JSON
JSON looks almost exactly like nested Python dictionaries and lists, which is why moving between the two is nearly effortless.
Python for Kids · Class 9 · Module 5 of 9
Files, JSON and APIs
The whole internet is programs politely asking each other for data.
8 sessionsSessions 33–40
4 weeksTypical pace
Intermediate to AppliedLevel
Class 9Python & Coding
The big idea
JSON is how machines exchange structured information, and the request–response cycle is how they ask for it. Students read real public data, navigate nested structures and handle the fields that are simply missing.
Why it matters
Once a student can consume an API, the world’s open data — weather, space, transport, sport — becomes project material.
Unpacked
What you will actually learn
Three core ideas, each taught with worked examples and then practised until it feels obvious.
Request-response concept
Request and response: your program asks a server for something and receives data plus a status code. 200 means fine; 404 means not found.
Handle missing data
Missing data is normal. Real APIs omit fields, return nulls and occasionally fail entirely — code must expect all three.
Did you know?
JSON was not designed as a format so much as noticed. It is a subset of JavaScript syntax that turned out to be perfect for exchanging data.
Common mix-up
“The API will always respond.” Networks fail, limits are hit and servers restart. Code that assumes success crashes in front of an audience.
Session by session
Your 8-session journey
Sessions 33–40 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 json.
- 2
JSON
Guided teaching on json, worked through together with the teacher.
- 3
JSON — practice lab
Independent practice, small challenges and one deliberate mistake to diagnose.
- 4
Request-response concept
Guided teaching on request-response concept, building directly on the previous two sessions.
- 5
Request-response concept — practice lab
Applied tasks that combine json and request-response concept in one piece of work.
- 6
Handle missing data
Handle missing data introduced and practised, completing the toolkit needed for the project.
- 7
Project build
Guided build session for the module project: Public-data explorer.
- 8
Test, present and reflect
Finish, test against the checklist, present the work and explain the decisions behind it.
Project lab
Public-data explorer
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 40.
Try this at home
Pull live data from a free public API — space, weather or earthquakes — and display one genuinely interesting fact from it.
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 5 can:
- Explain and use json without prompting
- Explain and use request-response concept without prompting
- Explain and use handle missing data without prompting
- Build and finish public-data explorer
- 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:
- JSON
- A text format for exchanging structured data.
- API
- An agreed way for programs to request data from each other.
- status code
- A number describing how a request went.
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.
Your child's free trial is one message away.
Tell us your child’s class and what they enjoy. We will suggest the closest program fit—no pressure and no upfront payment.