8th Grade Curriculum
Class Overview
"Focus on Impact in Society is a collection of Computer Science Discoveries (CS Discoveries) units that empowers students to think about computer science as a tool to solve problems while considering the broader social impacts of various aspects of computer science. Students create authentic artifacts and engage with computer science as a medium for creativity, communication, problem-solving, and fun." - code.org
Course Units / Course Objectives
Learn how to use a structured problem solving process and apply it to address various problems.
Create a collaborative classroom environment where students view computer science as relevant, fun, and empowering.
See the design process as a form of problem solving that prioritizes the needs of a user.
Identify user needs and assess how well different designs address them.
Develop paper prototypes, gather and respond to feedback about a prototype, and consider ways different user interfaces do or do not affect the usability of their apps.
Develop digital prototypes, gather and respond to feedback about a prototype, and consider ways different user interfaces do or do not affect the usability of their apps.
Understand other roles in software development, such as product management, marketing, design, and testing, and how to use what they have learned about computer science as a tool for social impact.
Investigate and understand how humans and computers use data differently.
Design and implement a data-based solution to a given problem and determine how the different aspects of the problem solving process could be automated.
Create a machine learning model in AI Lab to solve a problem, and use App Lab to create an app that uses their model.
Understand how machine learning models make decisions from data
Create machine learning models in AI Lab from their own data and use App Lab to create an app that uses their model to solve problems in their community.