APCS A Lesson Plan: Demonstrating a Simple FRQ

Lesson Objectives

• Understand the structure and expectations of an APCS A FRQ.
• Practice translating problem specifications into pseudocode.
• Write and debug Java code based on a given FRQ.

Materials Needed

• Computer with Java IDE (e.g., Eclipse, IntelliJ, or BlueJ)
• Projector or shared screen
• Printed FRQ problem handout (or digital file)
• AP Computer Science A Course and Exam Description

Lesson Outline

1. Warm-Up (5 minutes)

Objective: Familiarize students with FRQ requirements.

Activity: Briefly review the structure of an FRQ:

• Problem Specification: What the program must do.
• Input/Output Requirements: Expected inputs and outputs.
• Constraints: Rules for solving the problem.
• Examples/Test Cases: How the program will be evaluated.

2. Problem Introduction (5 minutes)

Activity: Present the following example FRQ:

Write a method `public int countVowels(String input)` that takes a single String parameter 
and returns the number of vowels (a, e, i, o, u) in the string, ignoring case.

- Input: A string of any length.
- Output: An integer representing the count of vowels.
- Constraints: You may assume the input string contains only letters and spaces.

Example:
Input: "AP Computer Science A"
Output: 8
            

3. Pseudocode Design (10 minutes)

Objective: Teach students to break down the problem into logical steps.

Activity: Write pseudocode on the board:

Pseudocode:
1. Convert the input string to lowercase.
2. Initialize a counter variable to 0.
3. Loop through each character in the string.
4. If the character is a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), increment the counter.
5. Return the counter value.
            

4. Coding Demo (20 minutes)

Objective: Implement the solution in Java.

Activity: Code the solution step-by-step in an IDE while explaining your thought process:

??????????? to be coded by you
You can ask questions.
If are super stuck, I demo it on the Board
 
            You will drop off 3 files into Google Classroom:
            • Your files will be:
                • PX_lastname_Vowels.java (Python program)
                • PX_lastname_Vowels.png (Screenshot)
                • PX_lastname_Vowels.mp4 (Video running the program)

            

5. Testing and Debugging (5 minutes)

Activity: Run the program with test cases, including edge cases:

• Input: "Hello" → Output: 2
• Input: "" → Output: 0
• Input: "xyz" → Output: 0

6. Wrap-Up and Questions (5 minutes)

Summary:

• Importance of translating problem requirements into pseudocode.
• Writing clean, readable Java code.
• Testing with different inputs.

Open the floor for student questions.