Python Adventure: Crisis at Chaotic University

Dean Doomer: "We are indubitably doomed if we can't find someone who knows Python to disentangle this disorganized data. I doubt we have anyone brave enough to wrangle the tangled up text in these terrible tables to make them coherent, organized, and stable--but if you want to try--be my guest. The fate of the semester depends on you. No pressure."

Enter your name, brave volunteer:

Choose Your Crisis to Solve:

👨‍🏫 Professor Scatterbrain

Crisis: Student rosters are scrambled across classes!

Help organize attendance lists and grade data before tomorrow's classes.

💼 Administrator Alice

Crisis: Enrollment system crashed during registration!

Process hundreds of pending applications and create organized student records.

🔬 Researcher Ray

Crisis: Lab data from multiple experiments is mixed up!

Sort and analyze research data to save months of work.

💻 IT Hero

Crisis: User accounts and permissions are chaos!

Automate user management and fix access control systems.

Level 1: Introduction to Python 🐍

Your First Challenge!

Welcome to your role! You need to learn Python to solve real university problems.

Python is a popular programming language with easy-to-read syntax. Let's start with the basics!

What is a Variable?

A variable in Python is like a labeled container that holds information.

📝 How to Define a Variable

We define a variable using this pattern: variable_name = value

Important: Text must have quotes around it, but numbers don't need quotes.

Examples:

name = "Sarah" ← Text needs quotes

age = 25 ← Numbers don't need quotes

is_student = True ← True/False don't need quotes

# Employee review data
employee_name = "Sarah Chen"
review_score = 4.2
is_promotion_eligible = True
department_list = ["Engineering", "Marketing", "Sales", "HR"]

📤 What this creates in memory:

employee_name → "Sarah Chen"

review_score → 4.2

is_promotion_eligible → True

department_list → ["Engineering", "Marketing", "Sales", "HR"]

🎯 Interactive Challenge: Create Your First Variable

Create a variable that stores the name of your favorite programming language (hint: it should be "Python"!)

💡 Hint: Use the format: variable_name = "value"

Level 2: Data Types and Operations 📊

Data Organization Challenge

You need to organize different types of university data efficiently.

Python Data Types

Different types of data require different data types:

📝 The Five Main Data Types

Python has five main data types you need to know:

int = whole numbers (like 25, 100, -5)

float = decimal numbers (like 3.14, 98.6, -2.5)

str = text (always needs quotes: "Hello", "Python")

bool = True or False (no quotes needed)

list = collection of items (uses square brackets [ ])

# Different data types for different purposes
# Essential Python data types
student_id = 12847                  # int (integer) - for whole numbers 
name = "Aisha Patel"                # str (string) - for text
gpa = 3.85                          # float - for decimal numbers
is_enrolled = True                  # bool (boolean) - for True/False
courses = ["CS101", "MATH201"]      # list - for collections of items

print(f"ID: {student_id}")
print(f"Name: {name}")
print(f"GPA: {gpa}")
print(f"Enrolled: {is_enrolled}")
print(f"Courses: {courses}")

📤 Output:

ID: 12847

Name: Aisha Patel

GPA: 3.85

Enrolled: True

Courses: ['CS101', 'MATH201']

🎯 Question: Which data type is correct for storing whole numbers in Python?

int

float

str

bool

Level 3: Input and Output - Connecting with Users 💬

Interactive System Challenge

Create an interactive system for your university role.

Getting User Input and Displaying Results

The input() functionwaits for the user to type in their input. It does not proceed until the enter key is pressed.

# Getting input from users
student_name = input("Enter student name: ")
credit_hours = int(input("Total credit hours completed: "))

# Processing and displaying results
if credit_hours < 30:
    status = "Freshman"
elif credit_hours < 60:
    status = "Sophomore"
elif credit_hours < 90:
    status = "Junior"
else:
    status = "Senior"

print(f"\n{student_name}'s status: {status}")

📤 Output:

Enter student name: Amara Johnson

Total credit hours completed: 30

Amara Johnson's status: Sophomore

📝 What is an F-string?

An f-string (formatted string) is a way to format text by including variables inside it. Let's see the difference:

Without f-string (harder way):

print("Hello, " + name + "!")

With f-string (easier way):

print(f"Hello, {name}!")

F-strings use curly braces {} to include variables inside the text.

🎯 F-string Challenge

The variable, student_name, stores a student's name.

Complete this f-string to display the student's name: print(f"Hello, ____")

Remember: F-strings use curly braces {} to include variables!

💡 Hint: F-strings use curly braces {} to include variables

📝 Converting User Input to Numbers

The input() function always stores the user's input as text, even if they type a number!

Problem: age = input("Your age: ") → age is text like "25"

Solution: Convert text to numbers using:

int() = converts to whole numbers

float() = converts to decimal numbers

Example: age = int(input("Your age: "))

# Getting numbers from users
years_text = input("Years of experience: ") # This is text: "5"
years_number = int(years_text) # Convert to integer: 5

# Or do it in one step (more common)
years_experience = int(input("Years of experience: "))
current_salary = float(input("Current salary: ")) # float for decimals

📤 What happens:

Years of experience: 5

Current salary: 65000.50

Now you can do math with these numbers!

Level 4: Lists - Managing Collections of Data 📋

Data Collection Challenge

Organize multiple pieces of related data efficiently.

Working with Lists

Lists can hold collections of data. Python uses zero-based indexing!

# Creating and managing lists
students = ["Aisha", "Carlos", "Amara", "Diane"]
grades = [95, 87, 92, 88]

print("Class Roster:")
for i in range(len(students)):
    print(f"{i+1}. {students[i]} - Grade: {grades[i]}")

# Adding new student
students.append("Eve")
grades.append(94)

print(f"\nTotal students: {len(students)}")
print(f"Average grade: {sum(grades)/len(grades):.1f}")

📤 Output:

Class Roster:

1. Aisha - Grade: 95

2. Carlos - Grade: 87

3. Amara - Grade: 92

4. Diane - Grade: 88

Total students: 5

Average grade: 91.2

🎯 List Creation Challenge

Create a list containing three of your favorite subjects:

Useful List Functions

Python has built-in functions that help you work with lists more effectively:

# Useful list functions
grades = [95, 87, 92, 88, 94]
students = ["Carlos", "Eve", "Diane", "Jamal", "Sofia"]

# len() tells you how many items are in a list
total_students = len(students)
total_grades = len(grades)

# sum() adds up all numbers in a list
total_points = sum(grades)

# Calculate average
average_grade = sum(grades) / len(grades)

print(f"Total students: {total_students}")
print(f"Total points: {total_points}")
print(f"Average grade: {average_grade:.1f}")

# You can also use len() to check if a list is empty
if len(students) > 0:
    print("We have students!")
else:
    print("No students yet.")

📤 Output:

Total students: 5

Total points: 456

Average grade: 91.2

We have students!

🎯 Function Challenge

You have a list of test scores: test_scores = [85, 92, 78, 96, 89]. What function would you use to find how many scores there are?

💡 Hint: This function counts the number of items in a list

The split() Method - Breaking Strings Apart

The split() method is very useful for processing data. It breaks a string into a list based on a separator.

📝 How split() Works

The split() method turns a string into a list by breaking it apart:

Example:

data = "Alice,25,Engineer"

parts = data.split(",")

Result: ["Alice", "25", "Engineer"]

The comma tells split() where to break the string apart!

# Processing employee data with split()
employee_data = "John Smith,30,Manager,75000"

# Split by commas to get individual pieces
info = employee_data.split(",")

name = info[0]        # "John Smith"
age = int(info[1])    # 30 (converted to number)
position = info[2]    # "Manager"  
salary = int(info[3]) # 75000 (converted to number)

print(f"Employee: {name}")
print(f"Position: {position}")
print(f"Salary: ${salary:,}")

📤 Output:

Employee: John Smith

Position: Manager

Salary: $75,000

🎯 Split Method Challenge

You have a string variable named subjects that stores the string "Math,Science,History". What would you write to split it into a list of subjects?

💡 Hint: Use split(",") to break apart by commas

Level 5: Decision Making - Automated Logic 🤔

Automation Challenge

Create automated decision-making systems for your university role.

Boolean Logic and If Statements

Boolean logic allows programs to make decisions based on conditions.

# Automated student evaluation
students = [
    {"name": "Aisha", "grade": 95, "attendance": 0.98},
    {"name": "Carlos", "grade": 72, "attendance": 0.85},
    {"name": "Diane", "grade": 88, "attendance": 0.92}
]

for student in students:
    name = student["name"]
    grade = student["grade"]
    attendance = student["attendance"]
    
    print(f"\nEvaluating {name}:")
    print(f"  Grade: {grade}")
    print(f"  Attendance: {attendance:.0%}")
    
    if grade >= 90 and attendance >= 0.95:
        status = "Dean's List"
    elif grade >= 70 and attendance >= 0.80:
        status = "Passing"
    else:
        status = "Needs Improvement"
    
    print(f"  Status: {status}")

📤 Output:

Evaluating Aisha:

Grade: 95

Attendance: 98%

Status: Dean's List

Evaluating Carlos:

Grade: 72

Attendance: 85%

Status: Passing

Evaluating Diane:

Grade: 88

Attendance: 92%

Status: Passing

🎯 If Statement Challenge

Write an if statement to check if a score is passing (>= 70):

Level 6: Final Challenge

The Ultimate Test

Time to put all your skills together!

🎓 Crisis at Chaotic University! 🚨

🚨 CAMPUS-WIDE EMERGENCY! 🚨

Choose Your Crisis to Solve:

👨‍🏫 Professor Scatterbrain

💼 Administrator Alice

🔬 Researcher Ray

💻 IT Hero

Level 1: Introduction to Python 🐍

Your First Challenge!

What is a Variable?

📝 How to Define a Variable

📤 What this creates in memory:

🎯 Interactive Challenge: Create Your First Variable

Level 2: Data Types and Operations 📊

Data Organization Challenge

Python Data Types

📝 The Five Main Data Types

📤 Output:

🎯 Question: Which data type is correct for storing whole numbers in Python?

Level 3: Input and Output - Connecting with Users 💬

Interactive System Challenge

Getting User Input and Displaying Results

📤 Output:

📝 What is an F-string?

🎯 F-string Challenge

📝 Converting User Input to Numbers

📤 What happens:

Level 4: Lists - Managing Collections of Data 📋

Data Collection Challenge

Working with Lists

📤 Output:

🎯 List Creation Challenge

Useful List Functions

📤 Output:

🎯 Function Challenge

The split() Method - Breaking Strings Apart

📝 How split() Works

📤 Output:

🎯 Split Method Challenge

Level 5: Decision Making - Automated Logic 🤔

Automation Challenge

Boolean Logic and If Statements

📤 Output:

🎯 If Statement Challenge

Level 6: Final Challenge

The Ultimate Test

🏆 Certificate of Achievement

🛠️ Skills Mastered: