Activities — Step 1

Four tasks, increasing independence. Each tier unlocks when you submit the previous one. Only Tier 4 is assessed by the Code Product Rubric.

🎯Calibrate
1Workout
2Debug
3Complete
4Create
✍️Concept
📓Reflect
👤 Your Details REQUIRED — fill in before you begin (★ = required)
🎯 Before You Begin Calibration Check 2 questions + 1 reflection — unlocks Tier 1
These questions measure metacognitive calibration — how well your confidence matches your actual performance. Answer honestly; there are no right or wrong answers here.
1. How confident are you about completing Step 1? (1 = not at all confident, 10 = very confident)
1 10 5
2. What percentage of Tier 1 blanks do you predict you will get correct on your first attempt? (0–100)
%
Write at least 2–3 sentences. This is your own thinking — there are no wrong answers.
Tier 1 Workout Programming Guided — fill in the blanks and run

The Step 1 program is almost complete. The ? boxes are where you type. Click each one and fill in the correct value, then click Submit Tier 1.

How to fill in:
  • Click a ? box in the code below
  • Type the correct value (e.g. 20 for GRID_COLS)
  • Fill all 7 boxes, then click Submit Tier 1
  • Green = correct  ·  Red = wrong — fix and resubmit
import pygame
pygame.init()

# Grid constants
GRID_COLS  =         # 20 columns
GRID_ROWS  =         # 15 rows
CELL_SIZE  =         # 30x30 pixels per cell
SNAKE_SPEED = 8

# Colour constants - RGB tuples
WHITE   = 
GREEN   = (  0, 200,  80)
DKGREEN = (  0, 160,  50)
RED     = 
BG      = ( 30,  30,  30)

# Calculate window size in pixels
WINDOW_W =  * CELL_SIZE
WINDOW_H = GRID_ROWS * 

screen = pygame.display.set_mode((WINDOW_W, WINDOW_H))
pygame.display.set_caption("Snake")

screen.fill(BG)
pygame.display.flip()
pygame.time.wait(3000)
pygame.quit()
Tier 2 Debugging — Find & Fix Spot each bug and explain the fix 🔒

The code below has 3 deliberate bugs. Each will cause a crash or wrong behaviour. For each bug: identify the variable name, explain what is wrong, and write the corrected line.

import pygame
pygame.init()

GRID_COLS   = 20
GRID_ROWS   = 15
CELL_SIZE   = "30"          # ⚠ Bug 1 near here
SNAKE_SPEED = 8

WHITE   = (255, 255, 255)
GREEN   = [0, 200, 80]      # ⚠ Bug 2 near here
DKGREEN = (  0, 160,  50)
RED     = (220,  50,  50)
BG      = ( 30,  30,  30)

WINDOW_W = GRID_COLS + CELL_SIZE   # ⚠ Bug 3 near here
WINDOW_H = GRID_ROWS * CELL_SIZE

screen = pygame.display.set_mode((WINDOW_W, WINDOW_H))
pygame.display.set_caption("Snake")
screen.fill(BG)
pygame.display.flip()
pygame.time.wait(3000)
pygame.quit()

Bug 1

Bug 2

Bug 3

🧠 Reflection 2 Mid-Point Check-In Required before Tier 3 unlocks 🔒
Reflect on how Tiers 1 and 2 went. Write at least 2–3 sentences.
Tier 3 Semi-Completed Task No bugs — write the missing logic 🔒

The skeleton below is ~50% complete. Write every missing line to make a working Step 1 program. No bugs here — this is a writing task.

# skeleton — gaps marked with ___
import pygame
pygame.init()

# Write all four grid constants:
GRID_COLS  = ___
GRID_ROWS  = ___
CELL_SIZE  = ___
SNAKE_SPEED = ___

# Write the five colour constants as RGB tuples:
WHITE   = ___
GREEN   = ___
DKGREEN = ___
RED     = ___
BG      = ___

# Calculate window dimensions from the constants:
WINDOW_W = ___
WINDOW_H = ___

# These lines are given:
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((WINDOW_W, WINDOW_H))
pygame.display.set_caption("Snake")

# Write three display lines: fill, flip, wait
___
___
___
pygame.quit()
Tier 4 ★ New Programming Task Assessed by the Code Product Rubric 🔒
Task prompt
Add two new colour constants to Step 1: GOLD = (255, 200, 0) for a future bonus food item, and a BORDER_COLOUR of your own choice. Then, after all your constants are defined, use print() to display the name and Python type of each colour constant (WHITE, GREEN, DKGREEN, RED, BG, GOLD, and BORDER_COLOUR). Run your program in Thonny and paste the full code and terminal output below.
🧠 Concept Check Test Your Understanding 5 quick questions — required before Reflection 3 🔒

Complete Tier 4 to unlock these questions.

🧠 Reflection 3 After Tier 4 Required before the Reflection Journal unlocks 🔒
Reflect on anything unexpected from completing all four tiers. Write at least 2–3 sentences.
📓 Reflective Journal 5 prompts — required before Step 1 is marked complete 🔒

Answer each prompt thoughtfully. There are no right or wrong answers — this is your own reflection.

🎯 Post-Activity Check-In After Completing All Tiers Complete after the Reflective Journal to finish this step 🔒
1. How confident do you feel about this step’s concepts now? (1 = not confident, 10 = very confident)
1 10 5
2. Your Tier 1 first-attempt score (auto-filled)
%