This is your first JumpMan project that uses a variable: a word to hold a number. Click this in Topics Covered section and read up on it- you'll use variables often!

/* * In this project, you'll add a new feature: a counter * that ticks up once a second and displays the count on the screen. */ #include "MakerScreenXVI.h" MakerScreenXVI lcd; /* Here you create a variable- an important code concept. The Maker Board * can keep track of numbers for you, like it will with this counter. You * need to name that number so that you can refer to it in code. As an * example, think of the word 'temperature'. Temperature can have a value * of 32, 65, 85, or 950, depending on where you are in the world. You use * the word 'temperature' to represent a number of degrees. */ int counter = 0; /* * Here you create a new variable called 'counter' and set its value to * '0'. You decide the nameof a variable, but it's good to give variables * clear, descriptive names like this. * The 'int' part tells the program that the variable is of the integer * type, meaning it can have whole number values like -10, 21, 3, 0, 89, * but not any decimals like 3.2, 9.8 or -22.6. * You only have to name the type once- when you 'declare the variable'. * When you refer to this variable later, just use the name 'counter' */ void setup() { lcd.begin(); lcd.backlightOn(); } void loop() { lcd.clear(); // Add a space after 'World!' so the numbers aren't smashed against it. lcd.print("Hello World! "); /* * This is where you show the value of the counter. This print is going * to show the value of counter, not the word "counter", so you don't * need the quotation marks around it. */ lcd.print(counter); delay(1000); //pauses the program for 1 second after printing counter /* * Increase the counter each second, so after * the 1 second delay, add one to the 'counter' variable. * This line says "counter has a new value of counter + 1". If you just * typed 'counter + 1', that value wouldn't have a name. */ counter = counter + 1; } /* * In this project, you saw how the different pieces of the code can * interact. The variable can be used as an argument for the .print() method * In future projects, you'll see that variables replace numbers often. * That practice allows for more flexibility in yur program. * * Try changing the variable reassignment line to just: * counter + 1 * and see how it effects the display * * Try putting quotes around "counter" in the lcd.print(). How does the * computer interpret that lcd.print() now? */ // (c) 2017 Let's Start Coding. License: www.letsstartcoding.com/bsdlicense
 

You can manipulate variables however you'd like. For example, change int counter = 0; to int counter = 1; and change counter = counter + 1 to counter = counter * 2; . Now you'll see how you can apply any math operation to a variable. 

This exercise also highlights the importance of naming a variable descriptively. The 'counter' is no longer much of a counter, it's more like a 'doubler'. doubler may be a better name for the variable if you were to keep using it to double its value.