Welcome to AP Computer Science Principles




Good job on your work with the MIT APP Inventor!

This week we are going to be working on the following:

Unit 2: Digital Information - continued

Unit 6: Explore Performance Task - Ongoing

To Think; To Develop Problem-Solving Skills; To Discover; and To Create;

Learning to Compute and Computing to Learn

Classroom Protocol:

 

This is where you will come every day to find out what we are going to do in class for that day. Every day you are to come to your Quia class web page upon arriving to class, go to your class web page, and follow the directions for today.

 

Homework Policy:

 

All assignments will be due on the deadline date given. It is the responsibility for all students to complete their assignments on time. Any assignments received late will not be accepted and a grade will not be given for that assignment.

Accessing your Class Weekly Agenda:

Each week’s agenda and assignments will be updated and posted on your Quia class web page on a weekly basis.  Previous weeks Assignments/Agendas will be provided with a link at the end of the current week’s Class Web Page in case you need to revisit due to an absence, or you’re required to make up, or catch up on your course assignments.

Homework Assignment: Daily homework assignments may be found at the end of each day’s agenda. Daily Journal Entries as seen in Daily Ticket to Leave are to be entered as part of your daily homework. All students will receive a homework grade on a weekly basis, and your journal will receive a project grade each mid-term and final semester.

 

IMPORTANT DATES:     Explore Performance Task:  8 hours

To Be Completed by December 22, 2017

This Week’s Agenda:

Continue Unit 2: Digital Information

Introduction to UNIT 2: Digital Information: This unit further explores the ways that digital information is encoded, represented and manipulated. Being able to digitally manipulate data, visualize it, and identify patterns, trends and possible meanings are important practical skills that computer scientists do every day. Understanding where data comes from, having intuitions about what could be learned or extracted from it, and being able to use computational tools to manipulate data and communicate about it are the primary skills addressed in the unit.

Chapter 1: Encoding and Compressing Complex Information

Big Questions

 

·         Are the ways in which digital information is encoded more laws of nature or man made?

·         What kinds of limitations does the binary encoding of information impose on what can be represented inside a computer?

·         How accurately can human experience and perception be captured or reflected in digital information?

 

Enduring Understandings

 

·         1.1 Creative development can be an essential process for creating computational artifacts.

·         1.3 Computing can extend traditional forms of human expression and experience.

·         2.1 A variety of abstractions built upon binary sequences can be used to represent all digital data.

·         3.3 There are trade offs when representing information as digital data.

Vocabulary

 

Chapter 2: Manipulating and Visualizing Data

 

Big Questions

 

 

Enduring Understandings

 

 

Vocabulary

 

 

UNIT 6: AP Performance Tasks

 

·         This unit contains lessons to help students with preparation and execution of the AP® Performance Tasks: Create and Explore

·         The lessons in this unit are meant to be taken piecemeal rather than as a typical unit sequence. Instead of a sequence of connected lessons, these represent a more modular breakdown of the things you need to do to:

1) Understand the AP Performance Tasks

2) Make a plan for completing the tasks in the time allotted and

3) Actually doing the tasks and submitting

Online Explore Performance Task Resources:

AP CSP Course and Exam Description 

Explore PT Prep: Reviewing the Task

Explore Performance Task Rubric

 

Week 8: Monday Day D - 10-23-17 – Friday Day H – 10-27-2017

 

 

Monday Day D – 10-23-17

 

Period 6 and Period 7

 

Lesson 4: Encoding Color Images

 

Standards Alignment

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards

CL – Collaboration

CPP - Computing Practice & Programming

CT - Computational Thinking

Computer Science Principles

1.1 - Creative development can be an essential process for creating computational artifacts.

1.2 - Computing enables people to use creative development processes to create computational artifacts for creative expression or to solve a problem.

1.3 - Computing can extend traditional forms of human expression and experience.

2.1 - A variety of abstractions built upon binary sequences can be used to represent all digital data.

2.2 - Multiple levels of abstraction are used to write programs or create other computational artifacts

2.3 - Models and simulations use abstraction to generate new understanding and knowledge.

        2.3.1 - Use models and simulations to represent phenomena. [P3]

3.1 - People use computer programs to process information to gain insight and knowledge.

          3.1.1 - Use computers to process information, find patterns, and test hypotheses about digitally

                      processed information to gain insight and knowledge. [P4]

          3.1.2 - Collaborate when processing information to gain insight and knowledge. [P6]

          3.1.3 - Explain the insight and knowledge gained from digitally processed data by using appropriate

                     visualizations, notations, and precise language. [P5]

3.2 - Computing facilitates exploration and the discovery of connections in information.

3.3 - There are trade offs when representing information as digital data.


Objectives

Students will be able to:

Students will be able to:

Activator: Open up your Engineering Journal and review what you entered last class. Review the Standards, Objectives, above, for today’s lesson. Click on https://studio.code.org/ and log in. Locate the Unit 2: and click ‘View course’.

 

Direct Instruction:

The way color is represented in a computer is different from the ways we represented text or numbers. With text, we just made a list of characters and assigned a number to each one. As you are about to see, with color, we actually use binary to encode the physical phenomenon of LIGHT. Today we will see how to make colors by mixing different amounts of colored light.

A Little Bit about Pixels - Video

Color Pixelation widget tutorial video - Part 1 - Video:

Color Pixelation widget tutorial video - Part 2 - Video

Color Pixelation widget tutorial video - Part 3 - Video

 

Guided Instruction:

o     Personal Favicon Project - Activity Guide 

o    Create a personal 16x16 favicon and encode it using the Pixelation Widget on the final level of this lesson in Code Studio.

o    The image you make should represent your personality in some distinctive way. You will be using this favicon in future lessons and web sites that you make, so be creative and thoughtful.

o    After you have finished your favicon, share it with others in the class by sending them the bits with the Internet Simulator Widget!

 

Requirements:

Things to think about

Assessment for/of learning:

Questions: Please answer within your Engineering Notebook

When you are done with Lesson 4 and the creation of your Favicon:

1)        Take a screen shot of your Favicon design and add to your engineering notebook. Make sure to answer the questions above under ‘Assessment’

2)        You may take the rest of today’s class time to work on your second and final practice Explore Performance Task.

Summarizer: Mr. PC will review each day what each student accomplished and the focus of tomorrow.

Ticket to Leave:

In order to prepare you for your two AP CSP college-board performance tasks we need to get use to reflecting on our daily work and experiences. This is a skill that will prove to be useful when you go on to college, enter the workforce, and even in every aspect of your everyday life.  Every day at the end of class you should save your work, open up your journal, put down today’s date, and provide the following information.

1.   Provide at least on new thing that you learned today – Refer to today’s Objectives

2.   What did you accomplish today?

3.   Indicate any problems or obstacles you experienced

4.   How did you solve the problems or obstacles that you experienced?

Feel free to provide screen shots of your daily work in order to illustrate your day’s activities. Windows provides a Snipping Tool within its provided Accessories that may be used for this purpose.

Homework: Due Monday 

 

·         Complete your ticket to leave journal entry.

·         Now that you have more artifact tools go to www.ted.com/talks and choose a Computing Innovation which we have not discussed thus far. Explore the computing innovation according to the requirements of the Explore Performance Task. Using a new tool(s) to build your computing artifact, create your artifact and be prepared to present to the rest of the class on Monday.

·         NOTE: This will be the last practice Explore Performance Task prior to completing this task for the college-board in December.

·         Make sure that you meet all requirements found in the Explore Performance Task and provide all information requested within your written responses.

·         This practice is important in order to do well on your college board task that we will be submitting prior to the end of the year so please do a good job, and remember if you find a computing innovation that will work well for the task you need to submit, take notes and put it on your back burner. And as always have fun!

Final Practice Explore Performance Tasks Presentations will begin Next Monday!

 

 

Tuesday Day E – 10-24-17

 

Period 6

 

Lesson 5: Lossy Compression and File Formats

 

Standards Alignment

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards

CD - Computers & Communication Devices

CL - Collaboration

CT - Computational Thinking

Computer Science Principles

3.3 - There are trade offs when representing information as digital data.

3.3.1 - Analyze how data representation, storage, security, and transmission of data involve computational manipulation of information. [P4]


Objectives

Students will be able to:

Activator: Open up your Engineering Journal and review what you entered last class. Review the Standards, Objectives, above, for today’s lesson. Click on https://studio.code.org/ and log in. Locate the Unit 2: and click ‘View course’.

 

Direct Instruction:

Quick Discovery: Lossy Text Compression

Discuss Results of Findings:

We’ve been looking at image file formats. And we’ve also seen text compression. Both of those attempted to render perfectly every piece of information.

Both the image file format and the text compression scheme we used were lossless. Lossy compression schemes usually take advantage of the fact that a human is supposed to interpret the data at the other end, and human brains are good at filling the gaps when information is missing.

Today you and a partner will do some rapid research and reporting on some of the most common file formats. Use the web as your research tool.

Guided Instruction:

Jigsaw research.

Share results

 

Wrap-Up

 

*** Make sure to complete the assessment exercise at the end of the lesson, take a screen shot and add to your engineering notebook. ***

 

Assessment for/of learning: Completion of today’s class assignment and completion of the Assessment exercise at the end of this lesson. Make sure to take a screen shot and add to your engineering notebook.

Summarizer: Mr. PC will review each day what each student accomplished and the focus of tomorrow.

Ticket to Leave:

In order to prepare you for your two AP CSP college-board performance tasks we need to get use to reflecting on our daily work and experiences. This is a skill that will prove to be useful when you go on to college, enter the workforce, and even in every aspect of your everyday life.  Every day at the end of class you should save your work, open up your journal, put down today’s date, and provide the following information.

1.   Provide at least on new thing that you learned today – Refer to today’s Objectives

2.   What did you accomplish today?

3.   Indicate any problems or obstacles you experienced

4.   How did you solve the problems or obstacles that you experienced?

Feel free to provide screen shots of your daily work in order to illustrate your day’s activities. Windows provides a Snipping Tool within its provided Accessories that may be used for this purpose.

Homework: Due Monday 

 

·         Complete your ticket to leave journal entry daily.

·         Now that you have more artifact tools go to www.ted.com/talks and choose a Computing Innovation which we have not discussed thus far. Explore the computing innovation according to the requirements of the Explore Performance Task. Using a new tool(s) to build your computing artifact, create your artifact and be prepared to present to the rest of the class on Monday.

·         NOTE: This will be the last practice Explore Performance Task prior to completing this task for the college-board in December.

·         Make sure that you meet all requirements found in the Explore Performance Task and provide all information requested within your written responses.

·         This practice is important in order to do well on your college board task that we will be submitting prior to the end of the year so please do a good job, and remember if you find a computing innovation that will work well for the task you need to submit, take notes and put it on your back burner. And as always have fun!

Final Practice Explore Performance Tasks Presentations will begin Next Monday!

 

Wednesday Day F – 10-25-17

 

Period 7

 

1)   Locate the Unit 2: The Digital Information tile and click ‘View course’. Take the Unit 2, Chapter 1 Assessment. You may use any resources you can find to help you to answer the questions.

2)   When you are done with the assessment make sure to ‘Submit’. You may use the rest of today to work on your Explore Performance Tasks which you will begin to present on Monday.

 

Thursday Day G – 10-26-17

 

Period 6 and Period 7

 

NOTE: If you have not completed the Unit 2 Chapter 1 Assessment you will need to complete it today.

 

Lesson 8: Finding Trends with Visualizations

 

Standards Alignment

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards

Computer Science Principles

3.1 - People use computer programs to process information to gain insight and knowledge.

3.1.1 - Use computers to process information, find patterns, and test hypotheses about digitally processed information to gain insight and knowledge. [P4]

3.1.2 - Collaborate when processing information to gain insight and knowledge. [P6]

3.1.3 - Explain the insight and knowledge gained from digitally processed data by using appropriate visualizations, notations, and precise language. [P5]

3.2 - Computing facilitates exploration and the discovery of connections in information.3.2.1 - Extract information from data to discover and explain connections, patterns, or trends. [P1]


Objectives

Students will be able to:

Activator: Open up your Engineering Journal and review what you entered last class. Review the Standards, Objectives, above, for today’s lesson. Click on https://studio.code.org/ and log in. Locate the Unit 2: and click ‘View course’.

 

Direct Instruction:

Quick Discovery: Lossy Text Compression

The two main purposes of this lesson are:

  1. Navigating and using a real data tool (Google Trends, see below) that is external to the course
  2. Getting acquainted with talking and writing about data. In particular we want to:

Today we’re going to look at another tool that has collected a lot more data about you, me, and everyone else in this room. We’re going to start thinking about how to tell stories with data, what data we need, and how best to use and present it.

Guided Instruction:

Search trends are used in a variety of fields in order to understand what topics are most popular across the country and world.

The fact that a global "conversation" is now happening online and computational tools exist to capture and visualize that conversation enables entirely new ways of identifying, understanding, and predicting patterns in culture and society at large.

 

1)    Open up the Activity Guide - Exploring Trends - Activity Guide

 

As a class or individually students should read the summary at the top of the activity guide, which explains what information they will be looking at and how to use the Google Trends tool.

Students will use Google Trends a tool which visualizes data taken from Google search histories all around the world from the past several years.

Tell a Story

Students should find a trend or set of trends they think is particularly interesting or personally relevant and try to tell a story from the data they see. Students will write down:

 

Share Data Stories

  

    Final Remarks

It’s exciting to be able to look at so much data in such a concise way, and it certainly feels like we’ve seen a lot of good stories here. As we start thinking more about how we use data, however, we’ll need to make sure that the assumptions we’re making about our data are correct.

 

Assessment for/of learning: Completion of today’s class assignment and completion of the Assessment exercise at the end of this lesson.

Summarizer: Mr. PC will review each day what each student accomplished and the focus of tomorrow.

Ticket to Leave:

In order to prepare you for your two AP CSP college-board performance tasks we need to get use to reflecting on our daily work and experiences. This is a skill that will prove to be useful when you go on to college, enter the workforce, and even in every aspect of your everyday life.  Every day at the end of class you should save your work, open up your journal, put down today’s date, and provide the following information.

1.   Provide at least on new thing that you learned today – Refer to today’s Objectives

2.   What did you accomplish today?

3.   Indicate any problems or obstacles you experienced

4.   How did you solve the problems or obstacles that you experienced?

Feel free to provide screen shots of your daily work in order to illustrate your day’s activities. Windows provides a Snipping Tool within its provided Accessories that may be used for this purpose.

Homework: Due Monday 

 

·         Complete your ticket to leave journal entry daily.

·         Now that you have more artifact tools go to www.ted.com/talks and choose a Computing Innovation which we have not discussed thus far. Explore the computing innovation according to the requirements of the Explore Performance Task. Using a new tool(s) to build your computing artifact, create your artifact and be prepared to present to the rest of the class on Monday.

·         NOTE: This will be the last practice Explore Performance Task prior to completing this task for the college-board in December.

·         Make sure that you meet all requirements found in the Explore Performance Task and provide all information requested within your written responses.

·         This practice is important in order to do well on your college board task that we will be submitting prior to the end of the year so please do a good job, and remember if you find a computing innovation that will work well for the task you need to submit, take notes and put it on your back burner. And as always have fun!

Final Practice Explore Performance Tasks Presentations will begin Next Monday!

 

Friday Day H – 10-27-17

 

Period 6 and Period 7

 

Last day to complete your Explore Performance Task in Class

Objective:

 

1)   Understand the explore performance task rubric

2)   Communicate with classmates about computing innovations in their lives.

3)   Describe positive and negative effects of computing innovations.

 

Activator: Open up your Engineering Journal and review what you entered last class. Review the Standards, Objectives, above, for today’s lesson. Click on https://studio.code.org/ and log in. Locate the Unit 6: The AP CSP Exam and Performance Task ‘View course’.

 

Direct Instruction and Guided Practice:

 

1.   Online Explore Performance Task Resources:

AP CSP Course and Exam Description 

Explore PT Prep: Reviewing the Task

Explore Performance Task Rubric

2.   Continue working on your Explore Performance Task. Continue researching a Computing Innovation which you will Explore according to the requirements of the Explore Performance Task. Be prepared to present to the rest of the class next week. Students will get a chance to use the Performance Task Rubric and Performance Tasks Samples to discuss and collaborate on ways in which we can improve on our task performance.

 

Assessment for/of learning: Completion of today’s class assignment.

 

Summarizer: Mr. PC will review each day what each student accomplished and the focus of tomorrow.

Ticket to Leave:

In order to prepare you for your two AP CSP college-board performance tasks we need to get use to reflecting on our daily work and experiences. This is a skill that will prove to be useful when you go on to college, enter the workforce, and even in every aspect of your everyday life.  Every day at the end of class you should save your work, open up your journal, put down today’s date, and provide the following information.

1.   Provide at least on new thing that you learned today – Refer to today’s Objectives

2.   What did you accomplish today?

3.   Indicate any problems or obstacles you experienced

4.   How did you solve the problems or obstacles that you experienced?

Feel free to provide screen shots of your daily work in order to illustrate your day’s activities. Windows provides a Snipping Tool within its provided Accessories that may be used for this purpose.

 

Homework: Due Monday 

 

·         Complete your ticket to leave journal entry daily.

·         Now that you have more artifact tools go to www.ted.com/talks and choose a Computing Innovation which we have not discussed thus far. Explore the computing innovation according to the requirements of the Explore Performance Task. Using a new tool(s) to build your computing artifact, create your artifact and be prepared to present to the rest of the class on Monday.

·         NOTE: This will be the last practice Explore Performance Task prior to completing this task for the college-board in December.

·         Make sure that you meet all requirements found in the Explore Performance Task and provide all information requested within your written responses.

·         This practice is important in order to do well on your college board task that we will be submitting prior to the end of the year so please do a good job, and remember if you find a computing innovation that will work well for the task you need to submit, take notes and put it on your back burner. And as always have fun!

Final Practice Explore Performance Tasks Presentations will begin Next Monday!

 

Thanks for a great week!

Mr. PC 

 

An Introduction to Programming with the MIT App Inventor

 

Vocabulary:        Software Development Environment (SDE)

                        Computer Programming Environment (CPE)

Programming Language                        Components

                        Software                                    Objects

                        Instructions                                        Processes

                        Program                                    Project

                        Built in Functions                         Recursive

                        Commands                                 Repeat

                        Syntax                                       Test

                        Procedures                                 Debug

                        Functions                                   Software Bugs (Errors)

                        Arguments                                 Run or Execute

                        Variables                                    Problem Solving

                        Logical Thinking  

 

Direct Instruction: Introduction to Cell Phone App Design

Setting up the APP Inventor and Emulator for Testing

 

Setting Up App Inventor 2

You can set up App Inventor and start building apps in minutes. The Designer and Blocks Editor now run completely in the browser (aka the cloud). To see your app on a device while you build it (also called "Live Testing"), you'll need to follow the steps below.


You have three options for setting up live testing while you build apps

If you are using an Android device and you have a wireless internet connection, you can start building apps without downloading any software to your computer. You will need to install the App Inventor Companion App for your device. Choose Option One below. This option is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

 

For Class Use this Option: If you do not have an Android device, you'll need to install software on your computer so that you can use the on-screen Android emulator. Choose Option Two below.

 

If you do not have a wireless internet connection, you'll need to install software on your computer so that you can connect to your Android device over USB. Choose Option Three below. The USB Connection option can be tricky, especially on Windows. Use this as a last resort.

 

Option One - RECOMMENDED
Build apps with an Android device and WiFi Connection (preferred): 
Instructions

If you have a computer, an Android device, and a WiFi connection, this is the easiest way to test your apps.

********* Option Two – use these instructions for class! **********
Don’t have an Android device? Use the Emulator: Instructions

If you don’t have an Android phone or tablet handy, you can still use App Inventor. Have a class of 30 students? Have them work primarily on emulators and share a few devices.

 

System requirements

Note: Internet Explorer is not supported. We recommend Chrome or Firefox.

 

Guided Instruction: Continue from where you left off last week!

 

1)Setup your emulator by following these Instructions

2)Check out the Designer and Blocks Editor Overview

Designer and Blocks Editor Overview: Gives a tour of the App Inventor environment.

 

3)Setup Review the following Beginner Tutorials

 

Beginner Tutorials: Highly recommended as the best way to get started programming in App Inventor.

 

4)Click on the Beginner Tutorial link above and follow the directions and watch the video tutorial for the TalkToMe app. Develop the APP and test using your cell phone Emulator.

5)Click on the Beginner Tutorial link above and follow the directions and watch the video tutorial for the Extended TalkToMe Shake app. Develop the APP and test using your cell phone Emulator.

6)Click on the Beginner Tutorials link above and follow the directions and watch the video tutorial for the BallBounce Game app. Develop the APP and test using your cell phone Emulator.

7)Click on the Beginner Tutorials link above and follow the directions and watch the video tutorial for the Digital Doodle app. Develop the APP and test using your cell phone Emulator.

8)Click on the Tutorial below and follow the directions to change your TalkToText App to the Magic 8 Ball app. Develop the APP and test using your cell phone Emulator.

 

Directions for the Magic 8 Ball App

 

 

Click Here to Access Your Development Environment

 

Explore Performance Task Rubric

More Resources for finding computing innovations:

http://www.ted.com/talks

 

www.digg.com

 

http://www.teachersdomain.org

 

http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/

 

www.paper.li

 

Tools for building computing artifacts:

 

http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/

 

To Do: Create Digital Portfolios for Performance Tasks Submissions. Our goal is to complete our Explore Performance Task before the end of 2017.

·         Begin preparing for the May 11th Exam with practice exam questions from AP training google drive and the career board. Use online student response system for class review and discussion.

 

Chapter 1: Representing and Transmitting Information

Objectives

Students will be able to:

Big Questions

·         Why do computers use binary to represent digital information?

·         How does data physically get from one computer to another?

·         Are the ways data is represented and transmitted with computers laws of nature or laws of man?

Enduring Understandings

·         2.1 A variety of abstractions built upon binary sequences can be used to represent all digital data.

·         3.3 There are trade offs when representing information as digital data.

·         6.2 Characteristics of the Internet influence the systems built on it.

·         7.2 Computing enables innovation in nearly every field.

Chapter 2: Inventing the Internet

Big Questions

·         Who and what is “in charge” of the Internet and how it functions?

·         How is information transmitted from one computer to the other when they are not directly connected?

·         How can the Internet keep growing? How does that work?

Enduring Understandings

·         2.1 A variety of abstractions built upon binary sequences can be used to represent all digital data.

·         6.1 The Internet is a network of autonomous systems.

·         6.2 Characteristics of the Internet influence the systems built on it.

·         7.3 Computing has a global affect -- both beneficial and harmful -- on people and society.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

 

AP CSP Week 1 Agenda

AP CSP Week 2 Agenda  

AP CSP Week 3 Agenda

AP CSP Week 4 Agenda

AP CSP Week 5 Agenda

AP CSP Week 6 Agenda  

AP CSP Week 7 Agenda