This Project Lead the Way Course uses Python® as a primary tool and incorporates multiple platforms and languages for computation. This course aims to develop computational thinking, generate excitement about career paths that utilize computing, and introduces professional tools that foster creativity and collaboration. While this course can be a student's first in computer science, students without prior computing experience are encouraged to start with Introduction to Computer Programming, Introduction to Computer Science, or Exploring Computer Science. CSP helps students develop programming expertise and explore the workings of the Internet. Projects and problems include app development, visualization of data, cybersecurity, and simulation. Students may say their favorite projects are building their own websites using HTML/CSS/Bootstap, programming a Discord Bot in Python, and creating a muti-player game or interactive webpage using Google's Firebase database. Students will also develop their own web app with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence.
Please click the "Student Websites" image below to navigate to the student-built websites where you can see their projects. Each student has a "Projects" page that showcases their work.
Below that, find samples of CSP student-built apps created with MIT AppInventor, simulations built with NetLogo, Virtual Reality environments built with CoSpaces, and projects programmed with Python.
Click the large image below to visit Student Created Websites for AP Computer Science Principles
A cookbook of the internet
Recipe Box web app created by Anne Nolte and Briana Munteanu using Claude AI and the Vercel cloud platform. Save cooking recipes, scrape online cooking recipes, and share with your community of online friends.
Web app url: https://recipebox2.vercel.app/
Caddie Swing golf web app created by Veer Varma and Ruchir Velani using Base44. Log in, search golf courses, look at the course layout for each hole, record your score using the built-in par system for each course, see other users' scores, and check out where you fall on the leaderboard of stats of all users.
Web app url: https://caddie-swing-social.base44.app/
Track races, follow your favorite drivers, vote for the best, and connect with the F1 community — all in one place.
F1 Tracker web app created by Nandan Pericherla and Rohan Sai Nampelly using Base44. This F1 app was built for fans to track live statistics of their favorite players and see race replays. Basically, it is a hub for F1 fans to interact and be invested in their community. Special features include: interactive racetracks, popularity voting within the community, live replays of races, and live viewing of the races.
Web app url: https://f1tracker-csp.base44.app/
Multi-Player Snake hosted by a server: game and server programmed in Pygame by Ben Hatch
Students testing their Micro:Bit programs that control a Micro:Bot through a course
3D prints designed by students and printed in the classroom
FireflyCatcher programmed in Pygame by Christopher Horch
Rocketron programmed in Pygame by Christopher Horch
Cat Pong programmed in Pygame by Tida Ngov and Molly MacLaren
Canon Blast programmed in Pygame by Tida Ngov and Molly MacLaren
Above is an encryption program developed by Ashley Zhuang
Spell It Out! created with Thunkable by Laurie Liu and Saara Kriplani
Check out these student 3D prints by Eric Heinke with the Nintendo replica Raspberry Pi case and Jack Volponi with the 3D printed car. These were designed and printed in Computer Science Principles!
*Note: there is a reason why some of the histogram graphs on the right are from the College Board and some are user-created. The College Board creates Instructional Reports for each year, and this includes the histogram of student score distributions for teachers. There is a caveat: the histogram provided by the College Board only includes students who took the AP Test on the first offering, but it does not include the students who could not take the first offering but did take the makeup test. Therefore, the College Board histogram does not always include every student, and to be accurate and include all students who took the AP Test, the user-created histograms were created.
*Note: In 2018, Computer Science Principles was offered only as a non-AP course at Granada
Ten students from the non-AP course elected to take the AP Computer Science Principles Test
*Note: This was during the COVID-19 Pandemic, no multiple choice test was administered. The scores were based entirely upon the Digital Portfolio including the Create and Explore Performance Tasks. The College Board did not release Instructional Reports including bar charts, therefore the bar chart for this year was created manually. One student took the test on the makeup date, and therefore is included in the bar chart but not included in the stats below.
*Note: the data below includes one GHS student who took the test but was not enrolled in the course. The chart to the right includes only the students who were enrolled in the APCSP class. The average score for the students enrolled in the course was 3.67.
**Over 163,000 students worldwide took the APCSP AP Exam in 2023 and 459 of those students earned all 100% points possible (70 mult choice and 6 rubric points on the programming project). That equates to approximately 1 student out of 355 test takers who earned all points possible. In 2023, there were 3 GHS students who earned all 100% points possible on the APCSP AP Exam!