Class-level Methods and Inheritance

With the intense preparations for the Chistmas Concert and your teacher being sick I assume we need to catch up on everything that was planned for last week during this week.

Homework

• Complete the vocabulary of chapter 4 (except the last two words). The vocabulary sheet has to be handed in on Dec. 16, 08.
• Study for the vocabulary quiz on Dec. 16, 08.

Class-level Methods and Inheritance

Although our classes today and tomorow will be distracted by the exciting activities for the Christmas Concert you should be working concentrated to get your exercises completed and to set your mind on something new.

The new concept we are learning about are class-level methods as presented in section 4.3 of our textbook. Class- level methods are new methods that extend an already existing class and make it more powerful. Objetcs of the extended class can perform actions of all original methods and of the the newly created ones.

Class Work

Watch the Presentation about "Class-level methods and inheritance" (click the link to the right) and work on your exercises (see below).

Kristine: Continue working on chapter 2 and do the review for section 2.2 (as posted to the right), then start the Tips and Techniques 2 section and do the review questions for this part (posted to the right).

Exercises to be finished before Christmas

P. 129 Exercise 1: Snow people flip hats
P. 131 Exercise 5: Beetle band duet
P. 133 Exercise 9: Enhanced clever skater.
P. 134 Exercise 12: Funky Chicken Dance or Ninja Practice

Homework

• Complete the vocabulary of chapter 4 (except the last two words). The completed sheet has to be handed in on Dec. 15, 08.
  An empty vocabulary sheet is available here.
• Study for the vocabulary quiz on Dec. 15, 08.
  

No Class

Have fun at the Aquarium!

Once More: Methods and Parameters

How and why to create methods and how and why to use parameters in methods is quite important to understand. That's why we want to talk about this once more today.
In the lab everybody should be finishing up the Beetle Band Duet Method and exercise 1 of chapter 4: Snow people flip hats.

Parameters - Communication with Methods

Parameters are a way of communication with methods. They allow to pass on pieces of information to a method. Using this information a method then carries out it's action.
We have used some primitive methods with parameters: For example: the "turn" method can cause an object to turn in a certain direction depending on the value of the parameter.
Today we are learning how to create and use our own methods with parameters.

Homework

• Read Section 4.3 on Class-level Methods and Inheritance, pages 110-121, and
• answer the review questions 4.3.

One Step Further

After having finished the introductory part of our textbook we are now starting Part II: Object-Oriented and Event-Driven Programming Concepts. This means we are going one step further to understand some important concepts of programming.
Chapter 4 is about Classes, Objects, Methods and Parameters.
Today we are learning how methods can help to manage a large program and how stepwise refinement can help to develop a program. By the end of this class we will understand what world-level methods are and we will know how and why to create those.
The vocabulary sheet will help us to understand the new concepts and words presented.

Homework

• Read Section 4.2 on Parameters, pages 100-109, and
• answer the review questions 4.2.

End of Term 1 Project

Finish your project - it is due today.

• 

To be handed in (everything stapled together with your name):

• The picture of the scene,
• the flowchart,
• the exported and printed code.

That's the End of Term 1. We have finished Part I, the introduction to Alice.

Homework

• Read pages 89-100: Chapter 4: Classes, Objects, Methods and Parameters.
  
• Answer the review questions for Section 4.1: World-level methods.
  

Project: The Confused Kanga

Have fun animating the confused Kanga of our Term 1 Project.
Start with a simple version that meets all the requirements of the project. This is sufficient to be handed in but then the real fun begins!


The project is due tomorrow, November 18, 2008.

Start of Term 1 Project

In the first half of our class there will be time for finishing up with all the exercises of chapter 3 that are incomplete.

• Ex. 1, Page 83: Robot to Lunar Lander
• Ex. 2, Page 83: Dog to Fire Hydrant
• Ex. 6, Page 85: Blimp and Dragon
• Ex. 7, Page 85: Snowman to Stool.

All exercises need to be handed with the code printed.

In the second half we will launch our Term 1 Project: The Confused Kanga.

No classes next week !

Camera and Animation Control

In the tips and techniques section of chapter 3 you can learn some more tricks about the control of the camera to make your animations in Alice more professionally looking.

Homework

• Read pages 77-88: Tips and Techniques 3: Camera and Animation Controls
• Answer the review questions.

More Control

In this class you will be expanding your knowledge about control structures.
In chapter 2 you have learned that instructions can be performed in order or at the same time.
Today, going through section 3-2, you will be introduced to two new control structures: The conditional execution and the repetition.
In a conditional execution an instruction is only executed if a certain condition is met, otherwise something different will take place.
Repetition helps to perform one or more instructions a number of times.
We complete our vocabulary sheet with new terms.
In the lab we will be working on question 11 and on exercises 6 and 7, page 83.

Homework
Study for the vocabulary quiz of chapter 3.

Putting Together the Pieces

This is the start of a new chapter.
Chapter 3 wraps up all the introductory pieces we need to know about programming in Alice before we can dig deeper with more advanced programming concepts next term.
In section 3-1 you will be learning about built-in functions to ask questions about an object's properties. This feature can be useful for a program to obtain information about the world and its objects.
You also will be using arithmetic operations to form math expressions in Alice
We start to fill in our vocabulary sheet with new words to be understood.
In the lab we will be working on question 10b and on exercises 1 and 2, page 83.

Homework

• Read section 3-2: Pages 68-76.
• Answer the review questions for section 3-2: Simple control structures.
  

Complete Chapter 2

This is the day for everyone to reach our goal: Finish Chapter 2.
In the lab complete all three exercises of chapter 2.

• 3: Snow People,
• 4: Circling Fish and
• 6: Magnet Fun (this is really fun!).

Homework

• Read the beginning of chapter 3: Pages 62-68.
• Answer the review questions for section 3-1: Built-in functions and expressions.

On the Home Stretch of Chapter 2

Today we are having the chapter 2 test. After that you will have plenty of time to work on completing the following exercises of chapter 2

• 3: Snow People,
• 4: Circling Fish and
• 6: Magnet Fun (this is really fun!).

no homework today !

Review and Practice

Today we are revising all the new concepts we have learned in Chapter 2 by answering the questions on pages 58/59.
In the lab you can be creative with Alice doing the exercises

• 3: Snow People,
• 4: Circling Fish and
• 6: Magnet Fun (this is really fun!).

Homework

• Study for the test.
• Complete your vocabulary (will be marked).

Chapter 2 Test
Monday, Oct. 20, 08

Give Thanks

No class today - just relax and give thanks.

Practice Makes Perfect

Today is the day to finish up all the practices you have been working on and to do some of the exercises in chapter 2 to reinforce the concepts you have learned.

Homework

• Read the summary of chapter 2 on pages 57-59 and make notes.

Movement and Orientation

Today we are having a quiz on the new terms we have learned in chapter 2.
In the lab we will be practicing how to make objects move and how to change their orientation as presented in our textbook in the tips and techniques part 2. The practice worksheet will walk you through the necessary steps.

Homework

• Answer the review questions for the Tips and Techniques 2 part.

Improve Your Animation

Today we are digging a bit deeper into programming as presented in Section 2-2 of our textbook.
After the lab practice last time it will be easy for you today to understand the concepts and to complete the vocabulary.
In the lab everybody will finish the section 2-2 practice and start with exercise 2b of chapter 2 to improve the animation of the "Robot's first encounter".

Homework

• Complete the vocabulary of chapter 2 (handwritten).
  Use the vocabulary key or the presentations posted to the right, if necessary.
• Study for the vocabulary quiz coming next Monday.
  

The Robot's First Encounter

Today we are having our test and all vocabulary sheets of "Introduction to Programming" and of Chapter 1 are due for marking.
We will be continuing with chapter 2. You will create some storyboards of scenarios given in exercise 1 on page 59 of our textbook and there will be new vocabulary to learn.
In the lab you can continue to practice programming in Alice following the "Robot's first encounter" example given in section 2-2.


Homework

• Reading p. 29-43, Section 2-2: A First Program
• Review Questions 2-2.

First Steps in Programming

Good News

There will be no test today but next Monday. It will cover the "Introduction to Programming" and Chapter 1: "Getting started with Alice" of our textbook. Today we will be preparing for this test by revising all we have learned so far in Chapter 1.

As almost everybody was working extremely hard yesterday to finish three or even more exercises of chapter 1 we are ready to start chapter 2 today.

Chapter 2 is about planning (=designing) and writing (=implementing) a program.
You will learn how visual and textual storyboards can help to design programs, and you will be able to answer the review questions of section 2-1. In the lab you will be using the program code editor in Alice to walk your first steps in programming.


Homework

• Complete all vocabulary (will be marked)
  from "Introduction to Programming" and from Chapter 1: "Getting started with Alice" handwritten.
  
• Prepare for the test.

Practice with Alice

Today we are going to revise all that we have learned so far in Chapter 1.

You will have plenty of time to practice with Alice and to get going with the exercises of Chapter 1. I want everybody to finish at least three of them.

There will be a test on "Introduction to Programming" and on Chapter 1: "Getting started with Alice" tomorrow.


Homework

• Complete all vocabulary (will be marked)
  from "Introduction to Programming" and from Chapter 1: "Getting started with Alice" handwritten.
  
• Prepare for the test.

Going on with Alice

Today we are digging a bit deeper to understand the concepts of Alice as presented in section 1-2 of our textbook.
In the lab we will be following the Tips and Techniques part of chapter 1 to practice using text and 2D graphic images, called billboards and we will be starting with the exercises of chapter 1.

Presentation
Getting Started with Alice


Homework

• Read pages 18-19:
  Summary, Important Concepts and Terms and be prepared for a quiz.
  
• Complete all vocabulary (will be marked)
  

Getting Started with Alice

Today we will learn about the basics of computer programming from section 1-1 of our textbook.
In the lab you will practice to start Alice and to open, play and stop a saved world in Alice. You'll get to set up an initial scene as shown in Appendix A of our textbook.
This will help you to understand the basic concepts of the Alice environment.

Handouts
Presentation Introduction to Alice,
Vocab Chapter 1/ Appendix A: Getting Started with Alice


Homework

• Read pages 8-15
  
• Review questions Section 1-2
  

Introduction to Programming

Today we will learn about computer programs, why they are necessary, where they are and how to create simple ones.

Handouts: Presentation Introduction to Programming, Vocab Introduction to Programming

We are exploring how to program a robotic arm.


Homework

• Read pages 3-8
• Review questions Chapter 1-1

Reminder:

• Bring all the items from the "Items to bring" list.
• Have your AUP signed.

Introduction to Programming

How has the computer changed our lives? Where do we find computers and computer programs in the world around us? That's what we want to find out today.


We are also having a closer look at the Alice programming environment from Carnegie Mellon University that we will be using in this class.



Handouts: Control panel of a micro wave oven, Pages 9


Reminder

• Bring all the items from the "Items to bring" list.
• Have your AUP signed.

Welcome to ICT

Welcome all Grade 9 and 10 students. We are starting a new and exiting school year. This year we will be learning about how to program a computer using Alice. This blog will help you to stay updated about our classes, assignments and projects.

So come and visit regularly.

Today check out the Introdution to the class.


Homework

• Bring all the items from the "Items to bring" list.
• Have your AUP signed.