ADVANCED PLACEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCE PRINCIPLES
10th, 11th or 12th Grade
The AP Computer Science Principles course is designed to be equivalent to a first-semester introductory college computing course. The content of the course is organized around seven themes: creativity, abstraction, data and information (Big Data), algorithms, programming, the Internet, and global impact. This course is appropriate both for students with programming experience as well as those new to programming. Students learn Javascript and Web programming as the coding platform. The assessment of the AP Computer Science Principles course is comprised of two distinct parts. The first is an in-course assessment which involves two performance tasks that require students to explore the impacts of computing and create computational artifacts through programming. The second assessment is a multiple-choice exam developed by the College Board. This course is for students in Grades 10–12 and can serve as the prerequisite for AP Computer Science A (Java). Prerequisite: Introduction to Programming or approval of the teacher.
ADVANCED COMPUTER SCIENCE: COMPUTER SCIENCE ALGORITHMS
11th or 12th Grade
This course explores common algorithms and data structures in computer science and applies problem solving such as analysis of algorithms, algorithmic efficiency and NP-complete problems. Students examine and use common data structures, such as binary trees, hash tables, stacks and heaps. Students also build a binary tree of all words in an English language dictionary and use it to search for matches in a text/puzzle. In order to gain appreciation for how programming works and to be introduced to machine language, students use emulators to write in the “TOY” programming language. Students engage in projects meant to highlight computer science applications in other fields including statistical analysis, physics, chemistry and biology. Prerequisite: Advanced Placement Computer Science A.
UPPER SCHOOL
COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN (CAD)
88
This semester-long elective is offered to students who are interested in learning computer-aided design for school-related assignments or personal projects. Architects, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, landscape designers, interior designers and a host of other professionals have used CAD in recent years to plan, organize and visually communicate their ideas to others. Students in this course explore design principles and the production process needed to develop high-quality CAD documents and renditions. Students first learn to create blueprints, floor plans or schematics of their designs. Attention to detail, precision and accuracy are emphasized. These two-dimensional designs are then converted into three-dimensional renditions using SketchUp. Working both individually and in groups, students develop an understanding of the technology and related design principles needed to produce a variety of CAD-based projects.
WEB PAGE DESIGN
10th, 11th or 12th Grade
Students in this semester-long course learn to plan, design and code effective Web pages using basic and advanced features of Hyper-Text Markup Language (HTML). Students first learn a defined set of tags to be placed around words and paragraphs in the text of a page. This definition will grow to include images, sound and other multimedia elements. Skills learned include file management, organizing ideas, adding hyperlinks, incorporating images, and adding sound and video. Advanced topics include tables, frames, image mapping and Flash. Throughout the course, students use an HTML editor and conversion programs for some tasks, and also work directly with HTML. This is a project-based class, and students are evaluated on their performance in a series of increasingly sophisticated projects.