Check out the student work submitted for real-world industry feedback! Learn more about submitting student work to receive real-world feedback here!

Grade: High School

PLTW Course: Computer Science Essentials

Submission type: Activity: Happy Accelerometer

Project overview:   In Computer Science Essentials students experience the major topics, big ideas, and computational thinking practices used by computing professionals to solve problems and create value.   Students are introduced to coding fundamentals through the block-based programming of apps. They then sharpen their computational thinking skills by transitioning into text-based programming side-by-side with blocks, and finally into text-based programming in the Python® programming language

In this design challenge students were asked to create an app that challenges a user to keep a sprite (happy face) in the center of the screen using an accelerometer. The Happy Accelerometer app activity helps students learn how the program keeps track of where images are located and placed on a screen. Overall in this unit, students are working towards building their own apps, and this activity helps them build key skills needed to do so.

Selected student submission materials:

Select Judge Feedback: “Hi there! I admire the use of integers, Boolean, float, strings, and arguments. I like your use of a string to say hello.

Your innovation adds a personal value to say hello to the user of the app. 

The student provided an enhanced method to measure and move the happy screen around.  Kudos to you.

I admire the methodology with the use of logical and mathematical operators to initiate the face and display the face.  The explanation is excellent as you describe the actual initial display of the smiley face.

The size, position, and relative number, for the smile, will enhance the user’s experience.  I would like to have a large and very broad smile, for me.

I like the incremental designs used by the team.  You build, test, and expand, kudos to you.  Great work and good luck.”

-Network Technician, Verizon Wireless

Industry Award: User Experience Award

School: John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science

Teacher: Donovan McLean