U3Ch1L7: APIs and Using Functions with Parameters

Purpose: Students will learn and apply new commands.

Vocabulary: API, Documentation, Library, Parameters.

• API - a collection of commands made available to a programmer
• Documentation - a description of the behavior of a command, function, library, API, etc.
• Hexadecimal - A base-16 number system that uses sixteen distinct symbols 0-9 and A-F to represent numbers from 0 to 15.
• Library - a collection of commands / functions, typically with a shared purpose
Parameter - An extra piece of information passed to a function to customize it for a specific need.

State: Do you think programmers know all the commands available to them in a programming language? If not, how is anyone ever able to use an entire programming language?
In this lesson, you will be exposed to a large number of new commands. “You must struggle with trying to learn how to use them in order to understand how they work – try working with them independently prior to seeking help.

Log on to Code Studio
Handout: “Using New Commands to Create Images.”

• Puzzle 5: Draw With Dots (Make a Snowman)
• Puzzle 6: Hexadecimal Colors (Create a Bullseye - at least 3 colors).
• Puzzle 7: Making Arcs (multiple parameters - Make a Squiggly Line).
• Puzzle 8: Transparency – Red, Green, Blue Alpha - (Produce an image of two overlapping circles that have a semitransparent color).
• Puzzle 9: Moving Relative To The Screen. - (Create A Smiley Face).
• Puzzle 10: Create any Drawing You Like using A Majority Of The New Commands!
  • Student Samples:
    • Desert Scene