Unit 1: Digital Information

Big Questions

  • Why do computers use binary to represent digital information?
  • Are the ways data is represented and transmitted with computers laws of nature or laws of man?

Enduring Understandings

  • DAT-1: The way a computer represents data internally is different from the way the data is interpreted and displayed for the user. Programs are used to translate data into a representation more easily understood by people.
  • IOC-1: while computing innovations are typically designed to achieve a specific purpose, they may have unintended consequences

Optional Lessons

  • None

Unit 2: The Internet

Big Questions

  • What are the protocols that are used on the Internet, and how do they work?
  • How were these protocols developed, and how can we make our own?

Enduring Understandings

  • DAT-1: Computer systems and networks facilitate how data are transferred
  • IOC-1: While computing innovations are typically designed to achieve a specific purpose, they may have unintended consequences

Optional Lessons

  • None

Unit 3: Intro to App Design

Big Questions

  • How do apps work, and how do we make them?
  • What is programming and how do we do it?

Enduring Understandings

  • CRD-1: Incorporating multiple perspectives through collaboration improves computing innovations as they are developed.
  • CRD-2: Developers create and innovate using an iterative design process that is user-focused, that incorporates implementation/feedback cycles, and that leaves ample room for experimentation and risk-taking.
  • AAP-2: The way statements are sequenced and combined in a program determines the computed result. Programs incorporate iteration and selection constructs to represent repetition and make decisions to handle varied input values.
  • AAP-3: Programmers break down problems into smaller and more manageable pieces. By creating procedures and leveraging parameters, programmers generalize processes that can be reused. Procedures allow programmers to draw upon existing code that has already been tested, allowing them to write programs more quickly and with more confidence.

Optional Lessons

  • None

Unit 4: Variables, Conditionals, and Functions

Big Questions

  • How do programs store and retrieve information?
  • How do programs make decisions and change how they react to input?
  • How can we organize and reuse our code?

Enduring Understandings

  • CRD-2: Developers create and innovate using an iterative design process that is user-focused, that incorporates implementation/feedback cycles, and that leaves ample room for experimentation and risk-taking.
  • AAP-1: To find specific solutions to generalizable problems, programmers represent and organize data in multiple ways.
  • AAP-2: The way statements are sequenced and combined in a program determines the computed result. Programs incorporate iteration and selection constructs to represent repetition and make decisions to handle varied input values.
  • AAP-3: Programmers break down problems into smaller and more manageable pieces. By creating procedures and leveraging parameters, programmers generalize processes that can be reused. Procedures allow programmers to draw upon existing code that has already been tested, allowing them to write programs more quickly and with more confidence.

Optional Lessons

  • None

Unit 5: Lists, Loops, and Traversals

Big Questions

  • How can we store lots of information in an organized way?
  • How can we repeat code multiple times?
  • How can we iterate through lists?

Enduring Understandings

  • CRD-2: Developers create and innovate using an iterative design process that is user-focused, that incorporates implementation/feedback cycles, and that leaves ample room for experimentation and risk-taking.
  • AAP-1: To find specific solutions to generalizable problems, programmers represent and organize data in multiple ways.
  • AAP-2: The way statements are sequenced and combined in a program determines the computed result. Programs incorporate iteration and selection constructs to represent repetition and make decisions to handle varied input values.
  • AAP-3: Programmers break down problems into smaller and more manageable pieces. By creating procedures and leveraging parameters, programmers generalize processes that can be reused. Procedures allow programmers to draw upon existing code that has already been tested, allowing them to write programs more quickly and with more confidence.

Optional Lessons

  • None

Unit 6: Algorithms

Big Questions

  • What is an algorithm?
  • How do we compare algorithms?
  • Can we solve every problem in a reasonable time with algorithms?

Enduring Understandings

  • AAP-2: The way statements are sequenced and combined in a program determines the computed result. Programs incorporate iteration and selection constructs to represent repetition and make decisions to handle varied input values.
  • AAP-4: There exist problems that computers cannot solve, and even when a computer can solve a problem, it may not be able to do so in a reasonable amount of time.
  • CSN-2: Parallel and distributed computing leverage multiple computers to more quickly solve complex problems or process large data sets.

Optional Lessons

  • None

Unit 7: Parameters, Return, and Libraries

Big Questions

  • How do we design clean and reusable code?
  • What is a parameter?
  • What is the purpose of a return?
  • What is a library?

Enduring Understandings

  • CRD-2: Developers create and innovate using an iterative design process that is user-focused, that incorporates implementation/feedback cycles, and that leaves ample room for experimentation and risk-taking.
  • AAP-2: The way statements are sequenced and combined in a program determines the computed result. Programs incorporate iteration and selection constructs to represent repetition and make decisions to handle varied input values.
  • AAP-3: Programmers break down problems into smaller and more manageable pieces. By creating procedures and leveraging parameters, programmers generalize processes that can be reused. Procedures allow programmers to draw upon existing code that has already been tested, allowing them to write programs more quickly and with more confidence.

Optional Lessons

  • None

Unit 8: Create Performance Task Prep


Unit 9: Data

Big Questions

  • What is the data analysis process?
  • What makes a visualization effective?

Enduring Understandings

  • DAT-2: Programs can be used to process data, which allows users to discover information and create new knowledge.
  • IOC-1: While computing innovations are typically designed to achieve a specific purpose, they may have unintended consequences.

Optional Lessons

  • None

Unit 10: Cybersecurity and Global Impacts

Big Questions

  • What are the security risks of computing innovations?
  • What type of data is collected by modern computing innovations?
  • How do security risks impact society?

Enduring Understandings

  • IOC-1: While computing innovations are typically designed to achieve a specific purpose, they may have unintended consequences.
  • IOC-2: The use of computing innovations may involve risks to your personal safety and identity.

Optional Lessons

  • None

CSP Resources

Computer Science Principles Resources

  1. Widgets Page