Big Idea 1: Creative Development and Impact of Computing
A team is designing an app to track environmental data. Why is it important for them to gather feedback from diverse users during development?
To identify potential biases and improve usability for a wider audience.
A photographer uploads a high-resolution image and a compressed version to a website. What is the main benefit of compression?
It reduces file size for faster uploads and downloads.
A program uses IF-THEN statements to decide what message to print. What programming concept is this?
Conditional logic.
A user types a URL into a browser, and the correct website loads. What system translates the domain name into an IP address?
Domain Name System (DNS).
A team develops an AI-based hiring tool that filters applicants based on résumé keywords. Over time, it’s noticed that the tool disproportionately favors male applicants.
Explain two reasons why this bias might have occurred and suggest one way to reduce such bias in future versions of the tool.
The training data might reflect historical hiring patterns that favor men.
The algorithm may weigh keywords more commonly used by men.
To reduce bias, the team can diversify the training data and conduct regular audits for fairness.
(+2000 Points)
A student uses a visual programming language to create a game prototype. What stage of development are they likely in?
Program design and testing.
A student analyzes a spreadsheet with missing values and formatting errors. What should they do before drawing conclusions from the data?
Clean the data to remove errors and inconsistencies.
A student stores multiple names in a single variable using brackets. What data structure are they using?
A list.
Data is sent across the internet in smaller pieces that can take different routes. What are these pieces called?
Packets
A government health agency collects data from fitness trackers to study trends in physical activity.
Identify one benefit and one privacy concern with using this data, and propose a strategy to address the concern.
Benefit: It allows for large-scale, real-time analysis of public health trends.
Concern: Sensitive health data could be exposed or misused.
Strategy: Anonymize the data and enforce strict access controls.
(+2000 Points)
A social media platform uses algorithms to recommend content. What is a possible unintended consequence of this feature?
Creation of echo chambers that reinforce existing beliefs.
A weather app collects data from thousands of users. What term best describes this type of dataset?
Crowdsourced data.
A program calculates the average of several test scores. What is the process of breaking the program into meaningful chunks called?
Abstraction
A network continues to work even when one pathway fails. What feature allows for this reliability?
Redundancy
A student writes the following pseudocode to find the largest number in a list but gets the wrong result:
arduinoCopy code
Explain a scenario where this program fails and how to fix it.
The program fails if all numbers in the list are negative, since max starts at 0.
Fix: Initialize max to the first item in the list instead of 0.
(+2000 Points)
A developer includes comments and flowcharts while creating a program. What is the purpose of these practices?
To improve collaboration and program understanding.
A spreadsheet includes metadata. What is an example of metadata in this context?
The date the file was last modified.
A search algorithm is used on a sorted list and checks the middle value each time. What algorithm is being used?
Binary search.
A student sets up a secure login system that encrypts passwords. What is the main goal of encryption?
To protect data from unauthorized access.
A company sends confidential data over the Internet using encryption. A hacker intercepts the data but can't read it. Later, the hacker manages to steal the private decryption key from an employee's computer.
Explain the role of encryption in protecting data and describe how this type of breach could have been prevented.
Encryption scrambles data so only someone with the decryption key can read it.
The breach happened because the key was compromised.
Prevention: Use secure key storage methods and implement multi-factor authentication or hardware tokens.
(+2000 Points)
An app designed to help with medical diagnoses performs poorly for certain populations. What caused this unintended result?
The training data was not representative of all user groups.
A country lacks access to high-speed internet in rural areas. What computing concern does this illustrate?
The digital divide.
A function is designed to calculate a number’s factorial. What type of programming concept is applied if the function calls itself?
Recursion
A router directs traffic between two local networks. What type of address does it use to identify each device?
IP address.
A ride-sharing app uses GPS, user data, and pricing algorithms to match drivers with riders and calculate trip costs. Recently, users have complained that prices are unfairly high in low-income neighborhoods.
Identify and explain:
One way data collection might contribute to this issue
One algorithmic factor that could worsen the problem
One ethical responsibility the developers have to address the concern
Data Collection Issue: If fewer riders and drivers are present in low-income areas, the app may lack sufficient data to make accurate predictions, leading to pricing errors.
Algorithmic Factor: Dynamic pricing algorithms may automatically raise prices in areas with high demand and low supply, disproportionately affecting these communities.
Ethical Responsibility: Developers should audit the algorithm for bias, ensure equitable access, and adjust models to avoid reinforcing economic inequality.
(+2000 Points)