IGCSE 0478 Programming Challenge – Smart Garden Irrigation System

A school wants to automate watering in its greenhouse using a simple computer program.
You have been asked to write a program to help monitor soil moisture and control when the irrigation system should switch on.

Task 1 – Input and Validation

Write a program that:

1. Asks the user to enter the current soil moisture level as a percentage (0–100).
   
   

2. Validates the input and forces the user to re-enter the value if it is outside the range.
   
   

Task 2 – Irrigation Rules

The irrigation system follows these rules:

Soil Moisture (%)

Action

Below 30%

Irrigation turns ON

Between 30%–60%

Irrigation stays OFF

Above 60%

Display “Soil too wet – check drainage.”

Your program must output the correct action based on the validated input.

Task 3 – Daily Log

Extend your program to:

1. Ask the user how many readings they want to enter for the day.
   
   

2. For each reading:
   
   

   • Enter and validate a moisture percentage
     
     

   • Count how many times the irrigation would have turned ON
     
     

3. At the end of the day, output:
   
   

• The average moisture level
  
  

• The number of irrigation activations
  
  

• The highest and lowest moisture readings
  
  

Task 4 – Bonus (Harder)

Add the following optional extension:

• Store all readings in a list/array.
  
  

• Export them to a text file called greenhouse_log.txt, each reading on a new line.
  
  

• Append the day’s average moisture at the end of the file.