Students will be able to...
- Use project planning skills to complete a large project.
- Create functions to organize a project.
- Apply skills learned in units 1-3 to create a functioning program.
- 3.05 Slide deck
- Project spec - Oregon Trail (docx) (pdf)
- Project spec - Cross-Country Canada (docx) (pdf)
- Project spec - Daily Planner (docx) (pdf)
- Oregon Trail starter code
- Cross-Country Canada starter code
- Solution (access protected resources by clicking on "Additional Curriculum Materials" on the TEALS dashboard)
- Update the Project Spec as needed to meet your grading requirements.
- Try creating your own variation on the Oregon Trail code so you are familiar with the potential challenges and bugs your students will hit.
- Review 4 steps to solve any CS problem
- Editable grading rubric
| Duration | Description |
|---|---|
| 10 Minutes | Project Overview |
| 40 Minutes | Planning |
| 5 Minutes | Debrief |
| Duration | Description |
|---|---|
| 5 Minutes | Review Day Plan |
| 45 Minutes | Project Work |
| 5 Minutes | Debrief |
- Remind students of the 4 steps to solve any CS problem.
- Demo the finished project.
- Give out the project spec and go over game rules.
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Have students draw out the game play.
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Students should plan to create functions for each user interaction by figuring out where the repeated code will be.
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Students should list out which variables they will need.
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Have students plan out their next 7 days. Here is a suggested time line and checkpoints:
- Set up user inputs with dummy functions, make sure game loop works.
- Create variables necessary to run the game, start implementing basic functions.
- Focus on the random functions.
- Figure out how to move the days.
- Finish day updating.
- Connect functions together.
- Wrap up and game over check is correct.
* Advanced students can add in random events like cholera or snake bites.
* Students can also have a list of travelers instead of just 1, where each traveler is affected differently by each action.
* The planning phase of this project will be essential, especially for students who you think may struggle with this project.
* Provide more guidance and scaffolding to those students that need it.
| Points | Percentage | Objective | Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 10% | Student correctly identifies data types | 2.01 |
| 3 | 10% | Student correctly uses lists | 2.04, 2.05 |
| 3 | 10% | Student correctly uses built in functions | 3.01 |
| 12 | 38% | Student can program using user-defined functions | 3.02, 3.03, 3.04 |
| 5 | 16% | Student can decompose a problem to create a program from a brief | |
| 5 | 16% | Student uses naming/ syntax conventions and comments to increase readability | |
| 31 | Total Points |
You may need to adjust the points in order to fit your class. Treat the percentages as a guide to determine how to weight the objectives being assessed.