CS Discoveries 2020-2021

Vocab

Unit 1 - Problem Solving and Computing

Lesson 4: What is a Computer?

  • Computer: A machine that works with information.

Lesson 5: Input and Output

  • Input: the information computers get from users, devices, or other computers
  • Output: the information computers give to users, devices, or other computers

Lesson 6: Processing

  • Processing: The thinking work computers do to turn input into output.

Lesson 7: Storage

  • storage: saving information to use in the future

Unit 2 - Web Development

Lesson 2: Intro to HTML

  • HTML: Hypertext Markup Language, a language used to create web pages
  • HTML Element: A piece of a website, marked by a start tag and often closed with an end tag
  • HTML Tag: The special set of characters that indicates the start and end of an HTML element and that element's type
  • Website Content: the text and images on a website
  • Website Structure: how the content of a website is organized

Lesson 3: Headings

  • Heading: A title or summary for a document or section of a document.

Lesson 5: Digital Footprint

  • Digital Footprint: The collected information about an individual across multiple websites on the Internet.

Lesson 6: Styling Text with CSS

  • CSS: Cascading Style Sheets; a language used to describe how HTML elements should be styled
  • CSS Selector: the part of a CSS rule-set that defines which HTML elements the style should be applied to

Lesson 8: Intellectual Property

  • Copyright: the exclusive legal right to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same

Lesson 16: Sources and Research

  • Relevant: closely connected to a topic
  • Search Engine: A program that searches for items on the World Wide Web.
  • Trustworthy: reliable, honest, and truthful

Lesson 17: CSS Classes

  • CSS Class: An identifier that allows multiple elements in an HTML document to be styled in the same way

Unit 3 - Interactive Animations and Games

Lesson 3: Drawing in Game Lab

  • Bug: Part of a program that does not work correctly.
  • Debugging: Finding and fixing problems in an algorithm or program.
  • Program: An algorithm that has been coded into something that can be run by a machine.

Lesson 4: Shapes and Parameters

  • Parameter: An extra piece of information passed to a function to customize it for a specific need

Lesson 5: Variables

  • Variable: A label for a piece of information used in a program.

Lesson 7: Sprites

  • Dot notation: the way that sprites' properties are used in Game Lab, by connecting the sprite and property with a dot.
  • Property: A label for a characteristic of a sprite, such as its location and appearance
  • Sprite: A character on the screen with properties that describe its location, movement, and look.

Lesson 8: Sprite Properties

  • Property: A label for a characteristic of a sprite, such as its location and appearance

Lesson 14: Conditionals

  • Boolean Expression: in programming, an expression that evaluates to True or False.
  • Condition: Something a program checks to see whether it is true before deciding to take an action.
  • Conditionals: Statements that only run when certain conditions are true.

Lesson 16: Mouse Input

  • Conditionals: Statements that only run when certain conditions are true.

Lesson 19: Collision Detection

  • Abstraction: a simplified representation of something more complex. Abstractions allow you to hide details to help you manage complexity, focus on relevant concepts, and reason about problems at a higher level.

Lesson 22: Collisions

  • Abstraction: a simplified representation of something more complex. Abstractions allow you to hide details to help you manage complexity, focus on relevant concepts, and reason about problems at a higher level.

Lesson 24: Functions

  • Function: A named bit of programming instructions.

Unit 4 - The Design Process

Lesson 1: Analysis of Design

  • Critique: To critically evaluate in a detailed and constructive manner.
  • Empathy: In design, paying attention to a user's feelings and needs when designing a product.
  • User: Someone who uses an object, including software and hardware.

Lesson 2: Understanding Your User

  • Usability: How easy, efficient, and satisfying it is to use a human-made object or device (including software).

Lesson 4: User Interfaces

  • Prototype: A first or early model of a product that allows you to test assumptions before developing a final version.
  • User Interface: The visual elements of a program through which a user controls or communicates with the application. Often abbreviated UI.

Lesson 10: Paper Prototypes

  • Prototype: A first or early model of a product that allows you to test assumptions before developing a final version.

Lesson 15: Improving and Iterating

  • Bug: Part of a program that does not work correctly.
  • Feature: An individual functional element of a software item, such as the ability to do something new, work across multiple platforms, or perform more efficiently

Unit 5 - Data and Society

Lesson 2: Patterns and Representation

  • Decode: to change how information is represented so that it can be read by a person
  • Encode: to change how information is represented so that it can be read by a computer

Lesson 4: Representing Images

  • Pixel: short for "picture element", the fundamental unit of a digital image, typically a tiny square or dot that contains a single point of color of a larger image.

Lesson 6: Keeping Data Secret

  • Decrypt: to change information so that its hidden meaning is shown
  • Encrypt: to change information so that its meaning is hidden

Unit 6 - Physical Computing

Lesson 1: Innovations in Computing

  • Innovation: A new or improved idea, device, product, etc, or the development thereof

Lesson 7: Analog Input

  • Analog: Any continuously changing signal that is not restricted to finite set of values. For example, the wave forms of spoken words are an analog signal.
  • Digital: Data or signals represented by a finite number of values. Analog signals (which can have infinite values) must be converted to digital in order to be computed with.

Lesson 10: Arrays and Color LEDs

  • Array: A data structure in JavaScript used to represent a list.

Lesson 12: Arrays and For Loops

  • Array: A data structure in JavaScript used to represent a list.
  • For Loop: Loops that have a predetermined beginning, end, and increment (step interval).

Lesson 14: Functions with Parameters

  • Parameter: An extra piece of information passed to a function to customize it for a specific need

Lesson 15: Circuits and Physical Prototypes

  • Circuit: A device that provides a path for an electric current to flow, often modifying that current. In computers, circuits allow for simple logical and mathematical operations using electricity.
  • Prototype: A first or early model of a product that allows you to test assumptions before developing a final version.