CS2: App Inventor

Unit 0

In this preview unit, students will be introduced App Inventor. They will practice pair programming, review fundamental computer science concepts, build the Hello Purr and Talk to Me apps, and Customize their portfolios.

Unit 1

In Unit 1, students learn the basics of mobile app development and how to use App Inventor.

Students will build two apps:

• “I Have a Dream”: plays speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X
• Soundboard: your first creative app that plays sounds of any kind

Unit 2

In Unit 2, students design and build a drawing app that simulates finger painting. Users will dip their fingers into virtual paint pots of different colors and drag their fingers on the screen to paint on top of photos.

Unit 3

In Unit 3, students learn how to make mobile games involving animation.

Students will build three apps total:

1. Android Mash: a simple game similar to Whack-a-Mole, where you have to touch a sprite quickly before it disappears
2. Pong: a classic arcade game similar to ping pong (table tennis), where a user moves a paddle to hit a ball
3. Mushroom Mash: Use Mario to catch the Mushroom and avoid villains.

Unit 4

In Unit 4, students learn new ways to organize and use data within apps. Data and photographs will be stored in Lists, an important data structure in computer science.

Students learn how to use an index to access photos in the list and how to move from the current to the next and/or previous photo, as well as how to remove photos from the list. Students also learn if/else algorithms for wrapping around the end or the beginning of a list.

Students will build three apps:

1. Magic Eight Ball: magic App answers the questions you ask it
2. Slideshow: allows user to scroll through a photo album
3. Quiz App: tests users knowledge and gives them feedback on their answers

Design Project

Design Thinking is a process for creative problem-solving, which includes Discovering insights, Ideating solutions, Prototyping designs, and Sharing to get feedback. Over the course of 7 lessons, students will develop an app to address a problem or challenge. The goals of this project are:

• For students to experience the process of design thinking
• To build a minimum viable project (MVP), not a final product.
• To present their projects to an audience and receive feedback.