A method follows a value and a dot. strip() removes surrounding whitespace, lower() changes case, and replace(old, new) replaces matching text. They return new strings; they do not alter the original. startswith() checks a prefix and returns a Boolean.
This is an editable worked demo. Edit main.py, press Run to compare the result, then Submit to check your small change. The next lesson transfers the idea to a different setting.
Change cleaned to remove outer spaces and lowercase this message. Run should print gate open; then Submit.
cleaned to the stripped, lowercased message.