Colors of Code 2018 just got wrapped up this past weekend! We had about 30-40 students attend this 9-week program, which ran from June 17th until August 12th, and had two sessions: a morning session from 10:00AM until 11:30AM, and an afternoon session from 12:00PM until 1:30PM. Colors of Code introduced African American and Latino elementary school age kids residing in Milpitas the world of digital animation and computer programming, by using the websites NitroType, Code.org, and Scratch!
Over the course of the program, students learned the various principles of computer programming in Code.org. During the first three weeks, students learned about the concept of a loop, which can be used to repeat a segment of code several times. They also learned about nested loops, which are loops inside of loops, and events, which indicate when a segment of code is supposed to start.
In week four, students learned about a specific and useful type of loop called a “While Loop”, which repeats until a condition is no longer satisfied. In week five, students learned about “Conditional Statements”, or “If Statements”, which allow a section of code to give a different output if a condition is true or not. In week six, students learned about “Variables”, and how they are used to hold a piece of information that can change.
In week seven, students learned about “For Loops”, which are particularly useful types of loops that increment a variable each time the code is repeated. Finally, during weeks eight and nine, students learned about “Functions” and “Parameters”. A function is a section of code which a programmer defines, and calls in the main program. In other words, a function is a section of code that you write, which can do anything you want, and can be used over and over. Parameters are a special type of variable which is given to the function, allowing you to adjust the output of the function according to that variable.
During each session, students ended class by working on projects in Scratch! These projects ranged from stories to interactive games. Some students also created their own personal projects, which were shared in front of small groups at the end of the program.
Congratulations to all students who participated in Colors of Code! The Colors of Code team is so proud of you, and wishes you academic success in the upcoming school year!
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