Understanding Variables in Programming

What is a Variable? Imagine you have a box where you can store one toy at a time. If you think of this box as a variable in programming, what does the toy represent?

• The label on the box

• The color of the box

• The size of the box

• The item inside the box (the value of the variable)

Changing Variables: If you have a variable named "storyCharacter" and you first set it to 'pirate', but later in your story, you change it to 'mermaid', what are you doing to the variable?

• Deleting it

• Changing its value

• Creating a new variable

• Ignoring it

Using Variables In a story: If you use the variable "heroName" to refer to your hero every time their name comes up, how many times can you use heroName in your story?

• Only once

• Up to 10 times

• Only at the beginning of the story

• As many times as you want

Variables and Storytelling: Why are variables important in storytelling with programming? Think about changing just one word in a story and how it affects the entire story.

• They make the story longer

• They allow for different parts of the story to change without rewriting the whole story

• They make the story more difficult to understand

• They are not important; stories are better without variables

Variables in Action: If you have a variable named "magicWord" in your story program, and you set magicWord = 'Abracadabra', what happens if you change magicWord to 'Alakazam' later in the story?

• The story ends

• The original 'Abracadabra' changes to 'Alakazam' everywhere magicWord is used

• 'Abracadabra' will remain wherever it was used first

• The change will not affect the story

Real-Life Variables: Which of the following is an example of using a variable in real life, similar to how variables are used in programming?

• The name tag on your school bag

• The color of a car

• The number of pages in a book

• The temperature outside

Creative Changes In your story: If you have a variable for the setting named place and change its value from 'enchanted forest' to 'mysterious castle', what effect does this have on your story?

• The characters in the story disappear

• The setting of the story changes, which might change how the story unfolds

• It has no effect on the story

• The story becomes non-fiction

Declaring a Variable: Which of the following is like giving a name to your 'story box' (declaring a variable) so you know what kind of story element it holds?

• Naming your box 'treasureChest' to indicate it holds a treasure

• Putting a treasure inside a box without a label

• Telling a story without using any names

• Reading a story from a book