IB Computer Science Higher Level (Year One)

In this lesson, students are introduced to CodeHS and how Karel the Dog can be given a set of instructions to perform a simple task.

In this lesson, students learn more about Karel and Karel’s world. Students learn about walls in Karel’s world, the directions Karel can face, and how to identify a location in Karel’s world using streets and avenues. In these exercises, students will begin to see the limitations of Karel’s commands. Students will need to apply Karel’s limited set of commands to new situations. For example, how can we make Karel turn right, even though Karel does not know a turnRight command? wocka wocka

This lesson introduces the run method, which is the place where the program starts running. Students will also learn to write full java programs instead of just writing commands. In the the program below, SquareKarel is the name of the class. When we say extend Karel, it means this is a Karel program like the ones we have already written.

public class SquareKarel extends Karel 
{
    public void run()
    {
        putBall();
        move();
        turnLeft();
   } 

In this lesson, students will learn how they can create their own commands for Karel by calling and defining methods. Methods allow programmers to create and reuse new commands that make code more readable and scalable.

In this lesson, students learn in more detail about methods, and how they can use methods to break down their programs into smaller pieces and make them easier to understand.

In this lesson, students learn about Top Down Design and Decomposition. Top Down Design is the process of breaking down a big problem into smaller parts.

In this lesson, students learn how to style their programs by including comments. Comments allow students to leave notes on their program that makes it easier for other to read. Comments are written in plain English.
Commenting Your Code Example:

/*
 *  multi-line  comments
 */

// single line comments

In this lesson, students will learn about abstraction. Abstraction is the act of managing complexity by dissociating information and details in order to focus on relevant concepts.

In this lesson, students are introduced to Super Karel! Since commands like turnRight() and turnAround() are so commonly used, students shouldn’t have to define them in every single program. This is where SuperKarel comes in. SuperKarel is just like Karel, except SuperKarel already knows how to turnRight and turnAround, so students don’t have to define those methods anymore. To use SuperKarel instead of Karel, the class that students write extends SuperKarel instead of Karel:

public class MyProgram extends SuperKarel 
{

}

In this lesson. students learn how to use for loops in their programs. The for loop allows students to repeat a specific part of code a fixed number of times.

For loops are written like this:

for(int i = 0; i < 4; i++)
{
    // Code to be repeated 4 times
}

In this lesson, students are introduced a new type of loop: while loops. While loops allow Karel to repeat code while a certain condition is true. While loops allow students to create general solutions to problems that will work on multiple Karel worlds, rather than just one.

In this lesson, students learn about the conditional statement “if”. Code within an “if statement” will only execute IF the condition is true.

if (frontIsClear()) {
    // Code to be executed only if front is clear
}

In this lesson, students learn about an additional control structure, if/else statements. If/else statements let students do one thing if a condition is true, and something else otherwise.

if/else statements are written like this:

if(frontIsClear())
 {
      // code to execute if front is clear
 }
 else
 {
      // code to execute otherwise
 }

In this lesson, students learn how to combine and incorporate the different control structures they’ve learned to create more complex programs.

In this lesson, students get extra practice with control structures. Students will continue to see different ways that the if, if/else, while, and for loops affect their code and what Karel can do.

In this lesson, students review how they should indent their code to make it easier to read.

We define what “code” is, find examples in the real world, and learn about programming as one specific example of code.

We learn about some of the applications of computer programs.

In this lesson, students will synthesize all of the skills and concepts learned in the Karel unit to solve increasingly challenging Karel puzzles.

In this lesson, students complete a summative assessment of the unit’s learning objectives.

In this lesson, students learn the basics of Design Thinking. Design Thinking is a step by step process that helps developers and entrepreneurs develop their products while considering their end-users and testing out products before releasing them. Students will get an opportunity to practice Design Thinking in all subsequent lessons in this unit.

In this lesson, students learn in more depth about the first principle of Design Thinking: Empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, and is the most important tenet of Design thinking. Students will practice building empathy by interviewing classmates and evaluating the accessibility of existing web pages.

In this lesson, students will take the information that they gathered in their interviews with peers to define a specific problem that needs to be solved. Students will create Point of View statements and composite characters to make a profile of the users who are in need of a fix to the problem that students define.

In this lesson, students will learn strategies to help them ideate solutions to the problems they have been exploring throughout the Design Thinking module. Students will spend class time brainstorming with classmates, and encouraging one another to come up with out of the box solutions.

In this lesson, students learn the basics of prototyping. Students will create a prototype based on ideas they came up with for their design project, and present prototypes to classmates for critiquing.

In this lesson, students will test one another’s prototypes and provide constructive feedback about its usability and aesthetic appeal. Students will also ask thoughtful questions of the testers to get a better understanding of their experience interacting with the prototype.

In this portion of the project, students will come up with a fictitious company and feel the impact of reacting to a security breach without any pre-developed policy in place. Students will then learn about some of the common policies companies put in place and set forth on the task of developing strong policies for their company.

In this portion of the project, students will create an abbreviated Incident Response plan. They will respond to a cyber attack using their IR plan and reflect on how they were able to handle this attack as well as how to strengthen their policy.

Incident response plans are essential to ensure that companies are prepared to effectively respond to any breach in security. In this portion of the project, students will develop a set of policies regarding strong passwords and employee training. They will test their policies against a series of employee negligence scenarios and reflect on what would need to be added to strengthen their policy.

Data can be one of a company?s most valuable resources, not to mention most regulated. Developing a strong plan for keeping data secure is essential, especially as more and more companies turn to the cloud to keep track of the massive amounts of data that are being collected every day. In this portion of the project, students will review an example privacy policy and then complete their own abbreviated policy. They will test their data policies against a data breach and reflect on what would need to be added to strengthen their policy.

How do computers store and manipulate information? In this lesson, students learn how computers abstract complicated information into manageable chunks that they can then store and manipulate.

In this lesson, students will learn what a number system is, the difference between the decimal number system and the binary number system, and how to convert between decimal and binary.

In this lesson, students will learn what a number system is, the difference between the decimal number system and the binary number system, and how to convert between decimal and binary.

In this lesson, students will learn about the hexadecimal number system, and how it is useful in storing digital information. They will also learn how to convert numbers from the hexadecimal system to binary and vice versa.

In this lesson, students will learn how computers break down images into concrete values that can be stored. Students will learn how images are represented digitally using pixels.

In this lesson, students will learn how the RGB encoding scheme allows us to encode colors as numeric data. It defines the amount of red, green and blue light in a pixel.

In this lesson, students will learn how computers shrink digital information, to make storage of pictures, videos, and text more efficient.

In this lesson, students will what lossy compression is, the benefits and disadvantages of using this kind of compression, and where using lossy compression is appropriate.

This lesson is a summative assessment of the unit’s learning objectives.

In this lesson, students will have a high-level discussion about what the internet is and how the internet works. The topics of anonymity and censorship will also be discussed.

In this lesson, students will explore the DNS system and how it maps human readable domain names into actual accessible IP addresses.

In this lesson, students learn about the last piece of the puzzle for how the Internet works: Packets and Protocols. All information sent over the internet is broken down into small groups of bits called packets. The format for creating and reading packets is defined by open protocols so that all devices can read packets from all other devices.

In this lesson, students will learn about the many protocols and standards that are used to send and receive information across a network. Students will learn how networks use specific ports and protocols, each with a specific purpose, such as sending and receiving emails. Students will also learn about wireless networking standards and how frequency and channels relate to speed of data transmission.

In this lesson, students will build on their knowledge of networks and consider how to ensure the perimeter of a network is secure. Students will learn about different devices that can be used to secure a company?s intranet from the internet as well as ways to enable remote access to the intranet.

In this lesson, students will discuss the ways that the protocols that we have discussed can be exploited, and some methods of protection that we have. We learn about the impact of cybercrime and how we can combat cyber attacks with cybersecurity. Cryptography is the cornerstone of secure communication.

In this lesson, students will build upon their foundational knowledge of networks to learn about advanced network devices. Students will delve into devices that enable communication and data sharing, such as servers and load balancers, as well as devices that increase network security, such as firewalls, IDP, IPD, and UTM. In sum, students will understand how complex networks use a variety of devices, each playing an important role in the functionality and security of the network.

In this lesson, students are presented with different ways that the Internet impacts their lives. The Internet affects the way that people communicate (emails, social media, video chat) and collaborate to solve problems. It has revolutionized the way that people can learn and even buy things. Because the Internet is present in almost every facet of people’s lives, there are severe ethical and legal concerns that derive from the Internet.

This lesson is a summative assessment of the unit’s learning objectives.

In this lesson, students will be introduced to and practice using the Java main skeleton that includes the class and main method arguments. They will use the System.out.print and System.out.println commands to print string literals in the editor. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 1.1.

In this lesson, students will learn about variables. Variables allow information to be stored such as numbers, words, or true/false expressions. A variable can be thought of as a box that stores information inside. In Java, variables are composed of three things: a name, type, and value. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 1.2.

In this lesson, students learn how to use arithmetic expressions in Java. Arithmetic expressions allow the use of mathematical operations within Java. Students will also learn about the modulus operator (%) and how it is evaluated. Such expressions can be used for basic math and even more complex algorithms. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 1.3.

In this lesson, students will learn how to use the increment operator (++), the decrement operator (--) and compound assignment operators (+=, ?=, *=, /=, %=). The increment operator (++) and decrement operator (??) are used to add 1 or subtract 1 from the stored value of a variable. The new value is assigned to the variable. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 1.4.

In this lesson, students will learn how to receive user input with the Scanner class in Java. After creating a new Scanner object, they will learn the commands below that will allow them to take in data from the user.

String name = input.nextLine();
int number = input.nextInt();
double decimal = input.nextDouble();

In this lesson, students will learn how to change the data type of a value through the process of casting. They will also use casting to help round double values to the closest integer value. Students will explore the range of variables allowed in Java and understand integer overflow when a value outside of this range is attempted. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 1.5.

In this lesson, students will learn about the essential internal components that make up a computer. Component categories include the motherboard (system board), firmware (BIOS), CPU (processor), GPU (graphics processor), storage, cooling, and NIC (network adapter).

In this lesson, students will learn and explain the purposes and use of various peripheral types. They will classify the peripherals as input or output devices and explore different ways of installing them on a laptop or PC.

In this lesson, students will learn about different networking devices that allow devices to connect to other devices as well as the Internet. They will also learn different networking connection methods such as using dialup, DSL, coax cables, and fiber optic cables.

In this lesson, students will learn about the different storage options including local storage, network storage, and cloud storage.

In this lesson, students will learn about the different network types and options that are available. This will include wireless networking standards and protocols.

In this lesson, students will learn about the basic functions and types of operating systems. Students will also explore the process for upgrading and installing Windows and Mac operating systems.

In this lesson, students learn about the different types of software. Through interactive exercises, students explore how different software can be used in the workplace and our every day lives. Students also learn about single and cross-platform software.

In this lesson, students will learn about browser security features and ways to configure their browsers to enhance security.

In this lesson, students learn about three methods computers use to process tasks ? sequential, parallel, and distributed computing. Sequential computing executes each step in order one at a time, while parallel and distributed computing process tasks simultaneously on the same or across more than one device, respectively.

In this lesson, students are introduced to classes and objects. These are the foundations of object oriented programming.
Students will learn about objects that have state and behavior, and classes which are the templates for creating objects. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 2.1.

In this lesson, students will create and use constructors. The constructor, or signature of a class, allows for the creation of a new object. Students will create objects by calling constructors with parameters. Parameters are values that are passed into a constructor. These are referred to as actual parameters. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 2.2.

In this lesson, students are introduced to method overloading. This is when several different methods are written, each with the same name. As long as each method’s parameter list is different, the same method name can be used multiple times! This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 2.2.

In this lesson, students will take a deeper look into creating and calling the methods of a class. Methods are procedures that define and allow for control of the behavior of an object. Once an object is instantiated, the instance variables can be used across the different methods that are created. Students will also learn about procedural abstraction for methods that can be used without knowing all of the underlying details and code. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 2.3.

In this lesson, students will build on what they have learned and discover how to call a void method with parameters. Just as constructors can have parameter values, methods can have formal parameters that affect the state of the object as well. Methods can also be overloaded just like constructors! This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 2.4.

In this lesson, students will learn how to call a non-void method and return a value from a method by using the keyword return. The return keyword returns a variable or value back to the existing program so it can be used further along in the program. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 2.5.

In this lesson, students will learn about the immutability of Strings as objects. Once a String object is created, it cannot be changed or manipulated. The only way to change a String value is to reassign the variable with a different String value. Students will also practice String concatenation using operators such as + and += and use escape sequences such as \? and \n. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 2.6.

In this lesson, students will look at Strings as a sequence of characters and utilize String methods from the java.lang package. Students will learn about packages, libraries and documentation. The following String methods will be examined in this lesson:

name.length() 
name.substring(2, 6)
name.indexOf(?d?)
name.equals(?Karel?)
name.compareTo(?Karel?)

This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 2.7.

In this lesson, students will learn how to convert primitive types to object types using a wrapper class. They will learn how Java automatically converts types using autoboxing and unboxing. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 2.8.

In this lesson, students will learn about static methods. Static methods are methods that can be called without creating an object. More specifically, students will discover and practice using static methods in the Java Math class. The following Math class methods will be examined in this lesson:

Math.abs(x)
Math.pow(base, exponent)
Math.sqrt(x)
Math.random()
Math.round()
Math.cos()
Math.sin()
Math.PI

This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 2.9.

In this lesson, students will learn about Boolean expressions and relational operators. Relational Operators are constructs in programming that allow for the comparison of the values of two expressions. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 3.1.

In this lesson, students will learn about control structures and if statements. If statements are used in programming when there are a set of statements that should be executed only when certain conditions are met. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 3.2.

In this lesson, students will expand their knowledge of control structures and learn about if/else statements. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 3.3.

In this lesson, students will take control structures a step further and learn how to implement a statement with an else if condition. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 3.4.

In this lesson, students will determine the truth value of compound Boolean expressions. They will also examine short circuit evaluation and nested if statements. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 3.5.

In this lesson, students will examine De Morgan?s laws and determine when compound Boolean expressions are equivalent. They will use truth tables to display equivalent Boolean expressions. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 3.6.

In this lesson, students will learn the different ways of comparing objects and how it is different than comparing primitive types. With objects, because the variable is pointing to a location, the use of == is not possible, as the memory address is being compared between objects, not the actual values. Students will discover and use the .equals method. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 3.7.

In this lesson, students will learn how and when to use a while loop. Repetitive code can be avoided by using a while loop. While loops are used to repeat a set of statements until a condition is met. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 4.1.

In this lesson. students learn how to use for loops in their programs. The for loop allows students to repeat a specific part of code a fixed number of times.

For loops are written like this:

for(int i = 0; i < 4; i++)
{
    // Code to be repeated 4 times
}

This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 4.2.

In this lesson, students will learn how to develop algorithms using Strings. Students will traverse Strings using a for loop and the print.length() command.

for(int i = 0; i < string.length(); i++)
{
    String character = string.substring(i, i+1);
}

This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 4.3.

In this lesson, students will learn about nested loops. Nested loops are when loops are placed inside other loops to create more complex programs. When a loop is nested inside another loop, the inner loop must complete all its iterations before the outer loop can continue. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 4.4.

In this lesson, students will examine the concept of informal code analysis. This includes an algorithm?s correctness, efficiency and the ability to be understood. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 4.5.

In this lesson, students will explore and learn the anatomy of classes. They will take a deeper dive into what the access specifier does, and how it can be used within programs to make data public or private. Students will learn about encapsulation and the responsibility programmers have to choose whether data should be accessible, modifiable, both or neither. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 5.1.

In this lesson, students will expand their knowledge of constructors. They will create constructors that take objects as a formal parameter. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 5.2.

In this lesson, students will learn how to document their programs using comments. Comments are important to programming because they allow others to easily interpret and use the program code correctly. They can also be used as a debugging tool. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 5.3.

In this lesson, students will examine accessor methods in more detail. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 5.4.

In this lesson, students will examine mutator methods in more detail. Mutator methods are often void methods used to change the value of instance and static variables. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 5.5.

In this lesson, students will examine writing classes in more detail. It is a good programming practice to avoid altering objects within methods unless the method specifically calls for alterations to the object. Accessor and getter methods make obvious changes to objects, but most methods should not attempt to make changes unless it?s explicitly necessary. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 5.6.

In this lesson, students will take a deeper look at static variables and methods. Static variables belong to the class, and all objects of a class share a single static variable. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 5.7.

In this lesson, students will learn about scope and access. The placement of a variable within a program affects the scope of the variable, meaning where it can be used and accessed in a program. Students will learn how to avoid scope and access errors by using method decomposition. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 5.8.

In this lesson, students will learn how the this keyword can be used in programs. The keyword this is a reference to the current object whose methods and constructors are being called. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 5.9.

In this lesson, students will explore several areas related to the ethical and societal implications of computing systems. This includes the professional computing code of ethics, system reliability, legal issues and intellectual property concerns, and bias in computing. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 5.10.

In this lesson, students will learn about and create arrays. The use of array objects allows multiple related items to be represented using a single variable. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 6.1.

In this lesson, students will learn how to traverse arrays. Iteration statements can be used to access all the elements in an array. This is called traversing the array. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 6.2.

In this lesson, students will take a look at enhanced loops. An enhanced for loop is an alternate method to traverse an array instead of using for or while loops. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 6.3.

In this lesson, students will learn how arrays are used to develop algorithms. They will examine common techniques used in array analysis. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 6.4.

In this lesson, students will learn about and use ArrayLists. ArrayLists are similar to arrays, except that they are a mutable list of object references. ArrayLists provide a convenient way to create adjustable arrays. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 7.1.

In this lesson, students will learn and use methods that allow the state of ArrayLists to be altered. These methods are as follows:

• boolean add(E obj)
• void add(int index, E obj)
• E get(int index)
• int size()
• E set(int index, E obj)
• E remove(int index)

This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 7.2.

In this lesson, students will learn how to traverse ArrayLists. For ArrayLists, instead of using .length and brackets ([]) to access the elements in a list, size() and get() will be used. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 7.3.

In this lesson, students will develop algorithms using ArrayLists. They will examine standard algorithms for removing and inserting elements while traversing an ArrayList. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 7.4.

In this lesson, students will explore and analyze a linear search. Linear Search is an algorithm that searches data sets in a sequential order, checking each value from the 0th index to the end of the data set to see what index a specific element can be located at. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 7.5.

In this lesson, students will students will explore and analyze Selection Sort and Insertion Sort. Selection Sort swaps the minimum value left in an array with the current array index. Insertion Sort shifts the already sorted section of an array to place the current array value in the correct index. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 7.6.

In this lesson, students will discuss the ethical issues around how and why data is collected. They will look at the risks to personal privacy when working on computer systems and the internet and discuss how computer programs can have beneficial and/or harmful impacts on personal security. Lastly, the importance that programmers have in terms of safeguarding personal privacy will be considered and emphasized. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 7.7.

In this lesson, students will explore and use 2D arrays. A 2D array is an array that stores arrays! This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 8.1.

In this lesson, students will extend their learning on 2D arrays by traversing through them. When attempting to access all elements in a 2D array, we can do so in two different ways. Row-major order traverses the 2D array by accessing each value in a row before moving to the next row and column-major order traverses each column down all rows before moving to the next column. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 8.2.

In this lesson, students will learn about recursion and recursive methods. A recursive method is a method that calls itself. Recursive methods contain at least one base case, which halts the recursion, and at least one recursive call. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 10.1.

In this lesson, students will examine and apply recursive searching such as the binary search. The binary search algorithm starts at the middle of a sorted array or ArrayList and eliminates half of the array or ArrayList in each iteration until the desired value is found or all elements have been eliminated. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 10.2.

In this lesson, students will use recursive methods to sort an array called Merge Sort. Merge sort is a recursive sorting algorithm that can be used to sort elements in an array or ArrayList. This lesson corresponds with AP Computer Science A topic 10.3.