Python Programming Grades 11 to 12
Build a rover simulator in real Python with classes, grids, searching, sorting and recursion, then read the same code in Java.
Free, start to finish. No card. Every week opens without signing in.
- Grade
- Grades 11 to 12
- Length
- 12 weeks
- Pace
- 6 short lessons a week, about 30 minutes each
- Price
- Free, every week
About this course
Python Programming Grades 11 to 12 is a 12-week course in real Python for students who already know the basics from Code Crew: Mission Commander. Comet, Wren and Nova build FieldSim, a made-up rover simulator: a rover drives a grid test field, collects samples and keeps a catalog. Students write classes with constructors, instance variables and methods, protect an object's state, connect objects, work with 2D grids, test with assert, use inheritance, search and sort the catalog, and write recursive functions, tracing each program by hand before running it. The last two weeks show the same programs in Java to read and trace. It prepares for the ideas in AP Computer Science A and practices CSTA Level 3A and 3B standards; it is not an AP course and is not affiliated with College Board. Plan on about 30 minutes a session in IDLE, the editor that comes with Python. 100% free, start to finish.
Kids will
- Write classes with constructors, instance variables and methods
- Protect an object's state and connect objects that work together
- Store and walk a 2D grid with nested loops
- Test code with assert and fix bugs from a traceback
- Search and sort a list, and compare how much work each takes
- Write and trace recursive functions, then read the same code in Java
The 12 weeks
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Week 1
Back at the Terminal
Review fast, trace before you run, and name the three kinds of error
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Week 2
Classes and Objects
A class is a blueprint, and each object keeps its own state
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Week 3
Guarding the State
Design a class first, then hide its data behind methods
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Week 4
Objects Working Together
Names, references and objects that hold objects
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Week 5
Grids
The test field as rows and columns
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Week 6
Drive and Test
Step by step across the field, with tests at the edges
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Week 7
The Fleet
Subclasses reuse and override; one call, many behaviors
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Week 8
Searching
Linear search checks each item; binary search halves sorted data
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Week 9
Sorting
Selection and insertion sort; count the work
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Week 10
Recursion
A base case, a smaller call, and a stack of calls to trace
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Week 11
Reading Java I
Same FieldSim ideas, new syntax: types, braces, classes and arrays
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Week 12
Reading Java II and Ship
ArrayList, sorting, searching and recursion in Java; then a code review and the FieldSim release
More in Code Crew
Try Week 1 today.
Open the course, pick Day 1 and go. Make a free parent account when you want progress saved for each kid.