From cell phones to social media, computer science is a part of your daily life. Everything from traffic lights to medical devices requires both computer hardware and software these days. Creative problem solvers are using computer science to tackle social problems, improve agriculture, make great entertainment, and start exciting new companies. What could you create and innovate with a bit of tinkering and programming? Try your hand at one of these computer science projects to learn more about computers, program something interesting, or learn how to defend the cyber world. Whether you already know something about programming and computers or not, we have just the right project for you.
This is a challenging first computer science project. You'll learn the basics of how digital devices can represent numbers using only 0's and 1's, and you'll write a JavaScript program to convert numbers between binary, decimal and hexadecimal notation.
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CompSci_p005
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Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
You should be able to:
Write a basic HTML file with a text editing program (like Notepad);
Create HTML [[ SourceCode []<FORM>[] SourceCode ]] elements for user input;
Write basic JavaScript functions using [[ SourceCode []Arrays[] SourceCode ]], [[ SourceCode []Strings[] SourceCode ]] and simple flow control statements (e.g., [[ SourceCode []if...else[] SourceCode ]], and [[ SourceCode []for[] SourceCode ]] or [[ SourceCode []while[] SourceCode ]] loops).
Help is available for each of these topics. See the Introduction section for details.
What kind of music do you enjoy listening to? Hip hop, rap, classical, techno, or electronic?
Do you know what most of them have in common? They rely on a drumbeat to provide tempo and depth
to the sound. You might think of a drum as simply a large round vessel with a membrane covering
that musicians strike with a drumstick, but musicians can create a synthesized drumbeat with an
electronic keyboard or with electronic drums. In this science project, you will design and make your own…
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CompSci_p043
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Time Required
Long (2-4 weeks)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Computer with internet access, and you will need to purchase a PicoBoard. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.
Want to send coded messages to your friends? Can you write a simple letter-substitution encryption program in JavaScript? How easy is it to break the simple code? Can you write a second program that "cracks" the letter-substitution code? Investigate other encryption schemes. What types of encryption are least vulnerable to attack?
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Sleeping in class isn't allowed... unless you're a computer! In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests that putting your school's computers to sleep when they're not in use might reduce a school's energy bill significantly. In a study done at the North Thurston public schools in Olympia, Washington, EPA officials worked with the district to cut computer energy and costs by approximately $45,000 annually! How? By implementing a variety of power-management strategies for the…
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The Game of Life is the invention of the mathematician John Conway. It is a cellular automaton, consisting of a grid of squares that turn "on" or "off" depending on simple mathematical rules that involve neighboring squares. Depending on how the grid is first set up (i.e., the initial conditions), various interesting patterns appear. Can you write a Game of Life program (in JavaScript or any other computer language of your choice)? Can you think of ways to alter the rules that result in…
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Many websites ask you to answer "security questions," like "What is your mother's maiden name?," to recover your account if you ever forget your password or login ID. However, sometimes the answers to those questions are easy to find online. Does this pose a risk to the security of important accounts like email and online banking? Are people even aware that this information about them is available online? In this project, you will investigate how secure people think security questions are, and…
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If you've ever watched an adult pay for something by simply touching their credit card to a machine at a store, or you've done the same with a bus pass, you've seen an RFID tag in action. An RFID (Radio-Frequency IDentification) tag allows a card to be read by a computer from a short distance away. This is very convenient, but it also allows criminals to steal information about you. For instance, on the subway or the bus, someone standing next to you can use an RFID reader to access the data on…
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CompSci_p048
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Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
This science project requires an RFID reader and RFID tags. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.
Sudoku puzzles have become extremely popular over the past couple of years. You can find books of puzzles for beginners to experts, and many newspapers print Sudoku puzzles daily. This project challenges you to write a computer program to check if your Sudoku solution is correct.
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CompSci_p023
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Time Required
Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites
An understanding of the material covered in [# ProjectIdea Name="CompSci_p002" Value="HtmlAnchor" #]
Have you ever been annoyed by poor Wi-Fi reception for your phone, tablet, or laptop? Do you wish there was something you could do about it? In this project you will learn how to build a parabolic reflector that you can attach to the antenna of a regular wireless router to help boost its signal.
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CompSci_p010
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Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
This project requires a Wi-Fi router and a smartphone, tablet, or laptop with a Wi-Fi connection. You will also need access to a printer to print the parabolic template. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.
