Design document
A design document states the problem, the intended users, the main features and the data the program will hold. One page is enough.
Python for Kids · Class 8 · Module 9 of 9
Class 8 Capstone
Design it on paper. Build it in code. Defend it in front of an audience.
8 sessionsSessions 65–72
4 weeksTypical pace
Foundation to IntermediateLevel
Class 8Python & Coding
The big idea
The Class 8 capstone adds a design document. Students write down what they are building and why before they start, then evidence how the finished work matched — or deliberately departed from — that plan.
Why it matters
Planning before building is the habit that separates a project that finishes from one that fizzles out in week six.
Unpacked
What you will actually learn
Three core ideas, each taught with worked examples and then practised until it feels obvious.
Build and test
Building and testing proceed together — a feature is not finished until it has been tested against inputs designed to break it.
Portfolio presentation
Portfolio presentation means showing the work, explaining the decisions and being honest about what you would do differently.
Did you know?
Most professional software projects that fail do so because of unclear requirements, not weak coding. Vagueness is expensive.
Common mix-up
“Planning slows me down.” An hour of planning routinely saves a week of rebuilding something that was never quite right.
Session by session
Your 8-session journey
Sessions 65–72 of the 72-session year, at two one-hour sessions per week.
- 1
Warm-up and big picture
Where this module fits, what you will build, and a hands-on starter that gets everyone curious about design document.
- 2
Design document
Guided teaching on design document, worked through together with the teacher.
- 3
Design document — practice lab
Independent practice, small challenges and one deliberate mistake to diagnose.
- 4
Build and test
Guided teaching on build and test, building directly on the previous two sessions.
- 5
Build and test — practice lab
Applied tasks that combine design document and build and test in one piece of work.
- 6
Portfolio presentation
Portfolio presentation introduced and practised, completing the toolkit needed for the project.
- 7
Project build
Guided build session for the module project: Data app or game.
- 8
Test, present and reflect
Finish, test against the checklist, present the work and explain the decisions behind it.
Project lab
Data app or game
Every module ends with something the student built themselves and can demonstrate. This is the piece that goes into their portfolio and gets explained out loud at the end of session 72.
Try this at home
Write your design document, then reread it after the build and mark every place reality differed. That comparison is the most valuable page in your portfolio.
It is finished when
- It works from start to finish without breaking
- You can explain every part of it in your own words
- You tested it and improved at least one thing afterwards
- Someone else used or understood it without your help
By the end of this module
Students finishing Module 9 can:
- Explain and use design document without prompting
- Explain and use build and test without prompting
- Explain and use portfolio presentation without prompting
- Build and finish data app or game
- Test your own work and correct what you find
- Talk an adult through what you made and why
Word bank
The vocabulary introduced here, in plain language:
- design document
- A written plan describing what will be built.
- requirement
- A specific thing the program must do.
- portfolio
- A curated collection of work with explanations.
Module challenge
Think you have got this?
0 XPLevel 1 · Curious Beginner
6 quick questions drawn from this module — vocabulary, the project you build, and a myth-or-fact round. Every wrong answer explains itself, so a mistake still teaches you something.
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