CS201: Coding in Python 1 Course Syllabus

Course Description
This course provides an in-depth introduction to coding in Python. Upon completion,
students will master fundamental coding concepts such as statements, variables,
expressions, conditionals, and loops. Students will also gain proficiency with advanced
topics including software libraries, automation, and sprite-based graphics.

In addition, students will learn how to plan and track the progress of large coding projects,
debug errors, and improve the readability of their code. Throughout the course, students
will continuously demonstrate their knowledge through both traditional assessments and
coding projects such as games, animations, and other interactive programs.

Course Outline
Unit 1: Linear Programs Unit 2: Decisions Unit 3: Loops

Lesson 1.1 Lesson 2.1 Lesson 3.1

Statements and Variables Conditionals (if) While Loops

Lesson 1.2 Lesson 2.2 Lesson 3.2

Libraries Conditionals (elif and else) Controlling Loops

Lesson 1.3 Industry Practice Lesson 3.3

Values Comments and Style Classes

Research Question Unit 2 Quiz Lesson 3.4

Tech Impact Graphics
Research Question
Lesson 1.4 Automation Unit 3 Quiz
Expressions
Industry Practice Research Question
Unit 1 Test Debugging Intellectual Property

Industry Practice Lesson 2.3 Lesson 3.5

Planning a Program Built-in Libraries Animation

Lesson 2.4 Lesson 3.6

Booleans Interaction

Unit 2 Test Lesson 3.7

For-Range Loops
Industry Practice
Scoping and Presenting Work Unit 3 Test

Unit 2 Project Industry Practice

Kanban- Agile Project Mgmt.

Unit 3 Project

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Learning Objectives
Unit 1: 1.1: Statements and Variables
Linear
Programs Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms
Objectives ● Describe how a computer executes code
● Identify input and output in a program
● Identify variables and their values
● Identify, describe, and differentiate between
camelCase notation and underscore_notation for
variable names

Application ● Use basic console text input and output

Objectives commands
● Store values in variables
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

1.2: Libraries

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Describe what happens in the flow of code when a
function is called
● Identify function calls in code
● Identify the arguments sent to a function
● Explain why arguments may be necessary for
functions
● Use documentation to identify what arguments
are necessary for a given function

Application ● Import a library

Objectives ● Call a function from a library using the correct
arguments
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

1.3: Values

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Identify which data type is most appropriate for a
given situation
● Distinguish between literals and variables
● Identify the data type of a given value
● Identify when a basic mathematical operator will

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 produce an integer and when it will produce a float
● Give the order of operations for basic
mathematical operators

Application ● Combine strings (both variables and literals) using

Objectives the + operator
● Use typecasting to temporarily alter the type of a
value
● Use basic mathematical operators on integers and
floats: +, -, /, *
● Create a printable string value by combining
strings and numbers
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

Research Question: Tech Impact

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Give examples of search strategies that could be
used to research the lesson topic
● Explain why citing sources is important
● Learn about careers that use computer science
● Describe how technology has changed culture
over time

Application ● Gather information from a variety of sources

Objectives ● Evaluate the accuracy and bias of sources
● Provide citations for sources used
● Evaluate how technology has impacted various
career fields
● Consider how technology might impact a career
field in the future

1.4: Expressions

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Given a statement that uses a compound
assignment operator, give the full version of the
statement with separate assignment and math
operators and vice-versa
● List the benefits of using compound assignment
operators
● Identify an expression within a line of code

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 ● Distinguish between a statement (performs a
complete action) and an expression (produces a
value, but does nothing with it)
● Identify when a command (such as input) is both
an expression and a statement
● Identify when a function may be treated as an
expression (e.g. when it returns a value)
● Describe what happens in the flow of code when a
function with a return value is called
● Use documentation to identify whether a function
returns a value that may be stored
● Identify ‘None’ as the value returned by any
function that does not have an explicit return value

Application ● Typecast an input expression to produce a number

Objectives result
● Predict the result of an expression
● Use compound assignment operators (+=. -=. *=,
\=)
● Describe where these operators fall in the order of
operations for Python
● Store the result of a function
● Use a function as part of an expression
● Use the following techniques: Typecasting Input,
Incrementing a String
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

Industry Practice: Planning a Program

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Describe the product life cycle as a formal process
for creating software
● Identify and describe “Envision” and “Design” as
the first two steps in the product life cycle
● Explain why a planning phase is necessary and
useful before beginning a larger project
● Differentiate between pseudocode and true syntax

Application ● Outline a given program as pseudocode

Objectives ● Break a given program / problem down into
smaller features / sub-problems

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 ● Brainstorm ideas and present the result as a list of
detailed features
● Translate a feature list into a pseudocode outline
● Implement a program from a pseudocode outline

Unit 2: 2.1: Conditionals (if)

Decisions
Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms
Objectives ● Identify if statements in code
● Identify the condition within an if statement
● Describe how an if statement makes a decision
● Identify which comparison operator is most
appropriate in a given context
● Describe where comparison operators fall in the
order of operations for Python
● Differentiate between the “=” and “==” operators
and describe the function of each
● Explain how whitespace is used to delineate the
beginning and end of conditional sections

Application ● Write an if statement to make a decision

Objectives ● Predict which code within a conditional will
execute from looking at a program
● Use the following techniques: User Choice,
Running Total, Limit Number
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

2.2: Conditionals (elif and else)

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Describe the flow of a conditional with elif- and
else-clauses
● Describe the general format of a clause (i.e. begins
with a keyword and ends with a ‘:’)
● Identify when a conditional structure is nested
● Identify the range described by the ‘min < num <
max’ chained comparison format

Application ● Predict which code within a conditional will

Objectives execute from looking at a program

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 ● Predict which conditionals within a nested
structure will execute from looking at a program
● Write a conditional to make a decision between
multiple cases
● Determine whether a number falls into a range
defined by the min < num < max format
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

Industry Practice: Comments and Style

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Describe the benefits of good code style and
commenting
● Identify “PEP-8” as the commonly accepted
Python code style guidelines
● Explain that code style does not affect program
output or functionality
● Differentiate between standard and header
comment syntax

Application ● Improve the readability of programs using an good

Objectives code style
● Improve the readability of programs using an
appropriate level of comment density

Research Question: Automation

Comprehension ● Describe how technology has changed culture

Objectives over time

Application ● Make predictions about future technology based

Objectives on existing technology
● Evaluate how technology has impacted various
career fields

Industry Practice: Debugging

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Identify the line number within an error message
● Give examples of scenarios where line numbers
may not be accurate (e.g. missing parentheses)
● Give an approximate plain English translation of an
error message

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 ● Identify and describe two different
code-debugging strategies:
○ Using print statements
○ Reading the error message

Application ● Choose which debugging strategy is most

Objectives effective for a given situation
● Use both strategies to find and fix errors

2.3: Built-In Libraries

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Identify and describe the random and math
libraries
● Give examples of commands found in the random
and math libraries
● Explain how to use documentation to find a full list
of available commands in a library
● Give examples of how randomness may be used
in a program
● Explain the relationship between randomness and
Artificial Intelligence
● List common programming uses for the modulus
operator

Application ● Use the [Link]() function

Objectives ● Use the modulus operator (%)
● Use the exponentiation operator (**)
● Use the floor division operator (//)
● Use advanced math operations from the math
library (such as sqrt)
● Find and use other operations from math and
random without explicit introduction to them
● Use the following techniques: Random Choice,
Weighted Choice
● Debug common errors related to the lesson topics

2.4: Booleans

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Contrast between the logical operators

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 ● Identify boolean expressions in code
● Recognize comparison operators as operators
that produce booleans
● Explain that booleans can be stored in variables
like other data types
● Differentiate between well-formatted boolean
variable conditions and redundant (bad boolean
zen) versions

Application ● Choose which logical operator is appropriate to

Objectives combine values in a given situation
● Predict the values that will result from given
boolean expressions
● Given a set of constraints or conditions under
which something will happen, translate this into a
compound boolean expression
● Simply a complex compound boolean expression
by replacing various expressions with variables
● Reduce a bad boolean zen condition to a simpler
form
● Use a single boolean variable as a condition
● Use the following techniques: Flexible Input,
Reduce Compound Expressions
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

Industry Practice: Scoping and Presenting Work

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Explain why proper scoping for a project is
important
● Differentiate between a modular approach and
other, more monolithic approaches
● Explain how a modular approach allows for
scoping up or down

Application ● Choose a project of reasonable scope for a given

Objectives time-frame
● Create a meaningful presentation of a program,
explaining points of interest
● Present failures as well as successes as a normal
part of a retrospective
● Divide a project into multiple releases or versions

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Unit 3: 3.1: While Loops
Loops
Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms
Objectives ● Describe the logical flow of a loop
● Explain the importance of changing the loop
condition inside the loop (e.g. avoiding infinite
loops)
● List benefits of using loops (simplify code, run
until signalled to stop, etc.)

Application ● Looking at a loop, determine how much it will

Objectives repeat / when it will stop
● Use while loops to repeat code until the user
chooses to stop
● Create loops that are governed by a single boolean
control variable
● Use the following techniques: Force Correct Input,
Nested Loops, Player Turns, True Until False
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

3.2: Controlling Loops

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● List and describe different variations on while
loops (while, loop else clause)
● Differentiate between loops that end normally and
loops that end with break
● Differentiate between the effect of ‘break’ and
‘continue’ within a loop block
● Describe alternatives to using a ‘continue’
statement (e.g. using conditionals to decide
whether to do part of the loop block)
● Identify situations where it would be reasonable to
use break

Application ● Use break to exit a loop early

Objectives ● Use continue to skip the remainder of a loop
iteration
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

3.3: Classes

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Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms
Objectives ● Describe how an instance is related to a class
● Describe how methods and attributes are related
to a class
● Give examples of classes

Application ● Set and get fields on an instance

Objectives ● Call methods of an instance
● Use documentation to get information about the
attributes and methods of a class without prior
instruction on them
● Use the technique: Change an Instance With a
Function
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

3.4: Graphics

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Identify the arguments required to create various
visual objects (window, sprite, etc.)
● Describe how the main loop is used to keep a
program open
● Describe the conditions necessary to open,
update, and close a window (e.g. the main loop
using the is_running field, and the
window.finish_frame command)
● Identify what happens when you forget the
window.finish_frame command (e.g. infinite loop)
● Describe how coordinates are used to represent a
position on-screen
● List and describe different text alignments (left,
center, right)
● Contrast the programming coordinate space with
the math coordinate space
● Explain the value of labeling constants
● Contrast variables and constants
● Identify a constant based on the style conventions
of its name (e.g. in ALL_CAPS)

Application ● Open a window using tsapp

Objectives ● Draw static sprites with tsapp

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 ● Draw text to screen with tsapp
● Given a set of coordinates and a window size,
roughly estimate the coordinate position
● Use the following techniques: Precise Positioning,
Draw Order
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

Research Question: Intellectual Property

Comprehension ● Explain, compare, and debate the effects of

Objectives intellectual property laws
● Explain the necessity of providing attribution, and
the effects of failing to do so

Application ● Debate laws and regulations that impact the

Objectives development and use of software
● Compare and evaluate licenses for different types
of usage, including code licenses

3.5: Animation

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Describe how animation occurs because of rapid
change in each iteration of a loop
● Describe a sprite’s speed as the number of pixels it
moves in one second
● Compare and contrast x vs y speeds
● Compare and contrast positive vs negative speeds
● Describe how a spritesheet is transformed into an
animated image
● Contrast between movement-based animation
and image-based animation

Application ● Perform simple animations by moving objects in a

Objectives loop
● Use an animated sprite based on a spritesheet
● Animate a change in a sprite by manually
changing the image
● Change the speed of a sprite’s visual or
movement-based animation
● Use the following techniques: Change Animation
Rate, Change Direction

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 ● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

3.6: Interaction

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Explain the difference between states (e.g.
whether a button is down) and events (e.g whether
a button was pressed on this frame)

Application ● Call methods that check for the current state of

Objectives keys and mouse (e.g. position, is_down)
● Call methods that check for events related to keys
and mouse (e.g. was_pressed)
● Call methods that check for collision between
mouse and sprite, or two sprites
● Use the following techniques: Follow Mouse, Move
with Arrow Keys
● Calculate duration by subtracting two points in
time
● Assign multiple variables at once using comma
syntax
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

3.7: For-Range Loops

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Differentiate between while and for loops
● Describe how the value of the loop variable
changes as the loop continues
● Describe how any for-range loop could be written
as a while loop
● Give the default ‘range’ values when not overridden
(e.g. ‘0’ for start and ‘1’ for step)

Application ● Choose whether a for-loop or a while-loop is more

Objectives appropriate for a given situation
● Use a for-range loop to loop a specific number of
times
● Use for-range variations to count by amounts
other than 1
● Use for-range variations to count backwards
● Use continue, break and else with a for loop

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 ● Use the following techniques: Counting Down,
Row of Sprites
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

Industry Practice: Kanban

Comprehension ● Define the lesson terms

Objectives ● Explain the importance of tracking work for large
projects
● Describe how kanban is used to track work
● Compare kanban to other simple forms of
work-tracking, such as checklists

Application ● Create a kanban board that tracks tasks in a large

Objectives project
● Choose appropriate lanes for the type of project
being undertaken
● Debug common problems related to lesson topics

Standards and Certifications

Upon completion of CS201: Coding with Python 1 and CS202: Coding with Python 2,
students will be prepared to take the Certified Entry-Level Python Programmer (PCEP)
certification exam.

All Units

CSTA Standards ● 3A-AP-13: Create prototypes that use algorithms

to solve computational problems by leveraging
prior student knowledge and personal interests.
● 3A-AP-15: Justify the selection of specific control
structures when tradeoffs involve implementation,
readability, and program performance, and explain
the benefits and drawbacks of choices made.
● 3A-AP-16: Design and iteratively develop
computational artifacts for practical intent,
personal expression, or to address a societal issue
by using events to initiate instructions.
● 3A-AP-17: Decompose problems into smaller
components through systematic analysis, using
constructs such as procedures, modules, and/or

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 objects.
● 3A-IC-26: Demonstrate ways a given algorithm
applies to problems across disciplines.
● 3B-AP-10: Use and adapt classic algorithms to
solve computational problems.
● 3B-AP-15: Analyze a large-scale computational
problem and identify generalizable patterns that
can be applied to a solution.
● 3B-DA-07: Evaluate the ability of models and
simulations to test and support the refinement of
hypotheses.

Unit 1: Linear Programs

CSTA Standards ● 3A-CS-01: Explain how abstractions hide the

underlying implementation details of computing
systems embedded in everyday objects.
● 3A-DA-09: Translate between different bit
representations of real-world phenomena, such as
characters, numbers, and images.
● 3B-AP-17: Plan and develop programs for broad
audiences using a software life cycle process.
● 3A-IC-24: Evaluate the ways computing impacts
personal, ethical, social, economic, and cultural
practices.

PCEP ● Fundamental concepts: syntax and semantics,

Certification Python keywords, instructions
● Literals: integer, floating-point numbers, strings
● Comments
● The print() function
● The input() function
● Numeric operators: * / + -
● String operators: * +
● Assignments and shortcut operators
● Basic input and output operations using the
input(), print(), int(), float(), str() functions
● Type casting
● Basic calculations

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 ● Simple strings: constructing, assigning
● The None keyword

Unit 2: Decisions

CSTA Standards ● 3A-AP-23: Document design decisions using text,

graphics, presentations, and/or demonstrations in
the development of complex programs.
● 3B-AP-09: Implement an artificial intelligence
algorithm to play a game against a human
opponent or solve a problem.
● 3B-IC-27: Predict how computational innovations
that have revolutionized aspects of our culture
might evolve.

PCEP ● Fundamental concepts: indenting

Certification ● Literals: boolean
● Numeric operators: ** % //
● Boolean operators: not and or
● Relational operators: == != > >= < <=, building
complex boolean expressions
● Conditional statements: if, if-else, if-elif, if-elif-else
● Multiple conditional statements
● Nesting conditional statements

Unit 3: Loops

CSTA Standards ● 3A-AP-20: Evaluate licenses that limit or restrict

use of computational artifacts when using
resources such as libraries.
● 3B-IC-28: Debate laws and regulations that impact
the development and use of software.

PCEP ● Building loops: while, for, range()

Certification ● Iterating through sequences
● Expanding loops: while-else
● Nesting loops

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