4. More Apps & Computer Science

Overview:

Students learn the basics of conditionals starting with an unplugged activity using the sticky notes and plastic baggies from CSP Unit 4, Lesson 5: Conditionals Explore. Flowcharts are introduced as a way to understand how computers make decisions using Boolean expressions. 

Purpose:

Links

Core

Slide Deck - Building an App: Multi-screen App

Lesson Plan  - Conditionals Explore

Class Slides and Activity -  CSP Unit 4 - Variables, Conditionals, and Functions; This lesson starts at slide 76. 

Video - CS Principles: Conditionals - Part 1 Boolean Expressions 

Assessment (Code Studio) - Conditionals Explore Check Your Understanding Terminology Matching  

More

Tutorial (Code Studio) - Event-Driven Programming; A self-guided tutorial with more detail than Intro to App Lab; Teacher can should plan how to if and an how they can use these activities to support students' project work

Slide Deck - Designing Apps for Accessibility;

Tutorial - Conditionals and Dropdown Menus

Tutorial - Radio Buttons and Conditionals

Overview

In this module, students can create and practice developing interactive apps that can perform multiple functions. They can remix or repurpose the code from these apps for their own projects. Students and teachers can use this module to explore, investigate, practice, and make a variety of apps.

Note: Some of the apps in this module are more challenging than others. Teachers and students should explore the apps to understand what they do, think about how their features might contribute to their own projects, and then explore the techniques and concepts their creators used. Not all of the apps features may be interesting to all students.

Purpose

Students will 

• Practice coding by building a variety of apps with different functionality

• Connect program patterns with app functionality

• Practice remixing apps to customize them for student uses

• Remix and repurpose code for student projects

Links:

Core

Slide Deck - Practicing Interactive Apps 

Video - Make it Interactive (review of onEvent)

Lesson Plan - Instructions for a Sequence of App Challenges

Instructions - Practice Remixing

More

Video Tutorial - Whack an Emoji

Example - Whack an Emoji remix 

Color Sleuth App Lesson Plan

Color Sleuth App Example-remix

Color Sleuth App Example Completed

Lesson Plan - Building an App Image Scroller-My Favorite Things

Example - My Favorite Things App-remix 

Video Tutorial - Space Shooter

Example - Space Shooter App Lab-remix 

Tutorial - Mad-Lib Design Your App

Mad-Lib App Example-remix

Mad-Lib Completed Example

Video Tutorial - Mad Libs Tutorial 

Video Tutorial - Rock Paper Scissors

Example - Rock Paper Scissors App

Exampe: Rock Paper Scissors App-remix 

Reference - Unit 4 Vocabulary 

Overview

This module describes a conceptual model for working with computers called the "notional machine" and challenges students to create a Quiz app with minimal instructions. Teachers and students have been learning to how to work with a computer to make it do what they want. The notional machine model can give teachers and students a useful way to think and talk about what they have been doing.

The notional machine model for an app describes them as machines that

1. do one thing at a time in a sequence or order called a program;

2. have events and event handlers

3. hold states

4. run programs that modify states

5. can choose to run different programs depending on states that the machine examines using commands called conditionals. 

Purpose

With minimal instructions (as provided by the slide deck but without using the hints), students will design and program an app 

• with multiple screens

• that ask users questions

• allows users to respond

• distinguishes between right and wrong answers

• keeps track of right and wrong answers

• returns a message to users depending on the number of right and/or wrong answers.

By programming this app, students (and teachers) can demonstrate fundamental computing skills and knowledge.     

Links:

Slide Deck - The Quiz App Challenge

Overview

In civics, we often want to collect information from groups of people to find out what they think and/or do and to discover patterns about what they think and/or do . App Lab lets programmers create apps to survey users and upload information to a database. This module shows the basics for coding a survey app.

Purpose

• Learn to use the Data view in App Lab 

• Create database tables

  • Using the Data view

  • Using createRecord: If a database table does not exist, createRecord will make a new one

• Upload data to data tables

  • Use createRecord to upload records

Core

Single Question Survey App

Tutorial: CS Principles: Databases - Part 1 Creating Records

Tutorial: CS Principles: Databases - Part 2 Using the Data Viewer

Multiple Question Survey App

Tutorial: Adding Columns to Your Database    

Survey App with more features and code: Add data with buttons and variables

Tutorial: Storing a Variable in a Database 

More

Survey App with chart: Demonstrates what you CAN do with App Lab and more study

Sample Survey Apps

• App Lab Table Data Storage

Overview

Students learn how functions are used in programs in an EIPM sequence.

Purpose

Students will be able to:

• Use appropriate vocabulary to describe how to declare and call functions

• Trace the flow of programs that declare and call functions

• Describe the way a function call interrupts the normal flow of execution within a program

• Modify programs that declare and call functions to adjust their functionality

Links

Core

Slide Deck - Functions

Lesson Plan - Function Explore/Investigate

Tutorial (Code Studio) - Function Explore/Investigate: Song 

Lesson Plan - Functions Practice 

Tutorial (Code Studio) - Function Practice: Call order 

Lesson Plan - Functions Make

Tutorial (Code Studio) - Functions Practice: Quote Maker App