Part 1: Design the app

In the first stage of the app project, students brainstormed ideas for an app that could educate or support users on a meaningful topic. They gathered peer feedback to guide their decisions, then sketched wireframes and began building their user interfaces in Code.org’s App Lab. This phase emphasized collaboration, creative problem-solving, and thoughtful design.

Part 2: Code the app

With their designs in place, students moved on to coding and debugging their apps using block- and text-based programming. They practiced pair programming, swapped feedback with classmates, and made improvements based on user testing. This hands-on experience helped students better understand the development process.

This teacher-led example helped students prepare for the AP CSP Create Performance Task. Users care for pet character by managing hunger, energy, and happiness through interactive buttons. The app uses variables, conditionals, and a custom procedure to update the game. The program uses variables, conditionals, event handling, and custom procedures to manage game logic and screen updates. After analyzing this teacher-created example, students were challenged to design their own interactive app, applying key Create Task concepts such as abstraction, algorithm development, and user-centered design.

This program was developed as a teacher-led example to help students prepare for the AP Computer Science Principles Create Performance Task. The app allows users to search NCAA Division I teams or schools by selecting a category and a starting letter from dropdown menus. It incorporates parallel lists, conditionals, iteration, and a custom function with two parameters to filter and display results. After analyzing and building this example together, students applied the same concepts by designing and coding their own original apps—deepening their understanding of abstraction, algorithms, and user interaction from start to finish.

This Scratch program was created as an introduction to event-driven programming and animation. The project demonstrates basic control structures, sprite interactions, and creative storytelling through block-based coding. It served as an early stepping stone toward more advanced app development and reinforced foundational concepts in logic, sequencing, and user input.

This project is a simple clicker-style game built in Scratch to explore interactive programming. It uses variables, loops, conditionals, and event handling to track score and respond to user input. The game demonstrates core programming concepts in a playful and engaging way, with mechanics like point tracking and dynamic sprite behavior.