Drawing A Circle:

Now we will draw our first shape, a circle! Type this command: tom.circle(50)

If you named your variable something other than “tom”, you would place that name in front of the dot. 

This should have appeared on your Canvas after typing that command. You drew a circle!

The number inside the parenthesis specified to the program how big the radius of the circle should be. Try runningthe same command but with different numbers to see what sorts of circles you’ll draw!

Once you have finished drawing circles, please type this command: tom.reset()
This will reset our virtual canvas to make space for the next shape we will create!

Drawing A Square:

There are two commands involved in drawing a square:

• tom.forward() –draws aside of the square

• tom.right() –turns our pen to face the correct direction for drawing the next side of the square. 

We need to execute these two commands 4 times to draw our square. This is the perfect time to use a for loop!

1. Your turtle variable should already be initialized. If it isn’t, refer to the “Starting Turtle” section.

2. Create a for loop like the one below and run it.

Look! We made a square.

• Try experimenting with the same for loop, but change the number in tom.forward(), tom.right(), or both! Do you get a different sized shape? A completely different shape?

• Remember to run this command when you are done drawing squares to reset your canvas: tom.reset()

Drawing A Triangle:

Drawing a triangle is like drawing a square, except it only has three sides and we need to turn our pen at a sharper angle. Here are the commands associated with drawing a triangle:

• tom.forward()

• tom.left()

1. Your turtle variable should already be initialized. If it isn’t, refer to the “Starting Turtle” section.

2. Create a for loop like theone below and run it.

Congratulations! You just finished drawing your first triangle!

Now, try running the for loop again, but see what happens when you make some/all of these changes!

• Change the number in tom.forward() or tom.left()

• Replace tom.left(120) with tom.right(120)

As always, please reset your canvas when you are finished experimenting: tom.reset() 

Drawing A Rectangle:

Drawing a rectangle is a little more complex than the other shapes we have drawn today. That is because unlike squares and triangles, rectangles do not have the same length on each side. 

Let’s look at the code to draw a rectangle and we will analyze how it works.

1. Your turtle variable should already be initialized. If it isn’t, refer to the “Starting Turtle” section.

2. We are going to use this for loop to create our rectangle. The initial setup is the same, but you will notice the “if else” statement inside the for loop.

• The first line says we will run the code 4 times.

• The if statement says if it is the 1stor 3rd time running the code, draw a longer side of the rectangle and turn the pencil right.

• The else statement says if it isn’tthe 1stor 3rd time running the code (meaning it would be the 2ndor 4thtime), draw a shorter side of the rectangle and turn the pencil right.

Now that you understand how this code works a bit better, let’s run it and see if we can draw a rectangle!

Challenge: Drawing A Creature

Now, using the shapes we have learned, we are going to make a creature.

Here's an example:

Your creature should have:

• A head

• At least 1 eye

• A mouth

• A body

• At least 2 legs

Tips:

• It may be helpful to sketch/visualize what sort of creature you want to draw before you start coding it.

• You can use as many or as few colors as you like

• It may be helpful to write your code in a file instead of using the shell, that way you can save your progress and make small changes when necessary.

• DO NOT name your file “turtle”. This will confuse the computer and cause your program not to work. You may name your file anything other than “turtle”.

Download the PDF below