Python Workshop

On Saturday, March 16th, we hosted our python workshop in collaboration with Del Norte High School’s Girls in CS club at Mission Valley Library. To begin, we discussed computer science in the real world, including examples, our woman in STEM, Grace Hopper. Then, we moved on to programming itself, and how we give instructions to computers with different languages. Our first coding activity was a classic for any programmer - “hello, world”. Once the girls had written their first line of code, we delved more into the specifics of syntax, variables, data types, and more!
​

For our first activity, once the girls had learned about loops, they organized lines of code on slips of paper into a loop program. Then, after a quick break for snacks, they moved on to turtle, a graphical library that can draw using code. Once learning a few turtle commands, participants chose one of four drawings to create using turtle, including a flower, a balloon, a star, and a clover. Our final coding activity was sprite animation, using sample photos to create a simple running animation. One participant commented that she enjoyed programming because it was a “simpler way of talking to the computer.” We hope to see you at our next workshop on robotics!