The student will construct programs to accomplish a task as a means of creative expression or scientific exploration using a block based or text based programming language, both independently and collaboratively,

a) combining control structures such as if-statements and loops including compound conditionals; and

b) creating clearly named variables that represent different data types, including numeric and non-numeric data, and perform operations on their values. [Related SOL: Math 7.1, 7.2]

Terminology

• algorithms-- sets of step-by-step directions to complete tasks
• sequencing--arranging in a particular order
• loop -- A programming structure that repeats a sequence of instructions as long as a specific condition is true.
• event -- Any identifiable occurrence that has significance for system hardware or software. User-generated events include keystrokes and mouse clicks; system-generated events include program loading and errors.
• variable -- A symbolic name that is used to keep track of a value that can change while a program is running. Variables are not just used for numbers; they can also hold text, including whole sentences (strings) or logical values (true or false). A variable has a data type and is associated with a data storage location; its value is normally changed during the course of program execution. Note: This definition differs from that used in math.
• conditional -- A feature of a programming language that performs different computations or actions depending on whether a condition evaluates to true or false. (eg x > 0: print "x is positive")
• compound conditional -- if/and or if/or statements. (eg if this and that are true then...)
• control structure -- A programming (code) structure that implements control. Conditionals and loops are examples of control structures.

Related SOLs

Resources / Examples