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3 – In a while, crocodile

🎯 Learning Objectives

  • Use iteration (while statements) to control the flow of program execution
  • Perform operations on lists or individual items
  • Perform operations on strings or individual characters

💬 Key Vocabulary

  • Iteration
  • Boolean/logical expression (condition)
  • list operations (append, insert, pop, remove, index, count, reverse, sort, length)
  • list
  • list membership
  • index
  • list item

📖 Form a band

This program reads the name of an instrument and adds it to a list.

This action needs to be performed repeatedly, in order to add all the instruments required to form a band.

We could just copy and paste the same bit of code lots of times.

This approach won’t get us far.

How can we get our programs to perform actions repeatedly?

📖 Iteration recap

You need an iterative structure. (while) when your program needs to repeat actions, while a condition is satisfied.

Let’s modify this program together to use iteration (a while-loop), in order to repeat the same actions.

Follow along with your teacher to complete the code below by copying it into Thonny.

print("Let's form a band")
band = []
print("Pick an instrument:")
instrument = input()
band.append(instrument)
print(band)

📝 Level 1 – City Hopping

Complete the tasks using the worksheet you can download below to create a random-trip planner in the Trinket window also below. Do not use Thonny.

📖 Strings (are a lot like lists)

📝 Level 2/3 – City Guessing

  • Start with a program that uses the familiar list of European cities and complete the task on your worksheet to extend it into a city guessing game with hints.
  • As before use the Trinket below to complete your code.

💬 Summary

In this lesson, you…

  • Used iteration (while statements) to control the flow of program execution
  • Practised using common operations on lists
  • Performed operations on strings

Next lesson, you will…

  • Use iteration (for statements) to iterate over list items
  • Practise using common operations lists and strings

🏅 Level Up

🥇 Level 1

  • Upload your completed Level 1 – City Hopping worksheet to the assignment on Teams.

🥈 Level 2

  • Upload your completed Level 2/3 – City Guessing worksheet to the assignment on Teams.

🥉 Level 3

  • Upload your completed  Level 2/3 – City Guessing worksheet to the assignment on Teams as well as the Explorer task.