Mapping the Internet

Whenever we start a new topic I love having an activity to set the tone. I came across the Mapping the Internet a few weeks back.

The projects asks people to "Please draw a map of the Internet, as you see it. Indicate your "home".

Yesterday I wrote about HTML in my Internet Unplugged unit. I think this would be a fun way to start off that unit.

My Daughters Maps

They have a taxonomy of these maps. Which of course is data - another big idea from CS Principles. From here it would be interesting to collect the students drawings and do some discussion board topics about what they drew. Were there common themes? How did your map change after learning about the physical parts of the Internet? Did it change after learning HTML and CSS?


Another thing I try to do is set a presence for computer science in my school. Wherever we can I do art projects and hang them in the halls around the building. This would be another great way to get computer science out of the lab.

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Mind Mapping the AP Computer Science Exam

This year we tried something different for teh final APCS exam review. Weve been doing multiple choice and free response problems for weeks now, and really we are at the point where they either know it or they dont.

So what I want is for them to remember all the connections - those picky details that can make a huge difference. Like when do you use == and when the .equals? Or when to use super vs this.

So I gave them a list of terms from the APCS curriculum (see below) and I had them cut them out to make a mind map. They had to draw and explain the connections. They worked in groups on this and there was a lot of great discussion today as they debated where the pieces fit together.

The list isnt complete - I keep remembering things I left off. The kids found most of those as they built their maps.

.length() .move .random .remove .size() .turn ++ = = abstract accessor Actor array 1-D array 2-D base case boolean Bug class Color

concatenation constructor Critter double extends Flower for for-each if implements int interface List Location Math method mutator new

Object object overload override parameter primitive private public recursion return Rock row major toString void

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