Lab 1: Click Alonzo Game

Alonzo sprite turning left and right

Students dive right into programming, in the very first class, by building a game that they can play and share with others. The object of the game is to click on Alonzo (the character at right) as he moves increasingly quickly around the screen. Optionally, they can put the game on their smartphone, which is great for motivation.

This first lab is designed to hook students' interest in programming. Students will explore many of the ideas introduced here more formally later. Here, students explore the Snap! interface and learn to respond to user interaction (in this case, a click).

Spend the entire first day with the students programming, without an introductory lecture. Since the goal is for all students to experience the immediate excitement of building a functioning game, postpone introductory classroom management tasks (e.g., establishing classroom routines) until after Lab 1. Do, however, make sure students understand that if they need help with something, or they're not sure they understand something, it's always okay to talk with their neighbors. Only after they have a successful programming experience behind them, introduce any additional educational technology (Google classroom, Piazza, etc.) that you'd like students to use.

Students will formally learn about pair programming in Lab 2. For now, you might suggest that if they pair up, one partner can have the lab page on-screen while the other has Snap! open, or you might want students to work individually on the first day to ensure that they all know how to manipulate the Snap! environment.

Pacing

The 4 required lab pages could be split across 1–2 days (40–80 minutes). Expected times to complete follow:

Prepare

Lab Pages

Solutions

Correlation with 2020 AP CS Principles Framework 

Essential Knowledge: