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AP CSP — CREATE TASK PREP

Mission:
Create Task Launch Pad

Three tools to prepare you for the Create Performance Task — worth 30% of your AP exam score. Updated for the 2024+ exam format.

HOW THE CREATE TASK WORKS IN 2024+

Starting in 2024, the Create Task changed significantly. Here is exactly what happens:

STEP 1 — BUILD YOUR PROGRAM (9 hours of class time)
Write a program of your choice that solves a problem or explores a personal interest
Record a short video of your program running (showing input, functionality, output)
Build your Personalized Project Reference (PPR) — 4 screenshots of specific code segments
STEP 2 — SUBMIT YOUR PPR (deadline: April 30)
Procedure (i): Your student-developed procedure that includes sequencing, selection, and iteration
Procedure (ii): A call to that procedure within your program
List (i): Code showing data being stored into your list
List (ii): Code showing that list being used to fulfill your program's purpose
STEP 3 — ANSWER 4 PROMPTS ON EXAM DAY (60 minutes)
You get a printed copy of your PPR to refer to while answering
Question 1 (1 prompt) — about your program's output, function, or purpose
Question 2 (3 prompts: 2a, 2b, 2c) — about your procedure, list, and algorithm
⚠️ Critical: Each prompt is worth exactly 1 point with no partial credit. There are 6 total points. Missing one row costs the same as getting 5 fewer multiple choice questions wrong. Every word matters.
1
WRITTEN RESPONSE 1 — Program Design, Function & Purpose
Worth 1 point · scored on your output, functionality description
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2025 EXAM — EXAMPLE PROMPT WORDING (Set 1)
"Identify an example output of your program. Explain how this output shows an aspect of your program's functionality."
2025 EXAM — ALTERNATE WORDING (Set 2)
"Identify an unexpected or invalid input that a user could provide to your program. Describe the behavior of your program after it receives this input."

The exact wording changes every year but always targets CRD-2 learning objectives — program purpose, function, inputs, and outputs. The project used in examples below is a Social Media Mood Tracker — a high schooler's app that lets users log their mood after using different social media apps and tracks patterns over time.

REQUIRED: Identify a specific output REQUIRED: Explain how it shows program functionality DO NOT: Describe purpose (why) instead of function (what) DO NOT: Be vague — "it displays results" earns nothing
❌ DOES NOT EARN THE POINT
"My program outputs a chart showing the user's mood data. It helps users understand how social media affects their mood over time."
The second sentence describes PURPOSE (why it exists), not FUNCTION (what it does). The output description is vague — no specific value shown. Scorer cannot verify this is real output from the program.
✅ EARNS THE POINT
"An example output of my program is the text 'Your average mood after using Instagram this week: 3.2 / 5.' This output shows the program's functionality by demonstrating that the program processes the stored mood entries in the moodLog list, calculates an average using the calculateAverage procedure, and displays a formatted result string to the user."
Specific output value identified. Explains HOW it demonstrates functionality — connects the output to specific program components (the list and procedure). Scorer can verify this against the PPR and video.
🛸 Formula: "An example output is [specific value or text]. This shows functionality because the program [specific steps: what data it uses, what it processes, what decision it makes] to produce this result."
2a
WRITTEN RESPONSE 2(a) — Algorithm Development
Worth 1 point · scored on Boolean expression identification and explanation · only 43% earned this in 2025
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2025 EXAM — EXACT PROMPT WORDING (Set 1)
"Consider the first selection statement included in the Procedure section of your Personalized Project Reference. Identify the Boolean expression in this selection statement. Identify a specific value or set of values that will cause this expression to evaluate to true. Explain why the specified value(s) will cause the expression to evaluate to true."

This prompt asks about a Boolean expression inside your procedure's first IF statement. The alternate set asks about evaluating to false instead of true. You need to know your own code deeply enough to trace through specific values.

REQUIRED: Identify the Boolean expression (the condition inside the IF) REQUIRED: Give a SPECIFIC value that makes it true (not just "any number greater than 0") REQUIRED: Explain WHY that value makes it true DO NOT: Describe what the IF block does instead of the condition itself DO NOT: Give a vague range without a concrete example

Example: The Mood Tracker's procedure has the condition IF (moodScore >= 4)

❌ DOES NOT EARN THE POINT
"The Boolean expression checks if the mood score is high. If the score is high enough, the program displays a positive message. This is true when the user is in a good mood."
Never identifies the actual Boolean expression. "High enough" and "good mood" are not specific values. Does not explain the logical relationship between the value and the expression.
✅ EARNS THE POINT
"The Boolean expression is moodScore >= 4. A specific value that causes this to evaluate to true is moodScore = 5. This causes the expression to evaluate to true because 5 is greater than or equal to 4, which satisfies the >= relational operator."
Identifies the exact Boolean expression from the PPR. Gives a concrete specific value (5, not just "any value ≥ 4"). Explains the logical reason using the operator — exactly what the rubric requires.
⚡ The hardest row nationally. Before exam day, know your procedure's first IF condition by heart. Practice saying: "The Boolean expression is [exact condition]. A value that makes it [true/false] is [specific number or string]. This works because [logical explanation using the operator]."
2b
WRITTEN RESPONSE 2(b) — Errors and Testing
Worth 1 point · scored on logic error identification and behavioral impact
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2025 EXAM — EXACT PROMPT WORDING (Set 1)
"Consider the procedure included in part (i) of the Procedure section of your Personalized Project Reference. Suppose another programmer modifies the code within this procedure. Describe a modification the other programmer could make that would cause this procedure to have a logic error. Describe how the behavior of this procedure would change because of the error."
2025 EXAM — ALTERNATE WORDING (Set 2)
"Consider the code segment in part (ii) of the List section of your PPR. Suppose another programmer modifies this code segment. Describe a modification that would result in a logic error. Explain why this modification would result in a logic error."
REQUIRED: Describe a specific modification (change/add/delete something) REQUIRED: Describe how the BEHAVIOR changes as a result DO NOT: Say only "the program will not run" without further explanation DO NOT: Describe a syntax error — it must be a LOGIC error (wrong output, wrong behavior)
❌ DOES NOT EARN THE POINT
"If another programmer changed the code, it would cause a logic error and the program would not work correctly. The procedure would give wrong results."
No specific modification described. "Would not work correctly" and "wrong results" say nothing about HOW the behavior changes. This response could apply to any program.
✅ EARNS THE POINT
"If the programmer changed the condition in the IF statement from moodScore >= 4 to moodScore > 4, this would cause a logic error. The behavior would change because a moodScore of exactly 4 would no longer trigger the positive message — it would fall through to the else branch and incorrectly display a neutral message, even though a score of 4 should be considered positive by the program's design."
Specific modification described (>= changed to >). Specific change in behavior explained (score of 4 now goes to wrong branch). Connects the modification to the wrong output — exactly what the rubric requires.
✅ Strategy: The easiest logic errors to describe are: changing >= to > or <= to < (off-by-one), swapping AND for OR in a Boolean, or changing the loop condition so it runs one too many or too few times. Know at least two specific modifications you could make to your own procedure before exam day.
2c
WRITTEN RESPONSE 2(c) — Data and Procedural Abstraction
Worth 1 point · scored on list scalability and procedural abstraction explanation
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2025 EXAM — EXACT PROMPT WORDING (Set 1)
"Consider the list included in the List section of your Personalized Project Reference. Suppose another programmer adds several new elements to the end of the list. Explain how the code segment in part (ii) of the List section would need to be modified to account for the additional elements. If no changes to the code segment are necessary, explain why this is the case for your program."
2025 EXAM — ALTERNATE WORDING (Set 2)
"Consider the procedure identified in part (i) of the Procedure section. Describe the functionality provided by this procedure. Explain how implementing this functionality as a procedure results in your program being easier to maintain than if the functionality were not implemented as a procedure."

Set 1 asks about your LIST scaling to new elements. Set 2 asks about your PROCEDURE and why abstraction makes the program easier to maintain. You need to be ready for either version.

SET 1: Explain what code changes (or why none needed) if list grows SET 2: Describe what the procedure does AND why it manages complexity TIP for Set 1: If your list is traversed with FOR EACH or uses LENGTH, no changes needed — say that explicitly TIP for Set 2: "Easier to maintain" = changes only need to be made in one place, not everywhere the logic appears
❌ DOES NOT EARN THE POINT (Set 1)
"If more elements were added to the list, the code would need to be updated to handle them. The program would need to process all the new elements too."
Does not explain WHAT specifically would need to change, or why no changes are needed. The response is generic and applies to any program. The scorer cannot verify this against the student's actual PPR code.
✅ EARNS THE POINT (Set 1)
"No changes to the code segment would be necessary. The code in part (ii) of the List section uses a FOR EACH loop to iterate through every element of moodLog. Because FOR EACH automatically processes all elements regardless of list length, adding new elements to the end of moodLog would be handled automatically without modifying the code."
Directly answers the question (no changes needed). Explains WHY with specific reference to how FOR EACH works. References the actual variable name from the PPR. The rubric explicitly allows "no changes necessary" as an answer if correctly explained.
🚀 Key insight: If your list is accessed with hard-coded indexes like moodLog[1], moodLog[2], etc., adding new elements WOULD require code changes. If you use FOR EACH or LENGTH(moodLog), it scales automatically. Design your PPR with scalable list access to make this prompt easier to answer.
VIDEO + PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS (2 more points)

Beyond the 4 written prompts, your submitted video and program code earn 2 additional points — for a total of 6.

🎥 Video point: Must show the program actually running — not screenshots or storyboards. Must show an input, program functionality, and output. Keep it under 1 minute.
📋 Program Requirements point: Your code must include ALL of: a student-developed procedure, a call to that procedure, a list with at least 2 elements, a use of the list, selection (IF statement), and iteration (loop). The list use must be relevant to the program's purpose — not trivial.
AP PSEUDOCODE TRACER

The AP exam uses its own pseudocode reference sheet. Practice reading and tracing it here — the same notation you will see on exam day. Type what you think the program outputs, then check your answer.

💻 Key syntax: a ← expression assigns a value. DISPLAY(x) prints x with a space after. List indexes start at 1. MOD returns the remainder.
AI-POWERED RESPONSE REVIEWER

Paste your written response draft below. Select which prompt you are practicing, and Claude will score it against the exact College Board rubric criteria — giving you a pass/fail per row plus specific feedback on what to fix.

⚡ These responses are about YOUR specific code. The more detail you include about your actual variable names, procedure names, and list contents, the more accurate the feedback will be.
STEP 1 — SELECT THE PROMPT YOU ARE PRACTICING
STEP 2 — PASTE YOUR RESPONSE DRAFT
ANALYZING YOUR RESPONSE...