Published lesson · 25 minutes

Make decisions and repeat tasks

Objective: Use if statements and loops to handle options and repeated work.

Understand the idea

This lesson focuses on make decisions and repeat tasks. Use if statements and loops to handle options and repeated work. We will use a familiar community situation to make the idea concrete, then break it into decisions you can explain. You do not need special equipment or previous experience beyond the course prerequisites.

A community group can review several supply costs and label each one as within or above a chosen budget. Start by naming the information or action involved, then consider what a visitor or learner needs to understand. This small planning step makes the example easier to follow and helps you notice assumptions before they become confusing.

A condition selects a branch; a loop repeats a block for each item or while a condition remains true. The example is synthetic and contains no real organisation, personal details or promises about services. Treat it as a learning model: adapt the structure to your own situation, and check details with the people responsible before publishing anything publicly.

Indentation defines Python blocks. Check the first and last values in a loop, and avoid a loop that never changes its stopping condition. Try changing one detail at a time and describe what changed. When something behaves differently from what you expected, return to the goal and inspect the relevant part instead of changing several things at once.

A small, explicit program is easier to check than a clever one with hidden assumptions. A useful review asks whether the result is clear, usable and appropriate for the intended audience. Invite another person to try it when possible, and make improvements based on what they can actually understand or do.

Worked examples

Make decisions and repeat tasks: a small example

See how make decisions and repeat tasks can help communicate or solve a practical community task.

main.py

costs = [45, 80, 120]
budget = 100
for cost in costs:
    if cost <= budget:
        print("Within budget")
    else:
        print("Review cost")

Practice tasks

  1. Explore make decisions and repeat tasks

    Use the worked example for “Make decisions and repeat tasks”. Change one small detail to suit a different synthetic community situation, then explain what you expected and how you checked whether the change still met the lesson objective.

  2. Build a Python practice example

    Create a small practice result that demonstrates this objective: Use if statements and loops to handle options and repeated work. Use only synthetic information, keep the first version focused, and write down one limitation that a later version should address.

  3. Review and explain the result

    Review your “Make decisions and repeat tasks” result as if another learner will use it without your explanation. Identify one strength, one exact point that may be unclear, and a revision that would make the result easier to understand or use.

Make decisions and repeat tasks becomes easier when you start with a clear purpose, try one small step and check the result from the learner or community member's point of view.

Course overview