Name: _______________________________________ Partners: ________________________________

Python Activity 6: Functions

“Modularizing your code”

Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
Content:
Explain the meaning and purpose of a function
Recognize a function definition, function header, and function call in a program
Combine the use of functions with if/else statements
Explain programs that use the same function multiple times
Use good test data for programs that include functions
Process:
Write code that includes function definitions and function calls
Write programs that incorporate functions and if/else statements
Prior Knowledge
Python concepts from Activities 1-5
Understanding of flowchart input symbols
Further Reading
Transitioning from Visual Logic to Python: Chapter 6

Critical Thinking Questions:

Python Program

Flowchart
 Python Activity 6: Functions

FYI: A function is a segment of code that performs a single task.

1. Closely examine the flowchart and Python program above.

a. Draw arrows between each flowchart symbol and the equivalent Python code.

FYI: A function definition is the segment of code that tells the program what to do when the
function is executed. The first line of a function definition is known as the function
header

b. What Python keyword is used to indicate that a code segment is a function definition?
________________________________________________________________________

c. What is the function header in the Python code above?

________________________________________________________________________

d. The name of the function is in the function header. What is the name of the function?
________________________________________________________________________

e. Examine the Python function. Explain the syntax required for a function: indentation,
etc.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

f. Enter and execute the Python program. What is the output?

________________________________________________________________________
g. What line of code would you add to the program to print the last two lines twice? Where
would you add the code?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

2. Examine the following program

a. Label the function definition and the function call.

b. The function call and the function definition each include a variable within the
parentheses. The variable in this role is known as an argument. What is the argument in
the function definition? What is its purpose?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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 Python Activity 6: Functions

c. In this example the argument in the function definition and the argument in the function
call have the same name. Is this required? _______________________________

d. Enter and execute the program. Verify your answer to question ‘c’ by changing the
variable name in the main program from radius to number. Do not change the variable
name in the function definition. Does the program still work? __________________

e. Write a line of code that calls the calculateArea function and sends the value “6” as the
argument. Add the line of code to the main program and execute it to be sure it works
properly. _______________________________________________________________

f. Add a second function to the program that calculates and prints the diameter of a circle,
given the radius as an argument (parameter). Place the function definition above the main
part of the program. Write the function below.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

g. Add another line of code to the main part of the program that calls the function that was
created in part ‘f’. Send the radius entered by the user as the argument to the function.
________________________________________________________________________

3. What is the purpose of a function? Why do programmers use them?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

4. Carefully examine the following program.

a. What is the first line of code executed by the Python interpreter?

________________________________________________________________________

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 Python Activity 6: Functions

b. Enter and execute the program. Use the following test data and indicate what the output
is for each set of data.

Data Set Operand 1 Operand 2 Operator Result

1 2 6 +
2 3 8 -
3 34 23 +
4 4 5 /

c. What problems did you notice when you entered Data Sets 3 and 4?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

d. Add code to the program that would warn the user about the problems that could occur
when data similar to that in Data Sets 3 and 4 are entered. See sample output below. List
the lines of code below the sample output.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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 Python Activity 6: Functions

FYI: So far, the functions you have printed any results within the function. They did not send
back any information to the original calling code. Functions that do not send back
information to where they are called are known as void functions. Functions often send
back or return the result and are known as value returning functions.

5. Enter and execute the code below. Carefully examine the code.

a. What is the new keyword used in the function definition? What do you think the
keyword tells the program to do?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

b. Write the line of code from the program that includes the function call to getSmaller.
________________________________________________________________________
c. In a void function, the function call is on a line by itself. Why is this function call
placed on the right-hand-side of an assignment statement?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

d. What are the arguments used for the function call? _______________________________

6. Examine the following Python program.

a. What does the program do?

________________________________________________________________________
b. Circle the function call. What is different about the placement of the function call?
________________________________________________________________________

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 Python Activity 6: Functions

c. Is the function a void function or a value returning function? ____________________

d. Why is the import statement needed in this program?

_______________________________________________________________________

7. The following Python program performs the same operations and produces the same output as the
previous program. Describe the major differences between the two programs. Edit the previous
program so that it looks like this one and execute it.

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Application Questions: Use the Python Interpreter to check your work

1. Write a function that draws a frog. Call the function to be sure it works. Sample frog:

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
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 Python Activity 6: Functions

2. Expand the program in #1 to produce the following output.

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

3. Write a Python program that prompts the user for three words and prints the word that comes last
alphabetically. Use a function to create the program.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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___________________________________________________________________________

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 Python Activity 6: Functions

Notes and Questions

Make note of any questions you have about Activity 6 on this page.

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Name: _______________________________________ Partners: ________________________________
Python Activity 7: Nested IF/ELSE Statements
“Decisions, decisions – decisions within decisions!”

Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
Content:
Explain the purpose of a nested if-else statement
Explain how to use Python if-elif structure
Explain how to test code using Python if-elif structure
Process:
Write code that includes if-elif statements
Write code that uses if-elif statements and functions
Prior Knowledge
Python concepts from Activities 1-6
Understanding of flowchart input symbols
Further Reading
Transitioning from Visual Logic to Python: Chapter 7

Critical Thinking Questions:

1. Closely examine the flowchart and Python program above.

Python Program

Flowchart
 Python Activity 7: Nested IF/ELSE Statements

a. Draw arrows between each flowchart symbol and the equivalent Python code.

b. In the Python code, circle the if/else statement that is nested within another if/else statement.

c. Enter and test the code. List five numbers that you would use to test this program. Indicate
why you chose the numbers.

Number Why chosen

2. Enter and execute the following Python program using the same data as you used for #1c.

a. How does the output for this program compare with the output for the previous program?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

b. What new keyword is used in this program? _______________________________________

c. Notice the syntax of this program compared to the previous program. Which program
contains simpler indentation? _____________________________________________

FYI: elif is the Python keyword that represents else if and allows you to test for one of several options. As
soon as one of the tests is true, the rest are ignored.

d. You can use elif as many times as you need to. Suppose you wanted to add the comment
“Good!” for grades that are between 80 and 89. Where would you add it? Write the code for
this additional choice.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

e. Does the placement of an additional elif clause matter? ______________________________

f. When is the code associated with the else statement executed?

___________________________________________________________________________

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 Python Activity 7: Nested IF/ELSE Statements

g. Describe how an if/elif/else statement works.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

h. Change the program in #2 so that it prints the following messages. Write the code below.

Greater than 90 “Very Good!”

Between 80 and 89 “Good!”
Between 70 and 79 “Satisfactory”
Between 60 and 69” “Fair”
Less than 60 “Poor”

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

i. Make a final change to the program so that it prints an error message if the grade entered
is greater than 100 or less than 0.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

3. Is the use of the else statement mandatory when creating an if/elif statement? Explain your
answer.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

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 Python Activity 7: Nested IF/ELSE Statements

Application Questions: Use the Python Interpreter to check your work

1. Write an if/elif statement that assigns a value to the variable bonus depending on the amount of sales.
Assume the amount of the sales is stored in a variable called sales.
Sales Bonus
>= 100,000 10,000
>= 75,000 5,000
>= 50,000 2,500
>= 25,000 1,000
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_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________

2. Carefully examine and then complete the following Python program. The program prompts the user
to enter a number between 1 and 5 and also generates a random number between 1 and 5. The
program prints the number the user enters and prints the random number. The program then
compares the two numbers. If the numbers are the same, it prints the message “You picked the same
number as the computer!”. If the number the user entered is higher than the random number, the
program should print “Your number is higher than the computer’s number.” Otherwise, it should
print: “Your number is smaller than the computer’s number”.

Explain what the if/else statement does in the Main Program.

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 Python Activity 7: Nested IF/ELSE Statements

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 Python Activity 7: Nested IF/ELSE Statements

Notes and Questions

Make note of any questions you have about Activity 7 on this page.

44
Name: _______________________________________ Partners: ________________________________
Python Activity 8: Looping Structures – WHILE Loops
“Repeating code”

Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
Content:
Explain the three parts of a loop
Explain the syntax of a while loop
Explain sentinel-controlled and counter controlled loops
Explain short-cut operators
Process:
Write code that includes sentinel-controlled and counter controlled loops
Write code that uses short-cut operators
Prior Knowledge
Python concepts from Activities 1-7
Understanding of flowchart input symbols
Further Reading
Transitioning from Visual Logic to Python: Chapter 8

Critical Thinking Questions

1. Closely examine the flowchart and Python program below.
FYI: A looping structure allows a block of code to be repeated one or more times. A while loop is
one of the two looping structures available in Python.

Python Program Flowchart

a. Draw arrows between each flowchart symbol and the equivalent Python code.

b. In the Python code, circle all the code associated with the WHILE loop.
 Python Activity 8: Looping Structures – WHILE Loops

c. Enter and test the code. What does the line of code: x=x+1 do?
___________________________________________________________________________

d. How does the Python interpreter know what lines of code belong to the loop body?
___________________________________________________________________________

e. Every loop structure requires three actions. Identify the line of code in the Python
program that corresponds to each of the three actions.
 Initialize a variable used in the test condition:
________________________________________________________________________
 Include a test condition that causes the loop to end when the condition is false:
________________________________________________________________________
 Within the loop body, update the variable used in the test condition:
________________________________________________________________________

2. Enter and execute the following code.

_______________________________
_______________________________
__________________________________________________
_______________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
__________________________________________________
_______________________________
__________________________________________________
_______________________________
__________________________________________________
_______________________
__________________________________________________

a. Beside each line of code below explain what the code does.

b. Explain the difference between the two print statements.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

3. The following code should print the numbers from 1 to 10, but it does not print anything.
Correct the problem.

number = 12
while number <= 10:
print(number)
number = number + 1

4. Enter and execute the following code:

number = 0
while number <= 10:
print(number)
number = number - 1

a. Describe the output. ____________________________________________________

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 Python Activity 8: Looping Structures – WHILE Loops

b. What caused the output to be what it was?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

c. Does the program end? Why or why not? ________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

6. Enter and execute the following code:

number = 1
while number <= 10:
if number % 2 == 0:
print(number, end= " ")
number = number + 1

a. State the output.

________________________________________________________________________

b. What caused the output to display on one line?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

c. What control structures are used in this code?

________________________________________________________________________

7. We want to create a program that prompts the user to enter a number between 1 and 10. As long
as the number is out of range the program re-prompts the user for a valid number. Complete the
following steps to write this code.

a. Write a line of code the prompts the user for number between 1 and 10.
________________________________________________________________________

b. Write a Boolean expression that tests the number the user entered by the code in step “a.”
to determine if it is not in range.
________________________________________________________________________

c. Use the Boolean expression created in step “b.” to write a while loop that executes when
the user input is out of range. The body of the loop should tell the user that they entered
an invalid number and prompt them for a valid number again.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

d. Write a line of code that prints a message telling the user that they entered a valid
number.
________________________________________________________________________

e. Put the segments of code from steps “a-d” together. Enter and execute the code. Does it
work properly? If not, correct it and test it again. _________________________

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 Python Activity 8: Looping Structures – WHILE Loops

f. How many times does the loop execute? ______________________________________

FYI: A looping structure for which you know the number of times it will execute is known as a
count-controlled loop.

8. Sometimes a programmer does not know how many times data is to be entered. For example,
suppose you want to create a program that adds an unspecified amount of positive numbers
entered by the user. The program stops adding numbers when the user enters a zero or a negative
number. Then the program prints the total. Before creating this program, review the three actions
required for all loops:

a. Initialize a variable that will be used in the test condition: What will be tested to
determine if the loop is executed or not? Write a line of code that initializes a variable to
be used in the test condition of the loop for this program. The variable should contain a
value entered by the user.
________________________________________________________________________

b. Include a test condition that causes the loop to end when the condition is false: What is
the test condition for the while loop used in this program?
________________________________________________________________________

c. Within the loop body, update the variable used in the test condition: Write the code for
the loop body. Include the code to update the variable in the test condition.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

d. Is this a count-controlled loop? Why or why not?

________________________________________________________________________

e. Complete the program. Enter and execute the code. Does it work properly? __________

FYI: Short-cut operators provide a concise way of creating assignment statements when the
variable on the left-hand side of the assignment statement is also on the right-hand side. The
addition short-cut operator (+=) is usually used for incrementing a variable.

9. Enter and execute the following code:

number = 1
number += 3
print(number)

a. What does the “+=” shortcut operator do?

________________________________________________________________________

b. The code: x += 5 is equivalent to which of the following lines of code?

x=5 x=x+5
x=y+5 y=x+5

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 Python Activity 8: Looping Structures – WHILE Loops

c. Replace the operator ‘+=’ with the following shortcut operators and execute the code.
Explain what each operator does.
-= _________________________________________________________

*= _________________________________________________________

10. Enter and execute the following code:

bonus = 25
salary += bonus
print(“Total salary:”, salary)

a. What is the output of the preceding code? Is it what you expected?

________________________________________________________________________

b. Edit the code so that it produces valid output.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

c. As a result of correcting this code segment, what is needed in order for the shortcut
operators to work properly?
_______________________________________________________________________

d. Is the following line of code valid: 23 += total? Why or why not?

________________________________________________________________________

11. The following code should print the numbers beginning at 100 and ending with 0. However it is
missing a line of code. Add the missing code, using the shortcut operator. Indicate where the
code belongs.
countdown = 100
while countdown > 0:
print(countdown)
print(“Done!”)
________________________________________________________________________

12. Enter and execute the following code:

doAgain = "y"
while doAgain == "y":
word = input("Enter a word:")
print("First letter of " + word + " is " + word[0])
doAgain = input("Type ‘y’ to enter another word and anything
else to quit.")
print("Done!")

a. What does the program do?

________________________________________________________________________

b. What is the name of the variable used to store the user’s input? ____________________

c. In the print statement, what does word[0]represent? ___________________________

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 Python Activity 8: Looping Structures – WHILE Loops

d. If you changed 0 to 1 in word[0]in the print statement above, what is printed?

________________________________________________________________________

e. When does the program end? _____________________________________________

FYI: A sentinel-controlled while loop is a loop that repeats the loop body until the user enters a pre-
specified value.

g. Why is the loop in this program is an example of a sentinel control loop?

________________________________________________________________________

h. Examine the print statement in this program:

print("First letter of " + word + " is " + word[0])
What is the purpose of the “+” as part of the argument in the print statement? What
happens if you replace the “+” with a “,”?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

13. Examine the code below.

name = “Simone”
cost = 3.56
numApples = 89

What type of data is stored in each variable: (integer, floating point, or string)
name – __________________________
cost – __________________________
numApples – __________________________

FYI: A variable that can store only the values True and False is called a Boolean variable.

14. Given the assignment statement: foundCost = False

What value is stored in the variable foundCost? ________________________________
What type of data is stored in foundCost? ________________________________

15. Enter and execute the following code:

a. What type of variable is ‘doAgain’? _______________________________________

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 Python Activity 8: Looping Structures – WHILE Loops

b. What does the program do?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

c. What does the following line of code do?

maxNum1 = max(num1, num2, num3, num4)
________________________________________________________________________

d. Experiment with the arguments in the max() function in the program to determine if the
function must have four arguments. Demonstrate your answer.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

e. What does the following code in the program do?

if another != 'y':
doAgain = False
________________________________________________________________________

Application Questions: Use the Python Interpreter to check your work

1. Write a code segment that prompts the user for an even number. As long as the number is
not even, the user should be given a message and prompted again for an even number.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

2. Write code segment that prompts the user for a letter from ‘a-z’. As long as the character is not
between ‘a-z’, the user should be given a message and prompted again for a letter between ‘a-z’.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

3. Complete the following program:

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

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 Python Activity 8: Looping Structures – WHILE Loops

Notes and Questions

Make note of any questions you have about Activity 8 on this page.

52