This PLTW course covers the College Board’s Computer Science Principles framework. Students work in teams to develop computational thinking and problem solving skills. The course does not aim to teach mastery of a single programming language but instead aims to develop computational thinking, to generate excitement about the field of computing, and to introduce computational tools that foster creativity. The course also aims to build students’ awareness of the tremendous demand for computer specialists, and the demand for professionals who have computational skills, in all fields.

Each unit focuses on one or more computationally intensive career paths. The course also aims to engage students to consider issues raised by the present and future societal impact of computing. Students practice problem solving with structured activities and progress to open-ended projects and problems that require them to develop planning, documentation, communication, and other professional skills. Problems aim for ground-level entry with no ceiling so that all students can successfully engage the problems. Students with greater motivation, ability, or background knowledge will be challenged to complete more advanced work.

The course of study includes:

·      Algorithms, Graphics, and Graphical User Interfaces
·      Algorithms and Agile Development
·      Mobile App Design
·      Algorithms in Python
·      Images and Object Oriented Libraries
·      GUIs in Python
·      The Internet
·      The Internet and the Web –protocols and hierarchy
·      Shopping and Social Media on the Web
·      Client and Server Side development
·      Security and Cryptography
·      Raining Reigning Data
·      Visualizing Data
·      Discovering Knowledge from Data
·      Collection, Persistence, and Societal Concerns of “Big Data”
·      Intelligent Behavior
·      Moore’s Law and Modeling and Intelligent Agents