Changes to CS3 Curriculum
Summer 2013
Suzi Gerb
Changes in a Nutshell
• Placed on the web in a wiki
– https://cs3.wikispaces.hcpss.org/home
• Simplifications and additions
• Lab changes
– BCD5 requires 2d arrays
– GridWorld projects
– Independent “capstone” style project
Simplifications and Additions
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Went from more than 20 units down to 11
Added a lesson on 2d Arrays
Added a unit on GridWorld
Updated “How to teach this class” document
Added a teacher’s guide to CS3 labwork
BCD 5 changes
• BCD5 allows you to multiply two BCDs
• Used to be implemented using repeated
addition
• Now uses the Lattice Method of
multiplication.
• Requires two-dimensional arrays.
Four GridWorld Labs
• Part 1: Very simple. Start up GridWorld and
run at least one demo
• Part 2: Write a proposal for an extended
project. Must be one of CritterBrain,
GameBug, or StoryBug
• Part 3: Create a subclass of one of the testable
actor classes.
• Part 4: Extended project
CritterBrain
• Very challenging project
• Artificial Intelligence
– Write a class to make decisions for an instance of
SmartCritter to keep it alive
– Needs to be able to find bugs for food
– Needs to be able to evade stronger critters that can
eat it
• Class will be a subclass of CritterBrain
• Software provided for two CritterBrains to
compete to see which survives the longest
GameBug
• Subclass of Bug
• Allows students to extend it to create a
GridWorld-based video game
– Keyboard manipulation
– Reports health and points
• By specializing methods, students decide
– How the GameBug moves
– What happens when it touches another bug
– What happens when it picks a flower
GameBug demos
• Bowling bug
– If it touches other bugs it loses health
– Can touch a HealingBug (hard to catch) to regain
health
– Can fire bowling balls (subclass of rock) to knock out
bad bugs
– Bowling balls obtained by picking flowers
• Maze Bug
– Trying to reach the center of a maze
– Must avoid the critters moving around the maze
StoryBug
• Allows the student to use subclasses of a
StoryBug class as characters in a story
– Can create and find graphics for images
– Can speak by popping up dialog frames on the
screen
• A little easier than the other two projects
• Brief demo story provided
Independent project
• Open-ended “capstone” style project.
• Contract based
– Student submits a proposal
– Teacher gives numerical scores to the various goals
within the proposal
– Student graded based on how many they achieve
• Contract contains
– Prototype
– Main project
– Two levels of enhancements