Girls Who Code @ Stuy
Closing the gender gap in technology, one girl at a time.
Closing the gender gap in technology, one girl at a time.
WHO WE ARE: A close community of girls at Stuyvesant High School passionate about computer science. OUR MISSION: Provide a supportive and fun environment to learn computer science and help close the gender gap in computer science.
OUR VALUES:
đ« Skill-building: We want to expose members to a wide variety of beginner friendly topics in computer science and teach them about the endless paths one can take with computer science. Our weekly meetings, taught by student mentors, cover lessons on topics ranging from web development to data science to cybersecurity. đŁ Presenting opportunities: Weekly lessons aren't the only thing club members experience! We are committed to organizing events with members of the STEM community, from guest speakers to field trips. đ Community: Girls Who Code @ Stuy isn't just a clubâit's a community for girls to learn, bond and be inspired by each other. We're here to support everyone interested in trying out computer science. We will facilitate this by placing members into small mentoring groups with mentors to bond and receive whatever help they might need.
Thank you all for attending our interest meeting! We started off by introducing the presidents, directors, mascots, and our faculty advisor. We went over GWC's mission, how our meetings function, a general overview of our curriculum, and the various fun events we have in store! We introduced board positions (student mentors and secretaries) and gave a quick look at their responsibilities. We ended with a fun game of hangman and kahoot. We're so excited to meet you all and hope to see you at our next meeting (and first lesson)!
Important links:
We had our very first lesson which was about the very basics of HTML. We learned that HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language and that it is used for creating the basic structure of the website such as the text, images, buttons, links, etc. With that being said, the members learned how to create these different elements using HTML tags, which are keywords that the web browser uses to format the website. The members then made a website about their partner. Finally, we all had a gallery walk to see all the amazing websites that were created!!
Important links:
We had our second lesson, diving deeper into HTML. After a brief review of the lesson done last week, our presenters, Eileen and Anna, taught everyone how to make tables, buttons, and how to add HTML pages into one page! Members also had the opportunity to learn more about their partners using what they learned to create a website about one another. Finally, we all had a gallery walk to see all the amazing websites that were created!!
Important links:
We finally had a lesson after two weeks off! Today we learned about CSS, cascading style sheets, which style our websites by adding in borders, colors, and layouting the elements in the page. Our two presenters, Amaryllis and Shirley, taught everyone about how to set up an external CSS page, the CSS syntax, types of selectors, how to use flexbox, how to position elements, and how to make an animation!! In the end, everyone had a gallery walk to see each otherâs wonderful websites!! It was quite a lot of information in one lesson and if you want to learn more, make sure to click on the CSS 0 slides to learn more and try out the exercises!!
Important links:
Thank you for coming to the Project Workday 0 Meeting!
Important links:
We had our first Javascript lesson today! First, we were introduced to Javascript which codes for a more interactive website through the use of animations, clickable buttons, and change of HTML and CSS elements. We learned how to use the script tag to connect JS files to HTML. Then, we moved onto the real meat of the lesson. We defined some basic terms and learned some basic syntax to manipulate the code to do what is tasked. Data types are ways to classify different values in the form of strings, numbers, and booleans. Variables are ways to represent data and they need to first be declared in camelCase and then assigned a value. Console.log() is an alternative way to print statements into the console. Operations are the basic mathematical operations we have in real life and only work for integers and floats. Strings can be added together which would result in combining two strings. Functions are blocks of code designed to perform a task. They have to first be defined and then users would be able to call those functions. Next we learned about the Document Object Model (DOM) which allows us to use JS to interact with the elements on an HTML. DOM includes methods which are functions that are used on objects and properties which are variables used on objects. Finally, we moved onto buttons and how to create them and use the DOM on them. We can use pseudo-classes to specific the state of an element and customize buttons in CSS. Finally, we had a practice code on Replit and we played around with that. Everyones code looked great! Thank you everyone for coming to our meeting!
Important links:
First we reviewed last weeks lesson: what JavaScript is, data types, DOM, and finally functions. Next we did some review questions. We then learned about while loops: they run a block of code while a condition is being met. We then went over the syntax, which included the condition and the code to be run. Then, we went through an example. Then, we did a short activity of creating a while loop. Next, we learned about for loops, which automatically increment and are used when the number of loops are used. We then went over the syntax, which consisted of an initialization condition, a testing condition, and an increment/decrement (to prevent the loop from running forever, and looked at an example. We did a second short check in about the conditions in for loops. Then, we learned about a new datatype and its syntax: the array, which stores collections of values. In JavaScript, you can add, remove, and change values and index through it. Indexing allows you to access specific values within the array and change them. Finally, we learned about some array methods: push and pop, which add/remove values at the end of an array, and shift and unshift, which add/remove values at the beginning of an array. Finally, it was work time in which we looked at a website that used many elements of JavaScript we learnt about.
Important links:
We began with an introduction to p5.js, including its history and usages. It is a mixture of HTML, CSS, Java, most of which you should have learned in previous lessons. However, it is more visual, which is great for making animations or games. Then, we learned the most basic functions are preload(), setup(), and draw() and played freely with the prewritten code. Then, we learned how to create simple geometric shapes(sprites), using the coordinate system and parameters like colors and borders. We used this knowledge to express our artistic side, to program stars as a group. We created a star with a pentagon and 5 triangles, as well as with 5 linesâone line, one shape at a time. It took numerous attempts to ensure our program would create shapes where we wanted it to be. Then, we challenged ourselves to complete the challenges on the language website. Finally, we learned how to program mouse and keyboard interactions. We ended with a gallery walk to view everyones technological art skills.
Important links:
We began with an introduction to p5.js, including its history and usages. It is a mixture of HTML, CSS, Java, most of which you should have learned in previous lessons. However, it is more visual, which is great for making animations or games. Then, we learned the most basic functions are preload(), setup(), and draw() and played freely with the prewritten code. Then, we learned how to create simple geometric shapes(sprites), using the coordinate system and parameters like colors and borders. We used this knowledge to express our artistic side, to program stars as a group. We created a star with a pentagon and 5 triangles, as well as with 5 linesâone line, one shape at a time. It took numerous attempts to ensure our program would create shapes where we wanted it to be. Then, we challenged ourselves to complete the challenges on the language website. Finally, we learned how to program mouse and keyboard interactions. We ended with a gallery walk to view everyones technological art skills.
Important links:
Today, we began with a simple review of the previous lesson. We reviewed the setup functions, creating geometric shapes as well as keyboard and mouse properties that we can implement in our code to interact with the sprites. We tested our comprehension with a demo in which we used the mousePressed() functions to move the sprite to where we clicked the mouse pointer. We continued to learn about our sprite properties such as velocity with the x-velocity controlling the horizontal movement and the y-velocity controlling the vertical movement (hopefully physics will help you understand this!). After that, we learned more methods and functions that would allow us to create a game with more interactions using If else statements, collides function, random function and moving our sprites with the keyboard. However, there is a way for us to make our own functions, so what you can do in the game is limitless! We can also upload our own images and insert texts to customize our games. We ended today by creating a collection style game and we hope you all had fun with this lesson!
Important links:
The presenters began by introducing themselves and giving us two minutes to sign in. Then Amy introduced Pythonâits background, indentation, and new line. Niki began talking about the different data types used in Python. The first datatype, strings, may be created with single, double, and triple quotes, and new lines may be created with \n. Niki continues to explain that concatenation adds two or more strings together to form one single string. She asks a volunteer from the audience (Shirley Lin) to come up to the board to write the output of print(âGirlsâ + âWhoâ + âCodeâ), and goes on to explain the importance of spaces between strings. The mic goes back to Amy, who explains that the print() function takes the argument in the parentheses and prints it out to the console. Returning to Niki, she explains how one can access characters in a string in Python with indexes and potential errors that may occur (IndexError and TypeError). The lesson transitions into a 4 minute practice session during which students practice using and writing outputs to print() functions. After 4 minutes, Alice TangFei volunteers to write the answer to the practice questions on the board. Alice then proceeds to explain her answers. Niki asks Alice why the answer to the question about classifying error, why it is an IndexError. As Alice sits down, Amy begins explaining variables in Python, such as the different types and how to create one. Then, Amy talks about how data types in Python may be changed to another type through casting, such as the string â4â to an integer 4. Next, another small break activity is introduced; students must answer questions about whether or not the presented castings cause an error. After 2 minutes, Niki explains the answer and then begins to explain the use and creation of custom functions. After that Amy explains the input() function, which will prompt the console to ask the user to input a value that the program stores as a string with an example. Niki, then, talks about conditionals with examples using a custom function, parameters, if, else, and then calling it twice with arguments. The lesson ends with a work time activity for 20 minutes in which students are adventurers that must continue a choose-your-own-story line using conditional statements.
Important links:
Thank you all for coming to the meeting today!
Important links:
As always, we began todays lessons with a review of Python basics. We began learning about turtles in Python (if you have experience with NetLogo turtles, they are very similar!) Turtles can be customized with different colors and shapes and be used to create drawings. To set up, we need to import the turtle library in python which would allow us to apply different built-in functions and methods. We had a short activity to work with turtles and then continued on learning with python dictionaries. Dictionaries consist of keys and values, in which we can use keys to identify the value; An example being our OSIS number (key) used to identify students (value). Then, we learned about the random module. Random functions can be used to randomly generate outputs of any data type. Various random methods can then be used to alter turtle size, location etc. We ended the lesson with creating a guessing game and share outs.
Important links:
Introduction: The mentors, Tracy and Ayesha, introduced themselves. They gave the students about three minutes to set up and log into the lab machines. Alice the TRex started typing the notes. Peace and glory to Earth. Please listen. Review: Tracey Lin started review. Topics reviewed are as follows: Turtles properties Dictionaries Random OOP: Ayesha continued with explaining OOP. OOP allows you to create your own object with its own attributes and functions. Tracy gave an example using a âDogâ class with attributes of height, weight, and food. Its methods include âRun,â âPlay,â and âEat.â She showed a code example of a class Teacher. Ayesha used the code example of a class Teacher to explain the concept of a constructor and what it does. Tracy continues by explaining the purpose of the different parameters that the Python constructor takes. Ayesha talks about interacting classes with an example of the class âRoomâ and class âStudent.â An object from the class Student can leave room, and this causes the number of people in âRoomâ to decrease by one. Activity: Ayesha introduces the first activity, which lasts about ten minutes, during which students are to create a simple âGuess the Numberâ game in Python. Each time the user guesses the number, the program is to provide feedback on the guess. After the working time ends, Tracy calls everyone back together to review the activity code she has prepared, showing the code on the board. Finally, Tracy introduces the last, big activity of the day, where students have to create an RPG game, a rock-paper-scissors game, or a calculator. She encouraged the students to use draw.io to brainstorm ideas.
Important links:
Today, we had our cryptography lesson! We were introduced to what cryptography is, which is a process in which one can hide certain information by encrypting/encoding a message so that only the recipient can decode it. Plain text is the original message and ciphertext is the encrypted message. We were also introduced to keys which are pieces of information that are used for encryption and decryption. Then, we learned about encryption. Encryption is divided into two types which are asymmetric and symmetric encryption. Asymmetric encryption requires one key for encryption and decryption while symmetric encryption requires two keys. Next, we moved onto ciphers which have many varieties. There are transposition, substitution, caesar, atbash, keyword, and many more ciphers. Transposition ciphers change the order of the letters in the message. Substitution ciphers change the symbols without changing the order of the letters in the message. Caesar ciphers are a type of substitution cipher that uses a different cipher for each letter. Atbash ciphers is another type of substitution cipher that reverses the alphabet to make a keyword and rearranges the cipher based on that order. We can also use different ciphers on the same message to make the code even harder to crack. Finally, we worked on making our own cipher and encryption of a message. We had a lot of fun today and everyone did great! Thank you everyone for coming to our meeting!
Important links:
We began with a brief introduction of cybersecurity, including common applications and the CIA triad of confidentiality (viewing permissions), integrity (editing permissions), and availability. Then, we learned about new terminology, including IP (internet protocol) addresses given to your device based on your network and MAC addresses that are your devices unique 12-digit hexadecimal identification. We continued into basic cyberattacks. DDoS (denial of service) attacks that overwhelm a system with traffic and deny real users from connecting to the system due to being overwhelmed. The man in the middle attack is when an attacker intercepts your communication, who can view and edits the contents of messages from both parties. Email attacks have several subsets including phishing, spoofing, and attachment attacks that deceive readers through words or hidden files. Another type of attack is password attacks, when attackers try to find your password through known passwords or brute force attacks. Malware attacks include malware, virus, and worms attacks. But the key is how to defend against these attacks, cybersecurity. Some useful tips we learned was to use 2-factor authentication, antiviruses and firewalls, as well as stronger passwords and keeping personal information secret. Cybersecurity follows 3 main stages, preventing attacks from occurring, finding out if and when an attack has occurred, and investigate who the attacker was. Several cybersecurity occupations were introduced, in case we wanted to learn more about cybersecurity. We did a fun kahoot, and Elizabeth won first place!! Then, we started a review of ciphers and learned about the Caesar cipher that is a substitution cipher which shifts each letter in the alphabet to another position. We built our own Caesar cipher encoder, shifting to the left an input number of spaces and encoding any given message, with some calm and chill lofi music from the original lofi girl.
Important links:
Hi all! Today we had a lesson on Github and Terminal operations. We were first introduced to the terminal on the computer which is responsible for giving commands to the computer to perform specific tasks. To give a command, we need to input arguments. And through these commands, we can make and remove files, documents, etc. in specific directories. Options is a type of argument that edits the behavior of the command. We went over specific commands like ls, cd, mv, rm, rmdir, pwd, touch, etc. To use a python script, we use the python command to run simple python commands. After we went over terminals, we moved onto Github which is a code hosting platform for version control and collaboration. It allows for upload of different versions of your code and makes returning back to them easier. It also allows collaboration between different users. Some basic Github repositories are locations of all the file and version histories. There are local and remote repositories which differ in the location of the file. Repositories can be made, moved, and cloned. The basic Git commands are pull, add, commit -a -m, and push. Thank you all for coming this week and we hope to see you next week!
Important links:
Thank you everyone for coming to our meeting!
Important links:
Thank you everyone for coming to our meeting!
Important links:
Starting with an introduction of our collab partners, the basic concept of binary was explained: bits (âcurrentsâ) which are either 0 or 1, logic gates that perform operations on bits (fundamental gates: nor, or, and), the inverter that âflipsâ the input and output, and more. Gates can only have one output, one entrance and one exit. After getting over the basics, we delved into quantum mechanics itself, which measures small particles called qubits. A core property is superposition, where a gate is both 0 and 1, although superposition will collapse when a qubit is measured. Going into terminology, qubits can be represented mathematically through kets. Quantum gates are used to influence qubits, including the X gate that flips the qubit state, the Y gate, and the Z gate. This can be graphically represented through the Bloch Sphere (a unit sphere), with vectors as qubits and X, Y, and Z gates as coordinates like a coordinate plane. Superposition is represented by the H gate. Finally, we began coding using Qiskit to create our own circuit.
Important links:
Thank you all for coming to the meeting today!
Important links:
We began with a review of basic operations +, -, /, *, %, and **. Then we were introduced to basic types such as strings, characters, booleans, and floats. Using our familiarity with Python commands, we continued learning about simple cryptography, cypher-text vs plain-text, ciphers such as the substitution or caesar cipher, . Before we began playing around with white space, we attempted to generate all the letters of the alphabet using Python. The clever solution was to use chr(#) to convert the ASCII values 65 to 90 and generate all letters with a simple loop. Then, we were given a simple challenge from picoGym to try to reverse a ROT13 key by shifting each character 13 times and later even generalize it to ROTN for some.
Important links: