The ARC Innovation Topic is a core component of this APCSP curriculum. It is worthy of emphasizing the importance of student driven topic selection. This unit and each of the following units will have a ARC Team challenge that blends and authentically applies the content of the unit with the selected ARC topic for each team. When students are given the opportunity and encouraged to select a meaningful topic, their engagement in the course increases, personal choices & interests are validated and the core content becomes more relevant.
During Unit 1, the students are researching and selecting a topic that is meaningful to them. Two - three class periods are used to give students ample time to brainstorm ideas and do preliminary research on the topics that interest them. Ultimately, project teams are formed around common topics. These teams finalize their innovation selection and begin thoroughly researching the impact and effects of this innovation. The unit culminates in the first team challenge which consists of a website that becomes a digital portfolio of their research and a quiz app/game to educate the general public on their selected innovation.
Section 1.2 Students read and analyze Chapter 1 from "Blown To Bits"
Section 1.3 Students learn about the Software Development Life Cycle
Section 1.4 Students are introduced to their first ARC Challenge
Section 1.8 Student teams create an Evolution of the Innovation artifact