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Coding · Ages 8+ · Set A
Tavi's box called stars
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Goal: 15 min
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Remember: A variable is a box with a name. It holds a value, and the value can change while the name stays the same.

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Bo and the star boxTavi tipped three paper stars onto the workbench at the Tinker Club. Bo is a robot, and a robot only remembers what we store. Mina rolled in a cart of boxes that all looked the same. Tavi dropped the stars into one box, and Mina stuck on a label that said stars. Now Bo could ask for the box called stars and find it at once. The name on the label is stars, and the value inside is three. Then Tavi caught another star and dropped it in. The box held four, so the name stayed stars but the value changed. Later Mina made a box of her own and named it stars too, and Bo did not know which box to open. So Mina renamed hers moons.
1
In this picture of Tavi's box, what is the number 3?
🏷️The name of the box🔢The value inside the box🆕A new variable
2
A variable is a box with a name.
TrueFalse
3
The name on the box stays the same, but the can change.
nameflagvalue
4
The box called stars holds 3. Tavi drops in one more star. What does the box hold now?
3stars4
5
Mina's new box holds the coins Tavi earns. Which name tells us what is inside?
🧺stuff🪙coins❔thing
6
A value is what sits inside a box, not its name. Circle every value.
🌟stars🔢7💗lives🔢40🔢12
7
A robot remembers a number even when we never store it in a box.
TrueFalse

Order, fix and stretch

8
Put what happened to the box in order.
  • Tavi drops three stars into a box
  • Bo asks for the box called stars
  • The box holds four
  • Tavi drops in one more star
  • Mina sticks on a label that says stars
9
Mina's box and Tavi's box are both labeled stars, so Bo cannot tell them apart. What is the fix?
🌙Give Mina's box its own clear name, like moons🌟Name every box stars🚫Take the labels off both boxes
10
In Tavi's game the box called stars holds 4. Tavi catches a star, and then another. What goes in the empty box?
756
11
Think of a game. Write two variables it could need, each with a clear name.
12
Draw a box with the label coins on it, and a value inside.
Scan the code at the top to mark this sheet on screenTake a photo of your answers or type them. It is marked for you automatically, and your score is kept.
Answer key · Set A
Tavi's box called stars
1The value inside the box The label says stars, so stars is the name. The 3 is the value sitting inside the box.
2True A variable is a named box, and it holds a value.
3value Tavi added a star, so the value went from three to four. The name stayed stars.
44 One more star makes 4 stars. The value changes from 3 to 4, and the name is still stars.
5coins Coins says what is inside the box. Stuff and thing are names, but they do not tell us.
67, 40, 12 Stars and lives are names written on labels. The numbers 7, 40 and 12 are values held inside a box.
7False A robot only remembers what we store. Bo needs the number kept in a box with a name.
81, 3, 5, 4, 2 The stars go in, the box gets a name, Bo can find it, and then the value changes.
9Give Mina's box its own clear name, like moons Every variable needs its own clear name, so Mina renamed hers moons.
106 The box goes 4, then 5, then 6, because each star caught adds one.
11Your own words: a grown-up reads it.
Mark each answer, count the right ones and write the score on the sheet.