Computer Science

List of 6 items.

• Grade 5: Creative Computing I

  This course builds on the coding concepts and skills learned in the Lower School. Students will expand their capacity to work with fundamental programming concepts like variables, conditional statements, and loops. Computational concepts and skills will be applied to engaging, creative projects in the areas of digital fabrication, artificial intelligence, and physical computing. Students will have opportunities to explore and generate their project ideas both individually and collaboratively.

• Grade 6: Creative Computing II

  This trimester-long course helps students develop basic programming skills and habits of mind through a study of 3D animation, as well as fundamental design thinking practices through physical computing using circuits.

• Grade 7: Creative Computing III

  In this trimester-long course, students build on their foundational concepts and skills from the previous year, exploring programming through web development using HTML and CSS. They also dive into hands-on computing and hone their design skills by working with microcontrollers and sensors using the Circuit Playground Express.

• Grade 8: Creative Computing IV

  In this year-long course, students continue to explore the fundamentals and applications of programming by creating user-centered projects using p5.js, and sharpen their problem-solving skills through a study of physical computing using Arduino-related electronics and programming.

• Grade 7: Robotics Elective

  This elective course offers students an opportunity to continue their work in computer science. Students are introduced to the field of robotics and study the role it plays in present-day life. Students design and build objects that interact with the physical world through sensors, motors and LEDs. Project work forms a major part of the course, and in the spring, students participate in a citywide robotics event.

• Grade 8: Physical Computing Elective

  Physical Computing studies microcontroller technology and its presence in everyday technologies. Students will work with an assortment of microcontrollers to design, program and construct smart devices that interact with the environment. Microcontrollers, sensors, LEDs, buzzers and actuators will be embedded into physical objects—some wearable, others stationary—that have specific purposes and functions. Programming, engineering and making are essential elements of this course.

  All Grade 8 students are welcome. No prerequisite.