Lesson 6.04: Dictionaries Looping

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to...

  • Use loops to traverse through key/value pairs in a dictionary

Materials/Preparation

  • Do Now
  • Lab - Dictionaries Looping
  • Associated Reading - section 5.4 of Book
  • Read through the do now, lesson, and lab so that you are familiar with the requirements and can assist students

Pacing Guide

Duration Description
5 Minutes Do Now
10 Minutes Lesson
35 Minutes Lab
5 Minutes Debrief

Instructor's Notes

  1. Do Now
    • Display the Do Now on the board.
    • Students apply the .keys() method and investigate the type produced.
  2. Lesson
    • Discuss part 1 of the Do Now.
      • Ask students what type was returned.
    • Discuss part 2 of the Do Now.
      • Ask for a small number of students to write their solution on the board.
      • Discuss that it is possible to do just for key in my_dictionary:, but behind the scenes this is similar to calling the .keys() function.
      • Discuss that the order of the list is not exactly what was expected.
        • Unlike lists, dictionaries have no guaranteed order.
  3. Lab
    • Students will rewrite their word count lab (Lab 6.02) to return the top 5 most frequently occurring words.
  4. Debrief
    • Take a moment to discuss any common areas of confusion or challenge that came up during the lab.
    • Talk about how in works for dictionaries for the bonus.

Accommodation/Differentiation

Students that are moving quickly can explore sorting additionally in the bonus activity.

Some students may need a second class period to complete this lab.