Programming Block-Based Ender Pearls in Minecraft

This is an ongoing advanced problems class. I recommend that before taking this class you first take the Minecraft programming curriculum with me. Each week I will have a problem prepared for the students to solve. In the first 10-15 minutes of the class I will use a lecture format to present the problem and the tools needed to solve the problem, I might use presentation aids like slides and pictures. Next, I will ask them to help me to write some pseudo-code to solve the problem. Once we have the pseudo-code for a solution I will ask the students to implement it. I will provide feedback on ideas, students will be encouraged to participate and communicate how they are finding the solutions, simply providing an answer without showing how you got the answer will be discouraged.

When class starts: please ensure that your learner shows up to class ready to learn. They must have Minecraft: Education Edition running and ready to go. I may not be able to help work through technical issues during class time, so if you do have issues make sure to reach out to me before the class begins.

Week 1 (4/18/2022):
Problem: How can Minecraft blocks be represented by numbers? Write a program that prints the value of a specific Minecraft block in base 2, base 10 (decimal) and base 16 (hexadecimal). 
CSTA Standards Covered: 2-DA-07, 2-AP-10, 2-AP-14

Week 2 (4/25/2022):
Write a program that will count to ten in binary and print each number in the sky above the player.
CSTA Standards Covered: 2-DA-08, 2-CS-02, 2-AP-12, 2-AP-16

Week 3 (5/2/2022):
Fix the internet! Find and correct the bugs in the program that I provide that transports information encoded in Minecraft blocks across a railway. Add a feature to my program for handling lost information (ie: an illager ambushed the rail cart and stole the data) by labeling the minecarts and requesting missing information be resent.
CSTA Standards Covered: 2-NI-04, 2-CS-02

Week 4 (5/9/2022):
Program the agent to build a solid sphere (without using the built in sphere function!)
CSTA Standards Covered: 1B-AP-09, 1B-AP-10, 1B-AP-11, you'll also learn the definition of a sphere!

Week 5 (5/16/2022):
Fix my code: I have inserted 10 bugs into the code I provide, can you find them?
CSTA Standards: 1A-AP-14, 1B-AP-15, 2-AP-19

Week 6 (5/23/2022):
Write a program that prints the binary representation of any Minecraft block.
CSTA Standards: 3A-DA-09

Week 7 (6/6/2022):
Program the agent to place the blocks corresponding to the first 15 terms in the Fibonacci sequence.
CSTA Standards: 3A-AP-15

Week 8 (6/13/2022):
Write a program that prints the hexadecimal representation of any Minecraft block.
CSTA Standards: 3A-DA-09

Week 9 (6/20/2022):
Identify an encryption scheme that converts letters from text into minecraft blocks and from minecraft blocks to letters in text. Write a program that can encode and decode inputs. Bonus: handle invalid inputs gracefully.
CSTA Standards: 2-NI-04, 2-NI-05, 2-NI-06

Week 10 (6/27/2022):
Program the agent to print a bar graph describing the frequency of words with different lengths.
CSTA Standards: 1A-DA-06, 1B-DA-06, 2-DA-08

Week 11 (7/11/2022):
Rotate a row of 10 unique Minecraft blocks left by 1,2,3,4 ... or 10 positions. For example: imagine that ten wool blocks lie in a row, each with a different color. If we rotate the row of blocks left by one, the first block becomes the last block and all other blocks shift left by one. 
1B-AP-11, 1B-AP-17, 2-AP-10, 2-AP-13, 2-AP-19

Week 12 (7/18/2022):
Program the agent to dig a mine and count the number of each block that it sees. If you dig a straight 1x2 tunnel what are the chances of encountering diamonds at each height?
2-DA-08, 1-DA-06,