AP Computer Science A Labs

Units

Unit	Description
	Consumer Review: The persuasive power of words can be seen in a variety of places such as entertainment, news, social media, and even reviews and comments. Students learn about sentiment value and how this can be used to construct or modify a review to be more positive or negative using String manipulation. This lab can be used after Unit 2: Selection and Iteration in Cortado, Unit 4: Iteration in Nitro, and Unit 3: Methods in Mocha.
	Magpie: Students learn how to use String methods and pattern matching to create a chatbot that they can have a conversation with. Students can complete this assignment after finishing Unit 3: Class Creation in Cortado, Unit 5: Writing Classes in AP CS A (Nitro) and Unit 4: Classes and Objects in AP CS A (Mocha).
	Picture Lab: Students learn how to write methods to modify pictures and explore how images are stored in memory. This lab introduces concepts such as nested loops, interfaces, and inheritance. Note: this lab contains topics (inheritance and interfaces) that are now considered out-of-scope for the AP CSA exam. In order to complete this lab, students will need to learn about those topics beforehand, in addition to completing the recommended units below. This lab can be completed after Unit 4: Data Collections in Cortado, Unit 9: Inheritance in AP CS A (Nitro), or Unit 5: Data Structures in AP CS A (Mocha).
	Elevens: Students learn how to use Object-Oriented design to create a solitaire card game. At the end of the lab, students use a Graphical User Interface to play the game they create! Note: this lab contains topics (inheritance, abstract classes and methods, and interfaces) that are now considered out-of-scope for the AP CSA exam. In order to complete this lab, students will need to learn about those topics beforehand, in addition to completing the recommended units below. Students can complete this assignment after finishing Unit 4: Data Collections in Cortado, and Unit 6: Data Structures in AP CS A (Mocha).
	Battleship: Students learn how to use Object-Oriented design to implement the board game Battleship. Students can complete this assignment after finishing Unit 4: Data Collections in Cortado, Unit 8: 2D Arrays in AP CS A (Nitro), Unit 5: Data Structures in AP CS A (Mocha).
	Pokemon Simulation: Students learn how to create a Pokémon battle game using Object-Oriented programming to implement Pokémon, trainers, and moves! Note: this lab contains topics (inheritance) that are now considered out-of-scope for the AP CSA exam. In order to complete this lab, students will need to learn about those topics beforehand, in addition to completing the recommended units below. Students can complete this assignment after finishing Unit 4: Data Collections in Cortado, Unit 9: Inheritance in AP CS A (Nitro), and Unit 5: Data Structures in AP CS A (Mocha).
	Blackjack: Students learn how to use basic data structures in Java including arrays, ArrayLists, 2-dimensional arrays, and HashMaps to create a game of Blackjack. Note: this lab contains topics (HashMaps) that are now considered out-of-scope for the AP CSA exam. In order to complete this lab, students will need to learn about those topics beforehand, in addition to completing the recommended units below. Students can complete this assignment after finishing Unit 4: Data Collections in Cortado, and Unit 7: ArrayLists in AP CS A (Nitro), Unit 5: Data Structures in AP CS A (Mocha).
	Mad Libs: Students learn how to write a program that allows users to create their own Mad Lib stories! Students can complete this assignment after finishing Unit 4: Data Collections in Cortado, Unit 7: ArrayLists in AP CS A (Nitro), and Unit 5: Data Structures in AP CS A (Mocha).
	Celebrity Lab: Students learn how to discuss class design as it relates to the game Celebrity, where a person or team tries to guess the name of a celebrity from a given clue or set of clues. This lab includes inheritance as the basis for one of the activities and also includes a Graphical User Interface. Note: this lab contains topics (inheritance) that are now considered out-of-scope for the AP CSA exam. In order to complete this lab, students will need to learn about those topics beforehand, in addition to completing the recommended units below. This lab can be completed after Unit 4: Data Collections in Cortado, Unit 9: Inheritance in AP CS A (Nitro), and Unit 4: Classes and Object-Oriented Programming in AP CS A (Mocha).
	Steganography Lab: Steganography is the practice of concealing messages or information within other non-secret text or data. Students explore the concepts of steganography and 2D arrays, hiding images or text inside of other images. This lab can be completed after Unit 4: Data Collections in Cortado, Unit 8: 2D Arrays in AP CS A (Nitro), Unit 5: Data Structures in AP CS A (Mocha).