Lesson 2:

Crunching
numbers
Year 8 – Intro to Python programming
 Starter activity

Make predictions (think, pair, share)

lucky = 13 Question .
print("My lucky number is", lucky) What will be the output of print when this
program is executed?

A.
1 My lucky number is lucky
▹ B. My lucky number is 13
2
3
C. It is not possible to know the output
without executing the program
D. There is an error in the program
4

True or false? .True

This program will always produce the same
output, whenever it is executed.
 Starter activity

Make predictions (think, pair, share)

print("My lucky number is", lucky) Question .

lucky = 13 What will be the output of print when this
program is executed?

A.
1 My lucky number is lucky
B. My lucky number is 13
2
3
C. It is not possible to know the output
without executing the program
▹ D. There is an error in the program
4

During program execution, a variable must

have been assigned a value before that
value
is referenced.
 Starter activity

Make predictions (think, pair, share)

print("What’s your name?") Question .

user = input() What will be the output of print when this
print("Hello", user) program is executed?

A.
1 Hello user
▹ B. Hello and whatever the user has typed
2

on the keyboard
C. It is not possible to know the output
3

without executing the program

D. There is an error in the program
4

True or false? .Fals

This program wille always produce the same
output, whenever it is executed.
 Objectives

In this lesson, you will...

● Use arithmetic expressions to calculate values

● Use variables to store and reference values
● Follow walk-throughs of code and keep track of variable values
● Write programs that receive numerical input from the keyboard
 Activity 1

Assignments

days = 365 Assignments are not equations.

print(days, "days in a year")
This assignment does not mean that the
days variable always equals 365.

Assignments are instructions to be

executed.

This is an instruction to assign the value

365 to the days variable.

A subsequent assignment can assign a

new value to the days variable, replacing
the previous value.
 Activity 1

Assignments with expressions

days = 7 * 31 + 4 * 30 + 28 You can use expressions in assignments.

print(days, "days in a year")
This is an instruction to evaluate the
expression on and
thethen
rightassign the value to
the days variable on the left.

Tip: Read assignments from right to left.

A subsequent assignment can assign a new

value to the days variable, replacing the
previous value.
 Activity 1

Arithmetic operators (in Python)

You can use these operators to Examples

form arithmetic expressions.

+ addition a+1 a plus 1
- difference b-c b minus c
* multiplication 3*d 3 times d
/ division 9/4 9 divided by 4 (value:
2.25)
// integer division 15 // 2 quotient of 15÷2
% remainder of integer (value: 7)
division 15 % 2 remainder of 15÷2
** exponentiation (value: 1)
2 ** 8 2 to the power of 8
(value: 256)
 Activity 1

Referring to variables

days = 7 * 31 + 4 * 30 + 28 An expression can refer to the values of

quad = 4 * days + 1 variables.
print(quad, "days in four years")
To evaluate this expression, the days
variable must have been assigned a value.

During program execution, a variable must

have been assigned a value before that
value is referred to.
 Activity 1

The machine
executes the code

days = 7 * 31 + 4 * 30 + 28 365 Current instruction .

quad = 4 * days + 1 Evaluate the expression
print(quad, "days in four years") and assign the value to days.
? Calculate the days in a year.

State .

days 365

Output .
 Activity 1

The machine
executes the code

days = 7 * 31 + 4 * 30 + 28 Current instruction .

quad = 4 * days + 1 1461
Evaluate the expression
print(quad, "days in four years") and assign the value to quad.
? Calculate the days in four years.

State .

days 365

quad 1461

Output .
 Activity 1

The machine
executes the code

days = 365 Current instruction .

quad = 4 * days + 1 Display the value of quad
print(quad, "days in four years") and the literal "days in four years".
? Display the result.

State .

days 365

quad 1461

Output .
1461 days in four years
 Activity 1

Order matters

You will be given a program that

is supposed to convert a length of
time from seconds to minutes.

Rearrange (change the order of)

the statements, so that the
program runs to completion
without errors.

Use your worksheet.

 Activity 2

Subtle points

number = 5 Question .
double = 2 * number What will be the value of double, after
A number = 15 executing lineA ?

A.
▹ 1 10
B. 30
2

C. Line A is not a valid assignment:

3

number already has a value

Why .
Line A only affects the number variable.
The value of double is not ‘updated’.
 Activity 2

Subtle points

number = 5 Question .
A number = number + 10 What will be the value of number, after
executing lineA ?

A.
1 5 and 15
▹ B. 15
2

C. There are no valid values for number

3

D. Line A is not a valid assignment:

4

number already has a value

Why .
The expression number + 10 is evaluated
and the result is assigned to number.
The previous value of number is replaced.
 Activity 3

Calculate age from year of birth

Use pair programming .

Driver
Control the keyboard and mouse.
Navigator
Provide support and instructions.

Alternate between roles.

 Activity 3

Calculate age from year of birth

print("Year of birth?") Create a program that asks the

birth_year = input()
user for their birth year and
age = 2020 - birth_year
print("You are", age, "years old") calculates their age.

Live coding

age = 2020 - birth_year

TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for -: 'int' and
'str'
 Activity 3

Calculate age from year of birth: commentary

print("Year of birth?") The input function always returns what the

birth_year = input() user typed as a string, i.e. a piece of text.
age = 2020 - birth_year
print("You are", age, "years old") The text returned by input is assigned to
the birth_year variable:

It is not possible to subtract a piece of text

from a number, hence the error.

what the call

"2008"
to input
returns
birth_year "2008"
 Activity 3

Calculate age from year of birth: commentary

print("Year of birth?") The input function always returns what the

birth_year = int(input()) user typed as a string: a piece of text.
age = 2020 - birth_year
print("You are", age, "years old") This value is passed to the int function,
which returns the corresponding integer.

The expression is evaluated and the result

is assigned to the age variable.

what the call

"2008"
to input
returns
birth_year 2008

age 12
 Activity 4

How to input numbers

Work on programs that receive

numerical input from the
keyboard and process it.

Use your worksheets.

 Activity 4

How to input numbers: solutions

print("Weight on Earth?")
weight_earth = int(input())
weight_moon = weight_earth / 6
print("Weight on moon:", weight_moon)
 Activity 4

How to input numbers: solutions

print("How old are you?")

age = int(input())
dog_years = age * 7
print("You are", dog_years, "years old in dog years")
 Homework

Answer the questions in your homework sheet.

 Summary

In this lesson, you... Next lesson, you will...

Used arithmetic expressions to Use selection (if statements) to

calculate values control the flow of program
execution
Used variables to store and
reference values Introduce elements of
randomness into your programs
Followed walk-throughs of code
and kept track of variable values

Wrote programs that receive

numerical input from the
keyboard