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Lesson 4.03: Nested For Loops

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to...

  • Define and identify: nested for loops, stack trace.
  • Use nested loops via a function and a for loop.
  • Use nested for loops via an outer loop containing an inner loop.
  • Use a stack trace to understand and demonstrate the flow of nested for loops.

Materials/Preparation

Day 1 Pacing

Duration Description
5 Minutes Do Now
10 Minutes Lesson
35 Minutes Lab
5 Minutes Debrief

Day 2 Pacing

Duration Description
5 Minutes Do Now
10 Minutes Review
35 Minutes Lab
5 Minutes Debrief

Instructor's Notes

1. Do Now

  • Display the Do Now on the board.
  • Students use nested for loops to create a square star pattern.

Lesson

Go over part 1 of the Do Now

  • Discuss the output of the program - were the students able to guess the output without typing it?
  • Go over how to read for loops if students are struggling.
  • Make sure students are understanding loops and string concatenation.
  • If students continue to struggle, take 5 minutes to go over the loop syntax and practice.

Go over part 2 of the Do Now

  • Ask a student to write the print_star_square function on the board.
  • Define nested for loop: a loop within another loop.
  • For each iteration of the outer loop, the inner loop is iterated through completely.
  • Draw a diagram (stack trace) of the for loop.
  • Ask students to draw the nested part of the state diagram (should be inside the outer loop but look the same as the outer loop)

Go over part 3 of the Do Now

  • If students were unable to finish this, give them 5 minutes to practice in groups before calling them back to go over this part.
  • Ask a couple of students to write on the board how they did this.
  • Ask them how treating the loop as its own function made it easier or harder.
  • Ideally this should make it easier as a way of abstracting knowledge of looping.

3. Lab

  • The pattern lab asks students to write functions that produce different outputs using nested for loops.
  • The Caesar cipher lab asks students to write a simple letter rotation function which enciphers letter-by-letter, necessitating nested for loops.

4. Debrief

  • Inform students that there will be a Unit 4 Quiz after Lesson 4.04.
  • Go over common questions the students had.
  • On the second day, if time allows, go over the bonus lab problem and discuss how students solved the problem.

Accommodation/Differentiation

  • If students need extra time for lab, there is another day in the schedule for that.
  • This topic is often confusing for students new to the concept, so build in time for frequent individual checks for understanding.
  • Bonus Lab Problem This is a bit more difficult and should provide a challenge for students who are moving more quickly.