T&E
Curriculum
Course Title: AP Computer Science Principals
Department: Technology & Engineering
Units of Study:
· Computational Thinking Practices
• Computational Solution Design
• Algorithms and Program Development
• Abstraction in Program Development
• Code Analysis
• Computing Innovations
• Responsible Computing
· Program Design and Development
• Design programs for a purpose
• Debug and test code
• Create programs using procedural, event driven, and commonly used algorithms
• Design a user interface (UI)
• Contribute to an inclusive, safe, collaborative, and ethical computing culture
· Interpretation of Documentation
• Use application programming interfaces (APIs)
• Perform data analysis and create visualizations
• Use and create software to display charts and graphs
• Analyze large data sets through
computational techniques
• Use coding to automate data analysis
• Interpret data visualizations
· Modeling and Simulation
• Explore simulations using agent-based simulation software
• Explain abstractions present and assumptions in a given model
• Describe any limits to the predictive power of a given simulation
· Professional Skills Programming Language
• Python3®
• Presentation/communication
• Technical writing
• Public speaking
• Collaboration: pair programming
• Collaboration: Agile project
• development
• Ethics
• Cyber hygiene best practices
· Tools and Software
• Trinket Embedded Code Editor
• Microsoft Visual Studio Code
• Google® Sheets®
• Vernier GA4®
• Netlogo
Curriculum-Based Assessments: N/A
Standardized Assessments: N/A
Description of Course: AP Computer Science Principles introduces students to the central ideas of computer science, instilling the ideas and practices of computational thinking and inviting students to understand how computing changes the world. This rigorous course promotes deep learning of computational content, develops computational thinking skills, and engages students in the creative aspects of the field. The application of these skills will result in the students solving open-ended, practical problems that occur in the real world. Focus will be placed on introducing students to object oriented programming environments, specifically the Python language. It is recommended that students take the AP National Exam at the end of the course.