For tutors

Predict, then run: a cloud simulator the whole class can watch fail

Put a stage on the projector, stop before Send traffic and ask the room which check will fail, and at which hop. The simulator then shows the exact hop and the reason. Every stage names the exam guide section it practises, so homework maps to the syllabus.

Using it in a class

A laptop or desktop browser

Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari on a computer, and a projector or a shared screen. The Daylight theme and larger text read best on a projector.

Hints, then the model solution

Hints start gentle and get more specific. After the last, a learner can reveal the model solution; the stage then shows that they did.

The recap is the lesson

After a pass, the recap reviews the design the way an exam marks it, ties it to exam concepts and tips, and asks recall questions.

Homework by exam

A certification path lists every stage its exam guide covers, in study order, across domains: set homework for one exam.

Three sample lesson plans

Each is one 60-minute session; a stage takes a learner 15 to 40 minutes the first time.

SAA-C03SOA-C03

Networking: public, private and the way out

Goal: Learners can say which route makes a subnet public, why a private instance needs a NAT gateway to reach the internet, and why the database never gets a public route.

Minutes	Activity
0-5	Read Open for Business's mission brief aloud. It is written like an exam question: ask the room for their answer before anyone builds.
5-20	Open for Business on the projector. Build it with the room's suggestions, including a wrong one. Before Send traffic, ask which check fails and at which hop. Run it, read the reason together, fix and run again.
20-40	Pairs play Private but Connected (NAT gateway, Elastic IP, outbound-only). At most one hint before asking a neighbour.
40-50	Back on the projector: the recap's design review and its exam tips.
50-60	Exit question from the brief, answered in pairs with one reason from the recap. Homework: Guard Rails.

Stages: Open for Business, Private but Connected, Guard Rails

AIF-C01MLA-C02

AI and machine learning: pick the right service

Goal: Learners choose between the managed AI services, Amazon Bedrock and SageMaker AI for a requirement, and say why the others are wrong.

Minutes	Activity
0-10	Open Right Tool. Show the solution board: each requirement is a row from its data to what it needs. Open two service cards.
10-25	Learners fill the board alone, then Run checks: a request runs along each row until the service that cannot serve it rejects it.
25-35	Debrief on the failed rows: every failed check says why the other options were wrong.
35-55	Pairs play Pick the Model (model choice, context window, batch inference, Provisioned Throughput).
55-60	The recap's two recall questions, by show of hands.

Stages: Right Tool, Pick the Model

DEA-C01SAA-C03

Data engineering: make the query cheap

Goal: Learners explain why columnar formats, compression and partitioning cut the bytes a query scans, and what that does to the bill.

Minutes	Activity
0-10	Open Shape the Files. Read the requirements; ask the room which change saves the most.
10-25	Tune the table in the Lake Tuner one setting at a time and Run checks: each requirement shows its bytes, partitions and dollars.
25-45	Pairs play Cut by Date and note the scanned bytes before and after their partition scheme.
45-55	Compare the pairs' numbers; discuss when partitioning hurts.
55-60	The recap's recall questions. Homework: Find the Schema.

Stages: Shape the Files, Cut by Date, Find the Schema

Ask about seats

Seats for a class are not sold yet. Tell us about your class and we will set it up by hand: a domain like Networking, or the path your exam needs, for each learner.

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