Python/LED Matrix đź’»
The top-left light is on, but you want to move it to the bottom-right corner. This line of code changes the pixel location correctly.
What is matrix.pixel(7, 7, 1)?
(The matrix is 8x8 and (0, 0) is top-left)
You're working with RGB values to control pixel colors.
This is the color you would see if you set Red to 255, Green to 0, and Blue to 255.
What is magenta (or pinkish-purple)?
(Red + Blue = Magenta)
This sci-fi movie featured characters plugging into a virtual reality — and is known for its green computer code visuals. Keanu Reeves stars in this movie as Neo.
What is The Matrix?
This is Gonzaga’s mascot's name.
What is Spike the bulldog?
She sings this 2010s girl power anthem.
Who is Beyonce?
Your matrix lights are blindingly bright! You want to set the brightness to one-quarter strength. You would use line of code would you use. Also, what's the valid range for brightness?
What is matrix.brightness = 0.25, and the range is from 0.0 to 1.0?
In binary, each place value is a power of 2. For example:
101 means 1Ă—4 + 0Ă—2 + 1Ă—1 = 5. (where 4 is 22, 2 is 21, and 1 is 20).
This is the decimal value of 10110.
What is 22?
(16 + 4 + 2)
Guess the tech phrase from these emojis:
💻🔒📶
What is “computer security” or “secure wireless” or “cybersecurity”?
These are Gonzaga's official school colors.
What is navy blue and (white/red)?
She sings this 2000s girl power anthem.
Who is Britney Spears?
You turn on your letter using pixels, but it disappears immediately. These two lines of code make it stay on the screen for 2 seconds before turning off.
What is time.sleep(2) and then matrix.fill(0)?
I connect your devices, but I’m not a cord.
I live in the air, but can’t fly like a bird.
I’m fast, invisible, and kind of a star —
You use me every day, at home, school, or car.
What is Wi-Fi?
Or “wireless network.”
Many people’s first computer program simply prints these two words to the screen.
What is “Hello, world!”
We are in Bollier. These are 2 buildings you can get to from Bollier without going outside.
What is (2 of:) PACCAR, Herak, or Hughes?
She sings this 1990s girl power anthem.
Who is Spice Girls?
You want to shift everything left and wrap the pixels around to the other side. This line of code lets you do that.
What is matrix.shift_left(True)?
This message was encoded with a Caesar shift of +1, +2, or +3, meaning 1, 2, or 3 was added to each letter to get its encoded letter (example: a + 2 -> c). Work with your team to figure out the shift and decode it:
Wklv lv ixq!
What is “This is fun!” (Shift -3)?
This arcade game, released in the 1970s, featured a simple dot bouncing between paddles — and is considered one of the first video games ever.
What is Pong?
In the 2024–25 season, Gonzaga men's basketball finished with a 26‑9 overall record, won the WCC Tournament, and advanced to this round in the NCAA Tournament.
What is the Second Round?
(They went 26–9, claimed the West Coast Conference tournament championship, and made it to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament)
She sings this 1960s girl power anthem.
Who is Aretha Franklin?
You want to display an “X” shape on the 8x8 LED matrix using only matrix.pixel(x, y, 1). This is the pattern of the XY coordinates for the two diagonal lines.
Hint: Sketch or visualize the matrix before answering!
What is: For the first diagonal, the coordinates follow (0,0), (1,1), ..., (7,7) — where x = y. For the second diagonal, the coordinates follow (0,7), (1,6), ..., (7,0) — where x + y = 7. You can use a loop like:
for i in range(8):
matrix.pixel(i, i, 1) # First diagonal
matrix.pixel(i, 7 - i, 1) # Second diagonal
Look at this sequence of numbers:
2, 3, 5, 9, 17, 33, ?
This number comes next.
Hint: in CS, powers of 2 are always show up!
What is 65?
Pattern: Start with 2
→ +1 = 3
→ +2 = 5
→ +4 = 9
→ +8 = 17
→ +16 = 33
→ +32 = 65
This woman was the world’s first computer programmer — more than 100 years before actual computers existed (first name only is okay).
Hint: her first name popped up in the LED matrix lab!
Who is Ada Lovelace?
(Daughter of the poet Lord Byron, she worked on early algorithms for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine.)
The Gonzaga women’s basketball team went 24–11 overall in the 2024–25 season, shared the WCC regular-season title, and advanced to this round in the NCAA tournament.
What is trick question! Unfortunately our women's team did not go to the NCAA tournament.
(They reached the quarterfinals of the WBIT after a strong season and regular-season championship)
She sings this 1980s girl power anthem.
Who is Cyndi Lauper?