What's Going On? September 11th through September 15th

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, we will continue working with Scratch.  This week we will focus in on how functions/methods are used in Scratch as well as the role of variables.  Our Project Lead the Way curriculum has some terms for variables that can help us put their use into perspective.  Some of those terms include:

• Fixed: Set and never changed
• Most Recent: Changes dynamically as the program is running
• Accumulator: Keep a running total
• Aggregator: Collection of something, usually in a list
• Best-So-Far: Similar to most recent; doesn’t rewrite value unless better than previous value
• Stepper: Iterating through a loop; which step you are in the loop; first time through the loop
• Walker: Iterating through a loop; will change to a value depending on which step in the loop
• One-Way Flag: waits for something to happen in the running of the program to indicate that a certain point has been reached; For Example, in Mario Kart, once you go halfway you hit a checkpoint. You don’t start at the beginning, you start at the checkpoint.

This will lay the groundwork for when students have the chance to design their own Scratch project during the following week.

App Development 1

This week we will take a look at how to create variables in Swift.  We will talk about the type of information different variables can hold such as:

• Integers (whole numbers)
• Float (decimal numbers)
• Boolean (true and false)
• String (words)

We will also be completing a "Flashlight App" in class this week as a group.  Students will participate in this app as a "Hackwich".  In this "Hackwich", one student will act as the driver for the app.  The students will then be able to apply the same concepts in their own app.

Web Page Design

As students learned earlier, this course is offered in partnership with WCTC.  Students who choose to enroll in this program and earn a "C" or higher in the class will earn free credit through WCTC.  We will be completing the paperwork to enroll in the program this week.  Please talk this over at home to see if this is a good option for you.  Regardless of whether students choose to enroll in the WCTC program or not, all students will follow the same curriculum.

This week, we will finally get a chance to start creating web pages.  We will be working on Unit 2.  Along with this unit, students will need to read chapter 4 in the textbook as well as complete the accompanying reading guide to help pick out the most important concepts.  We will also have three web page assignments: 2A: Black Goose Bistro, 2B: Fix the Code, and 2C: Personal Web Page.  We will finish up the week with 10 multiple choice questions.  Students are considered "on pace" for the course if the unit 2 work is completed by the end of the week.

Students should have plenty of class time to get these items completed during class.  Students who need some additional time are invited to come in before school on Wednesday and/or Thursday from 7:00-8:00.  

Fun Fact: Debugging

This came through my inbox this week, from codecademy.com.  As we are getting our feet wet with the start of programming, we will surely come across some errors that we need to fix.  This is commonly referred to as "debugging".  I thought it was an interesting blurb about the origins of the term "debugging".