AP Computer Science A

Unit 1 Primitive Types - 1.3 Coding Practice Expressions & Arithmetic Operators

Students really enjoy these exercises because they are basically building small calculator apps! The document contains six basic coding exercises and two extension problems for AP Computer Science A, aligned directly with the standards covered for Unit 1 on the College Board’s AP Classroom website for AP Computer Science A. I typically give students a hardcopy of this assignment, but then provie them with a template for this as a Java file. The template includes a Scanner import statement, class header, and the main method, so that students only have to focus on writing and compiling their code based on the directions for the exercises provided. You can access the coding template in the answer key provided for this assignment.

The exercises in this file include statements with the Scanner class, so that students can start to make their Java apps more interactive by prompting users for input. Specifically, these exercises focus on subunit 1.3 of AP Computer Science A, where students learn how to write Java expressions with arithmetic operators. The questions also expose students to prompts that students are given in English, and the English vocabulary used to describe the Java programming language. Because these exercises require students to call methods from the Scanner class on a Scanner object, these exercises are also a good introduction to Unit 2, where students learn how to use objects in their code. I also emphasize that students try to format their output so that it looks exactly like the Example Program Outputs provided. This encourages students to practice formatting their print statetments with both numeric data types and String literals. One of the questions can also be used to introduce students to Subunit 1.5 on casting. The two extension problems encourage students to look up methods from the Math class and the String class, to make their code more interesting. 

This document is editable, so you can add to the content or make edits as needed, and includes an answer key for the exercises provided. The document is a Google document, so that it can be saved in multiple formats if needed. Please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions or feedback on how I can improve my content. You will be notified of any future updates or modifications to this product, free of charge. 

I am currently adding additional curriculum to this site for the 2023-24 school year, so make sure to follow me for more AP Computer Science A material! Also be sure to check out the additional worksheets and programming exercises I have made for each unit, coming soon! The programming exercises become more elaborate, and are sequenced to include extension problems for advanced students to accelerate.

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