AP Computer Science A

This is where each week's assignments in AP CS A are posted. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 16: Monday, December 4th – Friday, December 8th

Hello again! We're going to continue our work on Unit 5: Writing Classes so we have all the tools we need to complete Assignment 5 next week. Here's the plan for the first full week of December:

• finish Unit 5: Lesson 6 - Constructors

• Unit 5: Lesson 7 - Documenting a class

• Unit 5: Lesson 8 - Static Vs. Instance

• Unit 5: Lesson 9 - Wider Impacts of Computing

Next week, after we complete Assignment 5 you'll have time to complete the practice exam and study for the 1st Semester Exam, which is all multiple choice and should be very similar to the quizzes and exams you've seen so far. As always, let me know if you have any questions. Have a wonderful week!

Week 15: Monday, November 27th – Friday, December 1st

Welcome back from Thanksgiving Break! I hope you were able to rest, recharge and get caught up (if necessary) so we can make it through the next four weeks before we go on Winter Break. Here's the plan for the last week of November:

• finish Unit 5: Lesson 4 - Return Methods

• Unit 5 Quiz 🥪

• Unit 5: Lesson 5 - Classes - The Basics

• Unit 5: Lesson 6 - Constructors

I hope your first week back goes well! As always, let me know if you have any questions.

PS: Make sure you plug in your Chromebook to charge overnight!

Week 14: Monday, November 13th – Friday, November 17th

We finally made it to Thanksgiving Break! 🦃 Here's the plan as we continue our work on Unit 5: Writing Classes: 

• Unit 5: Lesson 2 - Parameters

• Unit 5: Lesson 3 - Parameters - Primitive vs. Class 

• Unit 5: Lesson 4 - Return Methods

I hope you get some rest and relaxation over break! Use this time to get caught up if you need to, and please let me know if you have any questions about anything you're working on.

Week 13: Monday, November 6th – Friday, November 10th

Hello again! Here's the plan for the first full week of November as we wrap up Unit 4: Iteration and move on to Unit 5: Writing Classes: 

• finish Assignment 4: String Shortener

• Unit 4: Review

• Unit 4 Exam 🪥

• start Unit 5: Writing Classes

• Unit 5: Lesson 1 - Void Methods

Let me know if you have any questions, and have a great week!

Week 12: Monday, October 30th – Friday, November 3rd

It's the last week of October, and it's finally starting to feel like Fall! 🎃 I hope you got out and enjoyed the last bits of nice weather. Here's the plan for this week as we continue our work in Unit 4: Iteration:

• Unit 4: Lesson 4 - Algorithms for Strings

• Unit 4 Quiz 🐧

• Unit 4: Lesson 5 - Nested loops

• Unit 4: Lesson 6 - Algorithm Efficiency

• start Assignment 4: String Shortener

As always, please let me know if you have any questions. Stay warm!

Week 11: Monday, October 23rd – Friday, October 27th

Welcome to 2nd Quarter! According to the Project STEM pacing guide, here's where we should be as we start Week 11 with Unit 4: Iteration:

• BEGIN 2nd QUARTER

• start Unit 4: Iteration

• Unit 4: Lesson 1 - While Loops

• Unit 4: Lesson 1 ½ - Tracing Code

• Tuesday 10/24: Security Summit Field Trip to I-X Center (meet at the cafeteria entrance at 8:45am!)

• Wednesday 10/25: Capture the Flag Competition! (in class)

• Unit 4: Lesson 2 - Algorithms for Numbers

• Unit 4: Lesson 3 - The For Loop

These coding activities should be a little quicker to finish, but as always, please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great week, and get out and enjoy the nice weather while it lasts!

Week 10: Monday, October 16th – Friday, October 20th

Welcome back from your 3-day weekend! Here's what we're doing for the last week of 1st Quarter as we wrap up Unit 3:

• Unit 3: Lesson 7 - Comparing Objects

• Assignment 3 - Crack the Code!

• Unit 3: Review

• Unit 3 Exam 🐘

• END OF 1st QUARTER

Let me know if you have any questions. Have a great week!

Week 9: Monday, October 9th – Thursday, October 12th

I hope you had a great weekend! This week, we'll continue our work on Unit 3: Boolean Expressions and If Statements. Here's the plan for this abbreviated week:

• Unit 3: Lesson 4 - Logical Operators and Truth Tables

• Unit 3: Lesson 5 - Short Circuit Evaluation

• Unit 3: Lesson 6 - De Morgan's Law

We'll also have these important events this week:

Monday 10/9: Parent-Teacher Conferences @5-8pm – sign up here!
Tuesday 10/10: Passport to IT Careers field trip (8:15am-2:00pm)
Thursday 10/12: Early Release Day
Friday 10/13: Teacher PD Day – NO SCHOOL

Enjoy your three-and-a-half-day weekend! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 8: Monday, October 2nd – Friday, October 6th

Welcome to the first week of October!  Here's the plan for this week as we move into a new unit:

• start Unit 3: Boolean Expressions and If Statements

• Unit 3: Lesson 1 - Simple Ifs

• Unit 3: Lesson 2 - Relational Operators

• Unit 3: Lesson 3 - Else

• Unit 3 Quiz

Boolean expressions and if statements are absolutely critical concepts in computer science. Some experts have argued that artificial intelligence (AI) is nothing more than lots and lots of if statements, so we'll want to make sure we have a solid understanding of these topics. I hope you have a great week! As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 7: Monday, September 25th – Friday, September 29th

Hi there! We're going to wrap up Unit 2: Using Objects with an assignment that looks harder than it actually is, and then we'll take the Unit 2 Exam. Here's the plan for the first week of autumn 🍂:

• Unit 2: Review

• Assignment 2: Control Tower

• Unit 2 Exam ⛵️

I hope you have a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 6: Monday, September 18th – Friday, September 22nd

Hello again! For this final week of summer, we're going to continue our unit on objects in Java with important but less confusing topics. Here's the plan:

• Unit 2: Lesson 6 - Using methods

• Unit 2: Lesson 7 - Wrapper Classes

• Unit 2: Lesson 8 - Math Functions

Methods are simply functions that somehow interact with or modify an object, while wrapper classes let us use methods with our primitive data types (like integers and floats). Easy stuff, I promise! As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Week 5: Monday, September 11th – Friday, September 15th

Welcome back! I hope you had a great Homecoming weekend. This week, we're going to continue learning about objects in Java. Here are the topics we'll be working on:

• finish Unit 2: Lesson 3 - String Methods

• Unit 2: Lesson 4 - Classes and Objects

• Unit 2 Quiz 🍍

• Unit 2: Lesson 5 - Using Constructors

You've already been using classes like String and Scanner, so we're just going to dive a little deeper into their structure, which is defined by a constructor. It sounds a little weird, but with enough examples and analogies, I'm confident you'll understand it, and that knowledge is going to be extremely helpful going forward. Let me know if you have any questions, and have a great week!

Week 4: Tuesday, September 5th – Friday, September 8th

I hope you enjoyed your 3-day weekend! We're wrapping up Unit 1 this week and moving on to Unit 2: Using Objects. Here's the plan for this hot, hot week:

• Unit 1 Exam

• start Unit 2: Using Objects

• Unit 2: Lesson 1 - Strings and Class Types

• Unit 2: Lesson 2 - Escape Sequences and String Concatenation

• start Unit 2: Lesson 3 - String Methods

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything at all. Stay cool!

Week 3: Monday, August 28th – Friday, September 1st

I hope you enjoyed your unexpected 3-day weekend! Here's what we're doing in class for the last week of August:

• Unit 1: Lesson 5 - Modular Division

• Unit 1: Lesson 6 - Numeric Casts

• Assignment 1: Calculating Grades

• Unit 1: Review

The assignments in this course can sometimes be a little challenging, so please ask me for help as you're working on Assignment 1. We'll take the Unit 1 Exam next week after another 3-day weekend. Keep up the great work, and as always, let me know if you have any questions!

Week 2: Monday, August 21st – Friday, August 25th

Welcome to the first full week of the 2023-2024 school year! Now that we've had a few days to get to know each other and get everyone logged in to ProjectSTEM, we can get to work! Here's what we're doing in class this week:

• Unit 1: Lesson 1 - Output In Java

• Unit 1: Lesson 2 - User Input and Variables

• Unit 1: Lesson 3 - Data Types

• Unit 1 Quiz

• Unit 1: Lesson 4 - Number Calculations

I've also included a link to a weekly schedule of all of the assignments for the year.

I hope you had a great first week and that you were able to get some rest this weekend before we attempt to go to school for five full days without strange bell schedules or burning birds. Let me know you have any questions!