17.3. Turtle Methods

Turtles can do more than go forward, turn left, and turn right. The table below lists the turtle methods. Methods are functions that are defined in a class. A class defines what all objects of the class know (the data each object keeps track of) and can do (the behaviors an object can execute). You can think of a class as like a classification (type of thing).

Name

Input

Description

backward

amount

Moves the turle backward by the specified amount

color

colorname

Sets the pen color for drawing. Use ‘red’, ‘black’, etc

forward

amount

Moves the turtle forward by the specified amount

goto

x,y

Moves the turtle to position x,y

left

angle

Turns the turtle counter clockwise by the specified angle

pendown

None

Puts down the turtles tail so that it draws when it moves

penup

None

Picks up the turtles tail so that it doesn’t draw when it moves

pensize

width

Sets the width of the pen for drawing

right

angle

Turns the turtle clockwise by the specified angle

setheading

angle

Turns the turtle to face the given heading. East is 0, north is 90, west is 180, and south is 270.

Turtle

None

Creates and returns a new turtle object

You can draw a block style C with a turtle. Can you draw more than one letter? You would have to use the penup() procedure to pick up the pen and then move to the new location to draw the second letter and then put the pen down using pendown() as shown in the example below.

Run the code to see what it draws.

The space that the turtle draws in is 320 by 320 pixels. The center of the space is at x=0, y=0.

the space coordinate system

Figure 1: The coordinates for the drawing space. Note that the center is x = 0 and y = 0.

The program below uses the goto(x,y) to move to the top left corner before drawing a C.

Run the code to see what it draws.

Note

Remember to put the pen down again after you have picked it up if you want to draw a line!

Mixed up programs

The following program uses a turtle to draw a capital F as shown in the picture below, but the lines are mixed up. The program should do all necessary set-up: import the turtle module, get the screen/space to draw on, and create the turtle. It should draw the lines in the order shown by the numbers in the picture on the left. Drag the needed blocks of statements from the left column to the right column and put them in the right order. There may be extra blocks that are not needed in a correct solution. Then click on Check to see if you are right. You will be told if any of the lines are in the wrong order or are the wrong blocks.

../_images/DrawFwGT.png

The following program uses a turtle to draw a capital A as shown in the picture below, but the lines are mixed up. The program should do all necessary set-up: import the turtle module, get the screen/space to draw on, and create the turtle. It should draw the lines in the order shown by the numbers in the picture on the left. Drag the needed blocks of statements from the left column to the right column and put them in the right order. There may be additional blocks that are not needed in a correct solution. Then click on Check to see if you are right. You will be told if any of the lines are in the wrong order or are the wrong blocks.

../_images/DrawABig.png

You can change the color and pensize that you draw with as well.

Run the code to see what it draws.

Use the area below to try to draw to draw your initials in block style with two different colors.

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