Computer Science Principles

The following learning targets represent the major concepts studied and assessed in this course. 

Unit 1: Creative Computing For All: 

• In this unit, you learn and apply coding fundamentals as you are introduced to the text-based programming language of Python®. 

  • In Lesson 1.1 Algorithms, you venture into the basics of using turtle graphics in Python. Turtles are vector graphics that use a relative cursor (called a turtle) to draw on a canvas (the screen). You learn how to develop algorithms that process user input and produce the desired output using conditional logic and iteration. You also learn how to think computationally and debug algorithms as you create fun algorithms and artifacts.
  • In Lesson 1.2 Abstraction, you learn to use abstractions such as procedures, functions, lists, and data types to make your programs even more engaging to a user. By using abstraction, you can build on already created pieces of code to make your program, without having to develop out every little detail in your program.
  • In the Unit 1 problem in Lesson 1.3 Artistic Expression Through Code, you apply all the coding fundamentals you’ve learned and the computational thinking practices to create something that is uniquely your own. Whether it is an image, an animation, a game, an interactive story, or something never thought of, you apply an iterative process to create and test a program no one has ever seen before.

Unit 2: Every Bit of the Internet: 

• Unit 2 introduces concepts related to networks and the internet. 

  • Lesson 2.1 Data Diligence introduces personal cybersecurity through exploration of password strength, encryption, and what it takes to protect data in today’s world. You focus on cybersecurity from the perspectives of the user, the software developer, the business, the nation, and the citizen.
  • In Lesson 2.2 How the Internet Works, you learn that the internet is a set of computers exchanging bits in the form of packets. You employ the appropriate tools to explore the internet’s hierarchical infrastructure and create your own custom user interfaces to examine the internet and understand how it works.
  • In the Unit 2 problem in Lesson 2.3 Creating a Customer Encoder, you exchange keys and messages using Python® functions to encode and decode data. The encoders that you create may store data in any number of ways—notes in a song, alpha values in an image, movements of objects in a virtual environment on your screen.

Unit 3: Little Data to Big Data: 

• Unit 3 focuses on data collection, processing, analysis, and making meaning from data. 

  • In Lesson 3.1 Little Data, you collect data and create visualizations of small data sets to find meaning in the patterns they uncover. You learn that information is a collection of facts and patterns that you can extract from data.
  • In Lesson 3.2 Trendy Data, you create visualizations and automate analysis of the data using Python® modules such as pandas and matplotlib. You learn that when confronted with massive amounts of data, you can use powerful programming tools to help you sort, refine, and target specific trends to make an argument about what information the data reveals.
  • In the Unit 3 problem in Lesson 3.3 Making Predictions from Data, you seek out a data set (or create your own) to make an argument. You apply all you have learned to analyze a data set and describe correlations and causation between variables within the data set.

Unit 4: Solving Complex Problems: 

• With all of the skills you have learned so far, you are ready to explore complex problems with the help of computer algorithms. You will simulate large complex systems to try to understand how they work and to solve problems that are too complex to study without computer modeling and simulation.

  • In Lesson 4.1 Simulating the Real World, you venture into modeling and simulations using the NetLogo software program. The lesson focuses on how simulations are used to study systems that are complex, dangerous, expensive, big, or even too small to easily observe ourselves. 
  • In Lesson 4.2 Future Innovations, you explore computing innovations such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing. You explore the vast number of tools and resources available in your AWS Educate account and examine factors that contribute to the digital divide.
  • In the Unit 4 problem in Lesson 4.3 Impacts of Computing Innovations, you select a computing innovation and create a digital artifact that describes the impact of the computing innovation. You explore the legal, ethical, and unintended consequences of its use.