other numbers make 360!

Challenge: Dashed lines

Can you use a loop to make the track lines dashed instead of solid?

Hint: Find the code that draws a straight line.

Try using:for, forward(), penup() and pendown()

32
Lesson 10 - Python Project IV - ISS
Learning Outcomes:
● Using Web Service to find the location of the International
Space Station
● Plotting its location on a map.

Introduction
In this project you will use a web service to find out the current location of the
International Space Station (ISS) and plot its location on a map.

Step 1: Who is in Space?

You’re going to use a web service that provides live information about space.
First let’s find out who is currently in space. A web service has an address (url)
just like a web page does. Instead of returning HTML for a web page it returns
data.

Open http://api.open-notify.org/astros.json
in a web browser (Chrome, Internet Explorer,
Firefox etc.). You should see something like
what is here (the data is live so your figures will
be different). The data format is called JSON
(pronounced Jay-Son). 33
 Let’s call the web service from Python so we can use the results. Open this
project file: www.taoc.ie/issrepl (repl) or www.taoc.ie/iss (trinket). The
urllib.request and json modules have already been imported for you.

Add the following code to main.py to put the web address you just used into a
variable:

Now let’s call the

web service:

Next you need to load the

JSON response into a
Python data structure:

You should see something like this.

This is a Python dictionary with 3 keys: message, number and people.

The ‘success’ value of message tells you that the request was successful.

Now let’s print the information

in a more readable way. First,
let’s look up the number of
people in space and print it:

result['number'] will print the value

associated with the key ‘number’ in
the result dictionary. In the example this is 3. The value associated with the ‘people’
key is a list of dictionaries! Let’s put that value into a variable so you can use it.
You should see something like this:

34
Now you need to print out a line for each astronaut.

You can use a for loop to do this in

Python. Each time through the loop

p will be set to a dictionary for a

different astronaut.

You can then look up the values for ‘name’ and ‘craft’

You should see something like:

People in Space:
Yuri Malenchenko
Timothy Kopra
Timothy Peake

You are using live data so your results will depend on the number of people currently
in space.

Challenge: Show the Craft

As well as the name of the astronaut the web service also provides the craft that
they are in (such as the ISS.)

Can you add to your script so that it also prints out the craft that the astronaut is in.

Example:

People in Space: 3
Yuri Malenchenko in ISS
Timothy Kopra in ISS
Tim Peake in ISS
 Step 2: Where is the ISS?
The International Space Station is in orbit around Earth. It orbits the earth roughly
every hour and a half. The ISS travels at an average speed of 7.66 km per second.
Let’s use another web service to find out where the International Space Station is.

First open the url for the web service in a new tab in your web browser:

http://api.open-notify.org/iss-now.json
You should see something like this:

Refresh the page a few times to see the position constantly being updated. The
result contains the coordinates of the spot on Earth that the ISS is currently over.
Longitude is the East-West position and runs from -180 to 180. 0 is the Prime
Meridian which runs through Greenwich in London, UK.

Latitude is the North-South position and runs from 90 to -90. 0 is the Equator.
Now you need to call the same web service from Python. Add the following code to
the end of your script to get the current location of the ISS and make variables to
store and display its positions.

It would be more useful to show the position on a

map. First we’ll need to import the turtle graphics library.

Let’s load a world map as the background image, there’s one already included
in your trinket.
NASA have provided this map and given permission for reuse. The map is centered
at 0, 0 which is just what you need. You need to set the screen size to match the
size of the image which is 720 by 360.

Add “screen.setup(720, 360)” and

“screen.setworldcoordinates
(-180,-90, 180, 90)”

You want to be able to send the

turtle to a particular latitude and
longitude. Insert the two lines of code above.

Let’s create a turtle for the ISS. Your

project includes ‘iss.png’ and ‘iss2.png’,
try them both and see which one you
prefer.

The ISS starts off in the centre of the

map, now let’s move it to the correct
location on the map.

Note that latitude is normally given first, but we need to give longitude first when
plotting (x,y) coordinates.

Test your program by running it. The ISS should move to its current location above
Earth. Wait a few seconds and run your program again to see where the ISS has
moved to.
 [the academy_of_code] 2019
Icons used with thanks to Freepik