CS50 for AP Computer Science Principles

COURSE SYLLABUS – TABLE OF CONTENTS

Curricular Requirements 2
Course Syllabus 4
Course Introduction 4
Prerequisites 4
Recommended Books 4
Programming Environments 5
Academic Honesty 6
Assessment 7
Overview 7
CS50 Core Curriculum 8
Chapter 0 8
Chapter 1 9
Chapter 2 10
Chapter 3 12
Chapter 4 13
Chapter 5 14
Chapter 6 15
Chapter 7 16
Chapter 8 17
AP Modules 18
Understanding Technology 18
Data Science 19
Impact of Computing 19
Performance Tasks 20
Recommended Order 21

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 CURRICULAR REQUIREMENTS

CR1a Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to
Computational Thinking Practice P1: Connecting Computing.

CR1b Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to
Computational Thinking Practice P2: Creating Computational Artifacts.

CR1c Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to
Computational Thinking Practice P3: Abstracting.

CR1d Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to
Computational Thinking Practice P4: Analyzing Problems and Artifacts.

CR1e Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to
Computational Thinking Practice P5: Communicating.

CR1f Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to
Computational Thinking Practice P6: Collaborating.

CR2a Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big
Idea 1: Creativity. Such opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer
Science Principles Performance Tasks.

CR2b Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big
Idea 2: Abstraction. Such opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer
Science Principles Performance Tasks.

CR2c Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big
Idea 3: Data and Information. Such opportunities must occur in addition to the AP
Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.

CR2d Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big
Idea 4: Algorithms. Such opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer
Science Principles Performance Tasks.

CR2e Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big
Idea 5: Programming. Such opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer
Science Principles Performance Tasks.

CR2f Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big
Idea 6: The Internet. Such opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer
Science Principles Performance Tasks.

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CR2g Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big
Idea 7: Global Impact. Such opportunities must occur in addition to the AP
Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.

CR3 Students are provided with the required amount of class time to complete the AP
Through-Course Assessment Explore – Impact of Computing Innovations
Performance Task.

CR4 Students are provided with the required amount of class time to complete the AP
Through-Course Assessment Create – Applications from Ideas Performance Task.

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 CS50 for AP Computer Science Principles
COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE INTRODUCTION

CS50 is Harvard University’s introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and
the art of programming for students less comfortable and more comfortable alike. CS50 for AP
Computer Science Principles is an adaptation of CS50 for high schools that aligns with the AP
Computer Science Principles curriculum framework. The course assumes no prior background of
students, but it is rigorous by design and programming-centric, engaging students with
fundamentals of computer science by way of hands-on programming projects. The computational-
thinking skills that students ultimately acquire are broadly applicable.

Among this course’s objectives is to supply students with a comprehensive introduction to the
fundamentals of the discipline of computer science. We will do so using programming in several
different languages as a vehicle to introduce these fundamentals, including such topics as
algorithms, abstraction, data, global impact, and internet technologies. Though the course is
programming-heavy, it should be stressed that this is not a “programming course”; rather, this
course should be considered one of problem-solving, creativity, and exploration. By year’s end,
students will have a richer understanding of the key principles of the discipline of computer
science. They will be able to speak intelligently about how computers work and how they enable
us to become better problem-solvers, and will hopefully be able to communicate that knowledge
to others.

Whether students elect to take no other computer science courses in their lifetime or consider this
class the first step in a longer course of study, it is our sincere hope that students feel more
comfortable with—and indeed sometimes skeptical of—the technologies that surround us each
day.

PREREQUISITES

The only background required for CS50 for AP Computer Science Principles is completion of
Algebra I or its equivalent.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS

No books are required for this course. However, students may wish to supplement their
preparation for or review of some material with self-assigned readings relevant to the material
from either of the books below. The first is intended for those inexperienced in (or less
comfortable with the idea of) programming. The second is intended for those experienced in (or
more comfortable with the idea of) programming. Realize that free, if not superior, resources can
be found on the course’s website or on the internet more generally.

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For Those Less Comfortable
C Programming Absolute Beginner’s Guide, 3rd Edition
Greg Perry, Dean Miller
Pearson Education, 2014
ISBN 0-789-75198-4

For Those More Comfortable

Programming in C, 4th Edition
Stephen G. Kochan
Pearson Education, 2015
ISBN 0-321-77641-0

The following book is recommended for those interested in understanding more about how their
own computers work, for personal edification.

How Computers Work, 10th Edition

Ron White
Que Publishing, 2014
ISBN 0-7897-4984-X

Lastly, the following book is recommended for aspiring hackers—those interested in programming
techniques and low-level optimization of code that goes beyond the scope of this course.

Hacker’s Delight, 2nd Edition

Henry S. Warren, Jr.
Pearson Education, 2013
ISBN 0-321-84268-5

PROGRAMMING ENVIRONMENTS

Several programming languages are taught in the course, and students are able to program in all
of them in an environment designed specifically for the course called CS50 IDE. Students will need
to sign up for a (free) GitHub (github.com/join) account in order to use CS50 IDE.

CS50 IDE is a web-based utility (hosted on a platform known as AWS Cloud9) with cloud storage,
meaning students will be able to work on the course’s programming exercises at home, school, or
anywhere they have an internet connection. Instructions for setting up and using CS50 IDE are
provided in the first assignment requiring its use.

Additionally, students will use a drag-and-drop programming language called Scratch for some
of the course’s early material. Scratch is similarly a web-based environment, and it can be
accessed by visiting https://scratch.mit.edu/.

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ACADEMIC HONESTY

This course’s philosophy on academic honesty is best stated as "be reasonable." The course
recognizes that interactions with classmates and others can facilitate mastery of the course’s
material. However, there remains a line between enlisting the help of another and submitting the
work of another. This policy characterizes both sides of that line.
The essence of all work that you submit to this course must be your own. Collaboration on
problems is not permitted (unless explicitly stated otherwise) except to the extent that you may
ask classmates and others for help so long as that help does not reduce to another doing your
work for you. Generally speaking, when asking for help, you may show your code or writing
to others, but you may not view theirs, so long as you and they respect this policy’s other
constraints.

Collaboration on the course’s quizzes and tests is not permitted at all. Collaboration on the Create
Performance Task is permitted to the extent prescribed by its specifications.

Below are examples that inexhaustibly characterize acts that the course considers reasonable and
not reasonable. If in doubt as to whether some act is reasonable, do not commit it until you solicit
and receive approval in writing from your instructor. If a violation of this policy is suspected and
confirmed, your instructor reserves the right to impose an appropriate penalty.

Reasonable
• Communicating with classmates about problems in English (or some other spoken
language).
• Discussing the course's material with others in order to understand it better.
• Helping a classmate identify a bug in his or her code, such as by viewing, compiling, or
running his or her code, even on your own computer.
• Incorporating snippets of code that you find online or elsewhere into your own code,
provided that those snippets are not themselves solutions to assigned problems and that
you cite the snippets' origins (as via comments in your code).
• Reviewing past years' quizzes, tests, and solutions thereto.
• Sending or showing code that you've written to someone, possibly a classmate, so that he
or she might help you identify and fix a bug.
• Sharing snippets of your own solutions to problems online so that others might help you
identify and fix a bug or other issue.
• Turning to the web or elsewhere for instruction beyond the course's own, for references,
and for solutions to technical difficulties, but not for outright solutions to problems or your
own Create Task.
• Whiteboarding solutions to problems with others using diagrams or pseudocode but not
actual code.
• Working with (and even paying) a tutor to help you with the course, provided the tutor
does not do your work for you.

Not Reasonable
• Accessing a solution to some problem prior to (re-)submitting your own.
• Asking a classmate to see his or her solution to a problem before (re-)submitting your own.

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 • Decompiling, deobfuscating, or disassembling the sample solutions to problems available
in CS50 IDE.
• Failing to cite (as with comments) the origins of code, writing, or techniques that you
discover outside of the course's own lessons and integrate into your own work, even while
respecting this policy's other constraints.
• Giving or showing to a classmate a solution to a problem when it is he or she, and not you,
who is struggling to solve it.
• Looking at another individual's work during a quiz or test.
• Paying or offering to pay an individual for work that you may submit as (part of) your
own.
• Providing or making available solutions to problems to individuals who might take this
course in the future.
• Searching for, soliciting, or viewing a quiz's questions or answers prior to taking the quiz.
• Searching for or soliciting outright solutions to problems online or elsewhere.
• Splitting a problem's workload with another individual and combining your work (unless
explicitly authorized by the problem itself).
• Submitting (after possibly modifying) the work of another individual beyond allowed
snippets.
• Submitting the same or similar work to this course that you have submitted or will submit to
another.
• Using resources during a quiz or test beyond those explicitly allowed in the quiz’s or test’s
instructions.
• Viewing another's solution to a problem and basing your own solution on it.

ASSESSMENT

Because computer science is not a discipline that only lends itself to questions of right and wrong
but also how and why, this course’s assessment policy is designed to try to answer some or all of
these questions. The course’s problems are evaluated along two axes: correctness and style.

Correctness To what extent is your submission consistent with our specification and free of bugs
or errors?

Style To what extent is your submission readable (i.e., code is commented and intended
with aptly-named variables)?

To obtain a passing grade in the course, all students must ordinarily submit all assigned problems
unless otherwise granted an exception in writing by the instructor.

OVERVIEW

Consistent with the AP Computer Science Principles curriculum framework, the course’s material is
organized around seven so-called “big ideas” as well as six computational thinking practices. The
seven big ideas are:

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 1. Creativity
2. Abstraction
3. Data and Information
4. Algorithms
5. Programming
6. The Internet
7. Global Impact

And the six computational thinking practices are:

1. Connecting Computing
2. Creating Computational Artifacts
3. Abstracting
4. Analyzing Problems and Artifacts
5. Communicating (both orally and in writing)
6. Collaborating

CS50 CORE CURRICULUM

Chapter 0

In this chapter, students will learn about how data is represented in their computer and the
language of computers – binary, how information is encoded so that humans can understand it
and begin to explore the ways in which computers process information.

Topics within this Chapter

0 Binary 3 Pseudocode
1 ASCII 4 Scratch
2 Algorithms

Assignments
0 Scratch
Students will use the drag-and-drop programming language called Scratch to implement a project of their
choice (be it an animation, a game, interactive art, or anything else), subject only to the following requirements:
• have at least two sprites, at least one of which must resemble something other than a cat
• have at least three scripts total (i.e., not necessarily three per sprite)
• use at least one condition, one loop, and one variable
• use at least one sound

Learning Objectives Covered in these Topics

LO 1.1.1 LO 2.1.2 LO 4.2.4
LO 1.2.1 LO 2.2.1 LO 5.1.1
LO 1.2.2 LO 2.2.2 LO 5.2.1
LO 1.3.1 LO 2.2.3 LO 5.5.1
LO 2.1.1 LO 4.1.2

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Curricular Requirements Covered in these Topics
[CR1b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P2: Creating Computational Artifacts.
[CR1c] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P3: Abstracting.
[CR1e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P5: Communicating.
[CR2a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 1: Creativity. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 2: Abstraction. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 4: Algorithms. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 5: Programming. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.

Chapter 1

In this chapter, students will learn the fundamentals of computer programming, to permit them to
begin to manipulate information and data and command a computer to do calculations they wish
for it to perform.

Topics within this Chapter

0 Syntax 3 Operators
1 Variables 4 Boolean Expressions and Conditionals
2 Data Types 5 Loops

Assignments
0 Hello
Students learn the syntax specific to C. Here, they write their first program in a web-based programming
environment called the CS50 IDE.

1 Fahrenheit
Students will write a program that converts a temperature in Celsius to Fahrenheit and explore bugs that might
arise when dealing with imprecision relating to floats and division in C.

2 Cash
This activity introduces students to greedy algorithms. Here, they will write a program that first asks the user
how much change is owed and then outputs the minimum number of coins with which said change can be made.

3 Pennies
Students will create a file that calculates the amount that the user will have received in total by the end of the
month (not just on the last day) if some initial amount is doubled on every day but the first, expressed not as
pennies but as dollars and cents.

4 ISBN
Students will further build on the abstractions available to them in C. Here, they will explore iteration and loops
by writing a program that prompts the user for an ISBN-10 and then reports (via printf) whether the number’s
legitimate. The program’s last line of output should be either yes or no, nothing more, nothing less.

9
5 Mario
Students further their understanding of loops and their familiarity with the syntax of C, by creating a program
that outputs the famous Mario pyramid using spaces and hashes.

6 Credit
Students will put the concepts from Chapter 1 together, using loops, iteration, booleans, and data types to
implement a program that prompts the user for a credit card number and then reports (via printf) whether it is a
valid American Express, MasterCard, or Visa card number, per the definitions of each’s format.

Learning Objectives Covered in these Topics

LO 1.2.5 LO 2.2.3 LO 5.1.2
LO 2.1.1 LO 4.1.1 LO 5.3.1
LO 2.2.1 LO 4.1.2 LO 5.4.1
LO 2.2.2 LO 4.2.4 LO 5.5.1

Curricular Requirements Covered in these Topics

[CR1a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P1: Connecting Computing.
[CR1b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P2: Creating Computational Artifacts.
[CR1c] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P3: Abstracting.
[CR1d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P4: Analyzing Problems and Artifacts.
[CR1e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P5: Communicating.
[CR2a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 1: Creativity. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 2: Abstraction. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 4: Algorithms. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 5: Programming. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.

Chapter 2

In this chapter, students will expand upon their knowledge of the fundamentals of computer
programming and begin building abstractions of their own. They’ll also learn about strategies for
debugging their own programs.

Topics within this Chapter

0 Compiling 4 Exit Codes
1 Debugging 5 Searching
2 Arrays and Strings 6 Computational Complexity
3 Command-Line Interactions 7 Computational Models

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Assignments
0 Old Friends
Students begin to interact with their programs at the command line, allowing them to run differently each time,
instead of always doing the same thing. Here, students modify some of the previous problems to allow them to
be run from the command line.
1 Calc
Students continue to interact with their programs at the command line. They will implement the basic features of
calculator including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and modulo.

2 Caesar
Students dive into cryptography—the transformation of “plaintexts” to instead be secret messages, and how we
can use machines to do this for us. Here they implement their own version of a caesar cipher.

3 Vigenére
Furthering their understanding of cryptography, students will create a cipher more secure than a caesar cipher, a
vigenére cipher, where a keyword is used to encrypt the message.

4 Crack
After learning about encrypting “plaintext,” students will explore the opposite. They will create a program,
using varying levels of abstraction such as functions and libraries to help them decrypt encrypted passwords.

Learning Objectives Covered in these Topics

LO 1.2.3 LO 2.2.3 LO 4.2.4
LO 1.2.5 LO 3.3.1 LO 5.2.1
LO 2.1.1 LO 4.2.1 LO 5.3.1
LO 2.2.1 LO 4.2.2 LO 5.4.1
LO 2.2.2 LO 4.2.3 LO 5.5.1

Curricular Requirements Covered in these Topics

[CR1a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P1: Connecting Computing.
[CR1b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P2: Creating Computational Artifacts.
[CR1c] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P3: Abstracting.
[CR1d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P4: Analyzing Problems and Artifacts.
[CR1e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P5: Communicating.
[CR2a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 1: Creativity. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 2: Abstraction. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 4: Algorithms. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 5: Programming. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2g] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 7: Global Impact. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.

11
Chapter 3

In this chapter, students will uncover some of the concepts that go on under the hood when we use
different data structures like strings and arrays. Then students explore ways to store data of
various types in a struct.

Topics within this Chapter

0 Functions 3 Memory
1 Tools for Debugging 4 Pointers
2 More on Strings 5 Structs

Assignments
0 Fifteen
Students take their newfound knowledge of functions and organizing data, and aided by some distribution code
that implements the basic framework for them, to collaborate on implementing the classic Game of Fifteen with
user-interactivity, while explaining their implementations with other groups.

1 Whodunit
Students explore images in depth and the varying levels of abstraction used to represent an image, rooting back
to the individual bits that compose the pixels within an image. They will both individually and in teams, modify
bitmap images to extract a hidden image. Additionally, they will answer some questions about images more
generally.

2 Resize
Diving deeper into bitmap manipulation, students will create a program that takes in a 24-bit uncompressed
BMPs and scales it larger by a factor of n.

3 Recover
In this problem, students will receive the file of a corrupted memory card storing 50 jpegs. They will work in
groups to use their knowledge of file I/O to read the images from the memory card and write them to new files,
thus restoring the lost images.

Learning Objectives Covered in these Topics

LO 1.2.2 LO 3.3.1 LO 5.2.1
LO 2.1.2 LO 4.2.4 LO 5.3.1
LO 3.1.3 LO 5.1.1 LO 7.1.1

Curricular Requirements Covered in these Topics

[CR1a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P1: Connecting Computing.
[CR1b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P2: Creating Computational Artifacts.
[CR1c] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P3: Abstracting.
[CR1d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P4: Analyzing Problems and Artifacts.
[CR1e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P5: Communicating.
[CR1f] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P6: Collaborating.

12
[CR2a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 1: Creativity. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 2: Abstraction. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2c] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 3: Data and
Information. Such opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 4: Algorithms. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 5: Programming. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.

Chapter 4

As students begin to wrap up their time in C, they are challenged to consider more complex data
structures. Students dive into the various pros and cons of the various data structures and which
are better to use in various scenarios.

Topics within this Chapter

0 Valgrind 3 Hash Tables
1 More on Structs 4 Trees
2 Linked Lists 5 Tries

Assignments
0 Speller
Students use their new-found knowledge of data structures to implement a spell checker in C. They implement
several functions that work within staff-provided distribution code and test their code with various text files.

Learning Objectives Covered in these Topics

LO 1.1.1 LO 2.1.1 LO 3.3.1
LO 1.2.2 LO 2.2.1 LO 4.2.4
LO 1.2.3 LO 2.2.2 LO 5.1.2
LO 1.2.4 LO 2.2.3 LO 5.1.3
LO 1.2.5 LO 3.1.1 LO 5.3.1
LO 1.3.1 LO 3.1.2

Curricular Requirements Covered in these Topics

[CR1a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P1: Connecting Computing.
[CR1b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P2: Creating Computational Artifacts.
[CR1c] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P3: Abstracting.
[CR2a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 1: Creativity. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 2: Abstraction. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2c] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 3: Data and
Information. Such opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 5: Programming. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.

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Chapter 5

At this point in the course, we transition from programming in a mostly command-line environment
to taking our applications to scale via the Internet. First, however, students are introduced to the
technologies underpinning this thing we know as “the Internet” before beginning to explore web
programming by building simple pages of their own and making them accessible to the world via
CS50 IDE.

Topics within this Chapter

0 Internet Basics 3 Forms
1 HTTP 4 CSS
2 HTML 5 JavaScript

Assignments
0 Be the Teacher
The technologies of the internet can be complex, so students are challenged to explain in writing things concisely
to a lay audience, cementing their understanding of these technologies by having to discuss them more casually.
In 1500 words students will explain how the internet works to 3rd graders.

1 Defender of the Web

Students explore the notions of cyberattacks and cybersecurity and investigate in more detail some of the
common types of attacks that impact websites today. In 750-1,000 words, students should cover the following:
• What is the name of the attack? What type of attack is it?
• Where did it come from? Who created it (if known), and why?
• How did we find out about it - how was it caught?
• What types of companies or individuals does it target?
• How does it work? What components of the network does it attack, and from which end (client or server)?
• What damage is it capable of doing? What information does it target?
• Has a fix been found? How does it work? Has it been implemented in all websites/servers with potential
vulnerabilities?
• If applicable, how can we defend ourselves against this attack?

2 Homepage
Students create their own web pages, learn about permissions schemes, and make their creations accessible to
the world.

Learning Objectives Covered in these Topics

LO 1.1.1 LO 6.1.1 LO 7.3.1
LO 1.2.1 LO 6.2.1 LO 7.4.1
LO 2.2.2 LO 6.2.2
LO 3.3.1 LO 6.3.1

Curricular Requirements Covered in these Topics

[CR1a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P1: Connecting Computing.
[CR1b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P2: Creating Computational Artifacts.
[CR1c] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P3: Abstracting.

14
[CR1d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P4: Analyzing Problems and Artifacts.
[CR1e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P5: Communicating.
[CR1f] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P6: Collaborating.
[CR2a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 1: Creativity. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 5: Programming. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2f] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 6: The Internet. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2g] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 7: Global Impact. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.

Chapter 6

Students build upon their knowledge gained in the course to learn several new programming
languages with abstractions built in that allow them to go far beyond what simply C and Scratch
are able to do. They solve more complex problems that require processing large amounts of data
and dealing with processes that scale and see how these techniques can be applied to confront
the challenges computer scientists will be contending with in the future.

Topics within this Chapter

0 Python 3 Loops
1 Conditionals 4 Data Types
2 Booleans 5 Functions

Assignments
0 Analyze This
Students will reflect on their experiences in the course. In 500-1000 words, they will talk about some of the
challenges they encountered in the course and how they persevered through the problem.

1 Sentimental
Students will re-implement a subset of Hello, Mario, Cash, Credit, Caesar, Vigenére, and Crack in Python to
gain familiarity with Python syntax and the affordances that higher level programming languages offer.

2 Bleep
Students will implement a program that censors out a list of banned words by replacing them with asterixis. Here
students gain familiarity with Python specific functionality, particularly around string manipulation.

Learning Objectives Covered in these Topics

LO 2.1.1 LO 7.1.1 LO 7.5.1
LO 3.1.3 LO 7.1.2
LO 3.1.1 LO 7.2.1

Curricular Requirements Covered in these Topics

[CR1a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P1: Connecting Computing.

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[CR1b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P2: Creating Computational Artifacts.
[CR1c] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P3: Abstracting.
[CR1d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P4: Analyzing Problems and Artifacts.
[CR1e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P5: Communicating.
[CR2b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 2: Abstraction. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 4: Algorithms. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 5: Programming. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.

Chapter 7

Students build upon their knowledge of web programming and Python to create web-based
applications. They learn about structures for organizing their files for web applications, like MVC.

Topics within this Chapter

0 Flask 3 Events
1 MVC 4 Ajax
2 Autocomplete 5 JSON

Assignments

0 Similarities
Students will write a program to determine segments of similar code between two sample submissions.

1 Survey
Students will implement a web application similar to Google Forms, whereby students implement a form that
collects information and saves the user data to a CSV and displays the CSV to the user on a web page.

Learning Objectives Covered in these Topics

LO 1.2.1 LO 3.2.1 LO 6.2.2
LO 1.2.2 LO 3.3.1 LO 6.3.1
LO 1.2.3 LO 4.1.2 LO 7.5.1
LO 2.2.3 LO 4.2.4

Curricular Requirements Covered in these Topics

[CR1a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P1: Connecting Computing.
[CR1b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P2: Creating Computational Artifacts.
[CR1c] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P3: Abstracting.
[CR2b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 2: Abstraction. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 4: Algorithms. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.

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[CR2e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 5: Programming. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.

Chapter 8

Students learn about how web applications store data in databases. They solve problems that
require processing large amounts of data and dealing with processes that scale and see how
these techniques can be applied to confront the challenges computer scientists will be contending
with in the future.

Topics within this Chapter

0 Cookies 3 SQL
1 Sessions 4 Race Conditions
2 Databases

Assignments
0 C$50 Finance (SQL)
Students will work in groups to construct their own stock-trading website (pulling real stock prices a finance
API), working with databases and managing user information securely.

Learning Objectives Covered in these Topics

LO 1.2.2 LO 2.2.2 LO 4.1.2
LO 1.2.3 LO 3.2.2 LO 5.1.3
LO 1.2.4 LO 3.3.1 LO 7.4.1
LO 2.2.1 LO 4.1.1 LO 7.5.1

Curricular Requirements Covered in these Topics

[CR1a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P1: Connecting Computing.
[CR1b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P2: Creating Computational Artifacts.
[CR1c] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P3: Abstracting.
[CR1d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P4: Analyzing Problems and Artifacts.
[CR1e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P5: Communicating.
[CR1f] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P6: Collaborating.
[CR2a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 1: Creativity. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 2: Abstraction. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2c] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 3: Data and
Information. Such opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 4: Algorithms. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 5: Programming. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2g] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 7: Global Impact.
Such opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.

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AP MODULES

The material in these chapters include topics that are not covered in CS50 on campus but are
essential to the AP Computer Science Principles Course.

These modules are less programming focused and can be integrated at any point in the
curriculum.

Understanding Technology

In this module, students learn about how it all works underneath the hood and how to solve
problems when something goes wrong, this course fills in the gaps, empowering students to use
and troubleshoot technology more effectively.
Topics within this Module
0 Hardware 2 Multimedia
1 The Internet 3 Security

Assignments
0 Around the House
Students explore the devices in their home to find “non-traditional” computers. In no more than 400 words,
they’ll describe these devices in detail. They will answer questions such as:
• What does the device look like?
• What kind of data does it accept?
• How does it process that data?
• What is the result of that processing?

1 Tech Spotlight
Students research technological innovations and apply their newfound knowledge of computer hardware. In no
more than 600 words, students will expound on this technology. Their objective is to provide the reader with a
well-rounded, unbiased summary of this innovation and the abstractions used in its creation. In writing their
response, students will consider:
• What is this technology called?
• What does it do?
• How does someone use this technology?
• How is its quality of performance commonly measured? (e.g. in megabytes (MB), gigahertz (GHz), etc.)
• How does the recent news about the technology change the product or service?
• What older form of technology does it replace, if any?
• How has this technology impacted your life, for better or worse?
• How has this technology impacted society at large, for better or worse?

2 Everyday Algorithms
Students will write an algorithm in sentence form and in pseudocode for how to complete a task that they do on
a daily basis such as brushing their teeth. Students should strive to accurately describe that algorithm without
ambiguity in a spoken language.

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Learning Objectives Covered in these Topics
LO 2.1.1 LO 6.1.1 LO 7.1.1
LO 2.1.2 LO 6.2.1 LO 7.2.1
LO 3.3.1 LO 6.2.2 LO 7.3.1
LO 4.2.4 LO 6.3.1 LO 7.5.2

Curricular Requirements Covered in these Topics

[CR1a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P1: Connecting Computing.
[CR1b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P2: Creating Computational Artifacts.
[CR1d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P4: Analyzing Problems and Artifacts.
[CR1e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P5: Communicating.
[CR2a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 1: Creativity. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 4: Algorithms. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2g] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 7: Global Impact. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks

Data Science

In this module, students learn about big data. Students learn about how to collect and analyze
data responsibly and how human bias can affect computation artifacts.
Topics within this Module
0 Collecting Data 1 Analyzing Data

Learning Objectives Covered in these Topics

LO 2.1.1 LO 3.2.1 LO 7.2.1
LO 2.1.2 LO 3.2.2 LO 7.3.1
LO 3.1.1 LO 3.3.1
LO 3.1.3 LO 7.1.1

Curricular Requirements Covered in these Topics

[CR1a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P1: Connecting Computing.
[CR1d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P4: Analyzing Problems and Artifacts.
[CR2g] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 7: Global Impact. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks

Impact of Computing

In this module, students learn about computing affects society. Students also dive into the
development process from a high level and the ethics and legalities around computer science.
Topics within this Module
0 The Development Process 1 Scaling

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2 Models 4 The Digital Divide
3 Simulations 5 Ethics and Legalities of Computing

Assignments
0 Simulate! (Simulation)
In this writing problem, students research a computer simulation of their choice. They will explain how the
simulation and the benefits and disadvantages of using it. Does the program account for all the features it is
trying to model? Does the model rely on any assumptions? Are there downsides to using a program instead of
testing in the real-world? What are those downsides?

1 Degrees of Scalability
In this writing problem, students how scalable real-world applications are. How do companies handle big data
and large amounts of users? What factors affect the scalability of a product?

Learning Objectives Covered in these Topics

LO 2.1.1 LO 3.3.1 LO 7.2.1
LO 2.3.1 LO 6.3.1 LO 7.3.1
LO 2.3.2 LO 7.1.1 LO 7.4.1
LO 3.2.2 LO 7.1.2 LO 7.5.2

Curricular Requirements Covered in these Topics

[CR1a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P1: Connecting Computing.
[CR1b] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P2: Creating Computational Artifacts.
[CR1d] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P4: Analyzing Problems and Artifacts.
[CR1e] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives connected to Computational Thinking
Practice P5: Communicating.
[CR2a] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 1: Creativity. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks.
[CR2g] – Students are provided with opportunities to meet learning objectives within Big Idea 7: Global Impact. Such
opportunities must occur in addition to the AP Computer Science Principles Performance Tasks

Performance Task 1: Explore – Impact of Computing Innovations

Students will start the through-course assessment Explore—Impact of Computing Innovations.

Students are allocated eight hours of in-class time for this exercise. [CR3]

[CR3] – Students are provided the required amount of class time to complete the AP Through-
Course Assessment Explore – Impact of Computing Innovations Performance Task.

Performance Task 2: Create – Applications from Ideas

After competing Chapter 8, students complete the through-course assessment Create—Applications

from Ideas. Students are allocated twelve hours of in-class time for this exercise. [CR4]

[CR4] – Students are provided the required amount of class time to complete the AP Through-
Course Assessment Create – Applications from Ideas Performance Task.

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Recommended Order

1. Understanding 5. Chapter 2 11. Chapter 7

Technology Module 6. Chapter 3 12. Chapter 8
2. Chapter 0 7. Chapter 4 13. Performance Task 2:
3. Performance Task 1: 8. Data Science Module Create
Explore 9. Chapter 5 14. Impact of Computing
4. Chapter 1 10. Chapter 6 Module

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