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If you're looking for a fun way for students to apply mathematical concepts and rigorous programming principles to creating a simple vidoegame, you'll find Bootstrap:1 to be a perfect fit! All of our lessons are aligned to Common Core Standards for Mathematics -- including the new standards for Mathematical Practice!
If you're looking for a full-blown programming class, and want students to have the freedom to create more advanced games using data structures, events, and more, you'll want to continue to the second module (Bootstrap:2) to build on what students have done in the introductory course. We've listed the breakdown of concepts in the table below, so you can find the best fit for your class.
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Mathematics
Programming
Starting with Bootstrap:1...
Students create a simple, 3-character game involving a player, a target and a danger. They design what each character looks like, and use algebraic concepts to detect collisions, handle keystrokes, and determine how they move and interact.
Word Problems
Coordinate planes
Order of Operations
Variables
Functions
Function Tables
Domain and Range
Function Composition
Inequalities
Piecewise Functions
Pythagorean Theorem
Number lines
Numbers, Strings and Images
Defining Functions
Unit Testing
Boolean Logic
Multi-input Functions
Mixed-Type Functions
Continuing to Bootstrap:2...
Students learn how the world-based event loop that drives their Bootstrap 1 game works, and use it to create animations using simple datatypes for their world. They then learn about data structures, and design a World structure for a sophisticated game of their own design.
Complex functional relationships
Exploring Randomness
Connections to Trigonometry
Event-Driven Programming
Data Structures
Whole-Program Design
Data Modeling
Encapsulation
Connections to recursion, lists, and algorithms
After Bootstrap...
If you've completed the entire Bootstrap curriculum, you'll be happy to know that your class can move on to advanced material, without needing to learn a new language! Here are just a few of the options available to Bootstrap teachers:
Picturing Programs focuses heavily on images and animation, as students explore recursion, lists, trees and algorithms -- all using the same language and Design Recipe they've learned in Bootstrap.
How to Design Programs is a textbook aimed at more college-level audiences, going beyond the material covered in Picturing Programs. HtDP is currently in its second edition, and the material is being actively updated.
Software
Bootstrap uses WeScheme, a cloud-based IDE that requires no downloading or installation. Anyone with a Gmail account can start developing with WeScheme, storing and retrieving files from the cloud and doing all of their editing in a modern browser. Additionally, WeScheme programs can be shared simply by sending out a link, or posting it to sites such as Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, etc.
Want to run everything locally? Bootstrap also supports DrRacket, a multi-platform graphical environment. DrRacket runs on all major platforms (Windows, OS X, Unix/Linux) and programs written for one platform run seamlessly on the others, supporting a wide variety of classroom and home computing scenarios. Its emphasis on beginner-friendly features and support for images makes it ideal for Bootstrap.
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