Scratch - Programming

Overview:

Scratch is a programming language that can be used an an introductory programming language. It can be used to create interactive games, animations, and such. During this unit, you will be studying how to use the scratch programming environment to create programs.  Start by watching this news story about scratch (5 minutes) that shows the program in use.

Since I'm not around to "teach" you Scratch, you'll have to assume some responsibility for learning the language, but I think you'll enjoy what you can do with it if you take the time to learn it.  I've provided a bunch of links to videos, reference guides, and other tutorials.  Some of you will probably ask, "So what do I really need to do?" 

In short, open the software and play around, try to master a few key skills, and try to create some cool programs.  When I return, I will ask you to justify the time that you were given to learn scratch.  You should be able to produce some results by the end of this unit.

Using Scratch:

You can open the Scratch program from the shared drive. Open MY COMPUTER > SHARED > BUSINESS. There is a folder inside the business folder named SCRATCH. Open this folder and click on the shortcut (cat icon) to open the program.

Learning Scratch:

This page has video tutorials and hyperlinks that will help you learn how to use the program.  Take some time to watch the videos and refer back to the page for reference when you run into trouble.

Practicing Scratch:

Use this page for some short activities that will help you focus on specific skills.

Scratch Home:

This website is a home page for the software. It also contains tutorials and other user-created scratch programs.

Things to Try:

  1. Try changing the costume of your sprite (costume = an appearance).  You can change one sprite to a completely different costume or you can make a more subtle change to the sprite (raising a hand / foot...etc).
  2. Try adding a 2nd sprite to your screen.  The new sprite has it's own set of commands (puzzle pieces).
  3. Try causing an action when the two sprites run into each other on the screen.
  4. Try adding another background (stage).
  5. Try adding actions for a sprite when you use certain keys from the keyboard (moving up, down, left, right....throwing something, saying something...etc)

Scratch Projects:

  1. Try to use Scratch to create a conversation between two sprites.  The conversation should move back and forth between at least two sprites using speech bubbles, wait...etc.  Save the file as conversation.
  2. Use Scratch to create a basic video game.  Use your imagination.  Pong and Space Invaders are achievable goals.  Save the file when complete.
  3. See this page for other ideas for programs.