alice-teacher Variables

[Prem Pathuri]

Thank you all very much! I used your explanations and they worked out great!



Prem (8th grade)
Instructor at Mesa Verde Middle School


On Tue, Nov 6, 2012 at 5:35 AM, Wendy Evans <wendy_evans at cvsd.k12.pa.us>wrote:

> I tell my students to imagine a wall full of little boxes. Each box, we
> can label with a name (the variable name), that way we know where to find
> it. Then, I explain how that little box can be empty (null) or it can hold
> a value. What type of value depends on us and how we define it (number,
> string, Boolean…).  We can store something in the box, like a number, and
> then we can add to it, subtract from it etc… It can start with a value in
> it, or we can ask the user to put something in it.  The box (variable) name
> doesn’t change, but what is stored in the box (variable) changes throughout
> the program as we need it to. ****
>
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> *Miss Wendy Sue Evans*
>
> Conestoga Valley High School****
>
> Math and Computer Science Teacher****
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> *From:* alice-teachers-bounces+wendy_evans=
> cvsd.k12.pa.us at lists.andrew.cmu.edu [mailto:
> alice-teachers-bounces+wendy_evans=cvsd.k12.pa.us at lists.andrew.cmu.edu] *On
> Behalf Of *EILEEN PELUSO
> *Sent:* Tuesday, November 06, 2012 8:06 AM
> *To:* Alice educators
> *Subject:* Re: alice-teacher Variables****
>
> ** **
>
> I often lead in by reminding students that computers hold a lot of
> information, and that in this particular program that we’re working on, we
> need to keep a few pieces of information (then I get specific, e.g. it’s a
> yes/no answer from the user, it’s the number of seconds left in our game).
> Then I say, “To do that, we use something called variables.  We give each
> piece of information that we need to keep a name, and when we use that
> name, what we actually get is that piece of information.”  Then, when we go
> to define our variables, we talk about how information can be of different
> types, e.g. number, etc., and the notion of giving it an initial value.
> The first variable I have students define is a Boolean.  We ask the user a
> yes/no question (specifically, do they want to see their character do a
> little magic), and then we use an if/else to make the character act
> accordingly.****
>
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> *From:* alice-teachers-bounces+pelusoem=lycoming.edu at lists.andrew.cmu.edu[
> mailto:alice-teachers-bounces+pelusoem=lycoming.edu at lists.andrew.cmu.edu<alice-teachers-bounces+pelusoem=lycoming.edu at lists.andrew.cmu.edu>]
> *On Behalf Of *Prem Pathuri
> *Sent:* Monday, November 05, 2012 11:24 PM
> *To:* Alice educators
> *Subject:* alice-teacher Variables****
>
> ** **
>
> I am having a hard time explaining to one of my students EXACTLY what a
> variable is and I told him to refer to the book but it made it more
> confusing for him. So could somebody please give me a simple yet concise
> answer?****
>
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> Prem Pathuri****
>
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