🤖 Python Grade 5 · session 6 of 12 · 60 minutes · 🎁 free with an account
Loops and turtle art
Why type something 100 times? Tell Bolt to repeat it! Today you'll print patterns, make times tables and draw colourful art with a turtle.
A complete lesson · 60 minutes
Teach it, see it, practise it, all on this page.
Open this page with your learner and work down it, or press Teach this lesson to go through it one step at a time on a big screen. Every section has something to do.
- Warm-up3 min
- Warm-up games5 min
- for and range(): repeat it9 min
- Meet the turtle9 min
- Loops + turtle = art9 min
- Times table machine7 min
- Countdown and pattern7 min
- Turtle flower5 min
- Quiz5 min
- Set the after-class project1 min
By the end you can
- Repeat lines with for and range()
- Use the loop number in sums
- Draw shapes with turtle
- Use a loop to make turtle art
Before you start
- Lesson 1: print()
- Lesson 3: variables and f-strings
Have ready
- This page
- Coloured pencils for planning a drawing (optional)
Grade 5 · ages 10 and 11 · no experience needed
Warm-up · think first
Walk a square: go forward 3 steps and turn right. How many times do you repeat that to get back to the start?
Show the answer
4 times. Four sides and four turns. Soon you'll tell a turtle to do exactly this in 3 lines.
Teacher tip: Have a learner walk it for real.
🎮 Warm-up games · 5 quick games
Play with Bolt the robot
Five minutes with Bolt the robot. Vote, say why, then show the answer.
- Which of these is not a loop in real life? (Days of the week · A song's chorus · Eating one apple · Hands going round a clock)
Answer: "Eating one apple" happens once. The others repeat over and over. - Would you rather write your name 100 times by hand, or write one line of code? (By hand · One line of code)
Answer: One line! That's why loops are a superpower. - range(5) counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. (Always · Sometimes · Never)
Answer: Never. It counts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4: five numbers, starting at 0. - To draw a triangle, a turtle goes forward, then turns. How many degrees must it turn each time?
Answer: 120. It turns 360 degrees in all, over 3 corners, and 360 ÷ 3 is 120. - What could you draw with only straight lines and turns?
Answer: Houses, stars, spirals, robots! Plan one for the project.
Part 1 of 3 · learn, see, practise
for and range(): repeat it
Tell me once and I'll repeat it for ever! A for loop runs the moved-in lines again and again, and i tells you which time it is.
for i in range(5): runs the moved-in lines 5 times. It needs a colon and 4 spaces, like if.
i holds the count, starting at 0: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4.
range(1, 6) counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5: it stops just before the last number.
🧑🏫 Teacher: type this live with the class
Bolt repeats
for i in range(3):A colon, like if. Press Enter and see the indent. Say: repeat 3 times.
print("Hip hip hooray!")Run it. Change 3 to 30!
for i in range(1, 6):A new loop, back on the left. Ask: what will it count?
print(i)Run it. Notice it stops before 6.
print("Blast off!")Not moved in, so it happens once, after the loop.
▶ Output
(nothing is printed)
📦 Memory boxes
▶ Output
⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1 x 7 = 7 2 x 7 = 14 3 x 7 = 21 4 x 7 = 28 5 x 7 = 35
📦 Memory boxes
5intn5intA growing star pattern and a times table, in four lines. Change 7 to your favourite number.
Practise it
Start with the warm-up and go as far as you can. The stretch questions are meant to be hard.
1.1 Print Python is fun! 4 times with a loop.
▶ Output
(nothing is printed)
📦 Memory boxes
Model answer (for the teacher)
for i in range(4):
print("Python is fun!")1.2 Print the numbers 1 to 5 with a loop.
▶ Output
(nothing is printed)
📦 Memory boxes
Model answer (for the teacher)
for i in range(1, 6):
print(i)1.3 Print the 5 times table from 5 x 1 = 5 up to 5 x 10 = 50.
▶ Output
(nothing is printed)
📦 Memory boxes
Model answer (for the teacher)
for n in range(1, 11):
print(f"5 x {n} = {n * 5}")1.4 Print a growing stair of stars, with 1, 2, 3, 4 and then 5 stars.
▶ Output
(nothing is printed)
📦 Memory boxes
Model answer (for the teacher)
for i in range(1, 6):
print("*" * i)1.5 Add up the numbers 1 to 100. Start with total = 0, add each number in a loop, then print exactly: Total: 5050
▶ Output
(nothing is printed)
📦 Memory boxes
0intModel answer (for the teacher)
total = 0
for n in range(1, 101):
total += n
print(f"Total: {total}")🎁 Free for a year
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Unlocking the rest of this lesson gives you:
- Part 2: Meet the turtle, with practice at three levels
- Part 3: Loops + turtle = art, with practice at three levels
- Class activity 1: Times table machine
- Class activity 2: Countdown and pattern
- Class activity 3: Turtle flower
- A 8-question quiz
- After-class project: My turtle art gallery
- Homework and a printable practice sheet with answers
- Teach mode and the minute-by-minute teacher's plan
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FAQ
Loops and turtle art: questions
What is a for loop in simple words?
An instruction to repeat some lines. It saves you writing the same thing many times.
What is Python turtle?
A little drawing tool in Python. You give it moves and turns, and it draws lines. On this page, it draws right below your code.
Why does range start at 0?
Python counts from 0 by habit. Use range(1, 11) if you want 1 to 10.
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