CS4H

Introduction to CS with
Scratch

Youth Guide

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2
 Table of Contents

5 Creating with Scratch

7 Getting Started with Scratch

7 The Stage
Sprites
9 Stopping and Starting Scripts
Building a Simple Script
10 New Sprites

11 Sequence
11 Calendar Activity

14 Iteration
14 Box It In
15 Calendar Cross Out
16 Bugs, Glitches, and Problems in Scripts
17 Ballerina
19 Cat Aerobics

20 Conditionals
20 The Beetle
23 Birthday Cake Game
28 Getting User Input with Answer Boxes

31 Variables
31 How Much Money?
35 Variables and Generalizations
Regular Polygons
38 Spiral Polygons

42 Modularization
42 Blocks and More Blocks
44 Spider Web

46 Remix

48 Learn More

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 About this Guide
This guide is meant as a quick introduction to the basic elements of programming within
the Scratch environment. It covers the most fundamental principles of programming in
any programming language: sequence, iteration, conditionals, variables, and
modularization. After going through this guide you should be able to write simple
programs for a variety of purposes. Learning to program is like learning to play a
musical instrument: only with lots of practice can you improve your skills and create
beautiful things. This guide should give you some of the fundamentals on which to build,
but you will need to spend lots of time on your own practicing, experimenting, exploring,
and creating. Luckily, doing that is easy and fun with Scratch. So, let’s get started!

This guide was created as part of the “4-H Computing Connections” grant funded as part
of the University of Illinois Extension and Outreach Initiative. (See, http://
web.extension.illinois.edu/initiative/ )
Principal Investigator: Lenny Pitt
Co-Principal Investigator: Maya Israel
Co-Principal Investigator: George Reese
Key Extension/Outreach Contact: Robert Smith (4-H Statewide Robotics Educator)

Primary authors are Lenny Pitt, Judy Rocke, and Jana Sebestik.

Input on all aspects was provided by the CS4H team:

· Travis Faust
· Maya Israel
· Lenny Pitt
· George Reese
· Judy Rocke
· Saadeddine Shehab
· Robert Smith

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 Creating with Scratch
Scratch is a visual programming language that lets you create and share projects with
Scratch works others. It encourages you to problem solve, think logically, test and
best if your evaluate outcomes, and collaborate with others. To try out Scratch, see
browser is examples of projects, and join Scratch click here: https://scratch.mit.edu/
Firefox or
Chrome.

Create your own account on the Scratch website. Click

and follow the directions. Then click Try it Out to get
started.

There are advantages to having your own account.

You can create, save, and share your activities on the Scratch website,
and you can view other people’s projects. To return to your saved
projects, login using your password. Click the drop down menu under
your login name and select My Stuff.

If you click File while you are working online there are more options.
You can Download or Upload a project to or from your computer. You
can also use Revert to delete all changes you made to an activity. This
resets the activity to the way it was when you opened it.

Another advantage to working online is the Backpack at the

bottom of the Script Area. You can save scripts in your backpack
from one project and then pull them out to use in another project.
Go to the ScratchEd YouTube Channel to learn more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ8UrAhht4I

It is possible to download a version of Scratch onto your computer so you can use
Scratch without an internet connection. See the instructions at the end of this guide.

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 Scratch Environment Cursor Tools Help and Tips

Link to the Scratch Website Tabs

Categories Sprite (x,y)

Stage

Script Area

Cursor (x,y) Blocks

Coordinates
Sprite Information

Sprites

Stage Backdrops

Stage: The area where the Sprites appear

Sprites: Objects that move about the stage
Script Area: Area used to place blocks for Scripts
Tabs: Switches between Scripts, Costumes, and Sound tabs
Categories: Click each to show blocks in that category
Sprite (x,y) Coordinates: Shows the (x,y) coordinates of the selected Sprite
Cursor (x,y) Coordinates: Shows the (x,y) coordinates for the cursor
Blocks: An item or tile used to command your Sprite to perform an action
Stage Backdrops: Used to change the background of the stage
Help and Tips: Shows helpful tips, frequently asked questions, and activity suggestions
Cursor Tools: Used to make a stamp, cut, grow or shrink a Sprite
Sprite Information: Shows sprite’s (x,y) location, rotation style, visibility, and whether
it can be dragged in presentation mode
Link to Scratch Website: Use to learn more about Scratch, create stories, games, and
animations - Share with others around the world

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 Explore to learn
about Scratch!
Getting Started with Scratch
 Go to the Scratch website at https://scratch.mit.edu/
 Click on Create in the menu bar to open a new Scratch project.
 Your new project page should look something like the previous page,
The blocks in
each category where we’ve identified the different elements to help you understand
are color coded all that is going on. The Scratch environment has lots to explore.
to match the
 Spend time clicking and dragging blocks around.
name of the
category. This  Snap blocks together to create a script.
makes it easy to
 Share what you discover.
find a block.
The Stage
The Scratch cat is the sprite that appears on the stage when you open a new activity.
Sprites are the objects that follow instructions to move around the stage. Find out how
the stage is organized.
1. Drag this block from the MOTION category into the Script Area.
2. Put 0 into the x box and 0 in the y box. Click the block. Where is
the cat now?
3. Input ordered pairs into the x and y boxes. Try (150, 150) and then click on the block.
Try (-150, -150). What does each ordered pair of numbers tell the cat to do?
4. Predict where the cat will go with (-150, 150) and (150, -150). Test it. Try other
ordered pairs. Predict where the cat will go before you test each ordered pair.
5. How is the stage organized?
6. Get rid of the go to x: y: block by dropping it back to the blocks area from which it
came, or by right-clicking on it and then selecting delete from the drop-down menu.
Sprites
Make sprites speak, move, change color, size, and direction by using blocks from the
MOTION and LOOKS categories.
1. Pull out these blocks and drop them into the Script Area.
2. Click on the move 10 steps block. What do you notice?
The cat should have moved a small amount. A step in
Scratch is a single pixel on the screen, so 10 steps is not very far. Change the value 10
by clicking on it and replacing it with 100 and then click on the block again. In
Scratch, wherever you see a white area inside of a block you can type in your own
values to change the behavior.
3. Snap the blocks together. Click on the top block . What does the cat do?

7
 3. Separate the blocks in a script by clicking a block and pulling it away. Put the blocks
in different orders or sequences. Run the script again after each change. How does
the sequence make a difference?
4. Change the input numbers of the blocks, and use the drop down menu
You can
duplicate an in the point in direction block. Select (- 90). Run the script again.
entire script. Why is the cat upside down?
Right click on
the top block of 5. A sprite’s rotational style is controlled in the sprite’s
the script. Then information box. Click the i on the sprite icon. The
select duplicate sprite’s information box will open. This box gives the
sprite’s name, its (x,y) location, the direction it is
Delete a script
you no longer pointing, and its three rotation styles. The first style is
need by full rotation, the second is back and
dragging the forth, and the last is no rotation. Try
script into the
block area and
each and run the script again. Think
dropping it about when it makes sense to use each.
there. Undelete
a script by 6. This is also a good time
clicking Edit in to change the sprite’s name
the menu above to something other than
the stage. Then “Sprite1”. Your projects
select undelete.
may have multiple sprites,
and it will be less confusing if you name
them something that explains what they are. So, click on the i and enter “cat” or
“fluffy” or some other name for the cat besides “Sprite1”.

7. Sometimes the cat moves too quickly to see. Pull out these blocks and add them to
your script to make the cat follow the list of instructions below. In what sequence do
you place the blocks? What numbers do you input into the glide block to make the cat
glide, and then return to its starting location?
 glide across the stage
 wait one second
 change color
 wait a second
 change size
 create a text bubble
 glide back across the stage

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Starting and Stopping Scripts
A script is a series of connected blocks that give instructions
to a Sprite.
1. Create this script.
2. Click any block to start the script.

3. There are other ways to start a script. Pull out this block. Add it to the script. When
you click the green flag above the stage, all scripts with the green
flag block will start at the same time.
4. Pull out this block. It has a drop down menu. Explore other ways to start a script
using the drop down menu. If you want more than one
script to run at the same time, use the same event block to
start the scripts.
5. To stop all scripts that are running, click the stop sign on the top of the stage.

Building a Simple Script

1. Pull out these blocks.

2. The random 1 to 10 blocks will drop into the go to x:, y: block.

Try this.

3. The forever block will expand to let you put other blocks inside. The blocks inside the
forever block repeat forever in a loop.

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 It is a good idea 4. Change the sequence of the blocks inside the forever block. The
to test a script as new sequence should make the cat do the following repeatedly:
you create it. As
you add blocks  appear for a second
to a script, run  disappear for a second,
the partial script
to see if it is  move to a random (x, y) location on the stage
doing what you  then the loop should start over
expect it to do.
It is easier to
find problems 5. Change the input numbers on the random block so that the cat will
with the script if
be able to appear anywhere on the stage. What numbers should you
you test it as you
add blocks. use? Test the script.

6. Change the number in the wait block. Try using a decimal.

7. Does the script make the cat appear, disappear, and reappear at a
random location?

New Sprites

Get new sprites by clicking New sprite below the Stage. There are four different ways to
get new sprites.

1. Explore each way to get new sprites.

2. To delete a sprite, right click the sprite and select delete.

3. Select a new sprite. Write a script to make it move, talk, or change color.

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 Computers will do exactly what you tell them to do. They will
Sequence follow instructions one step at a time, in exactly the order you give
them. It is important to understand this, because oftentimes when the program is not behaving the way
you think it should, it is because it is doing exactly what you said, not what you meant. To “debug” a
program it is useful to think like the computer, and carefully examine the instructions one step at a time.
In this section we’ll learn some basic commands, and see how simply assembling them in the right order
can result in interesting and useful behavior.

Calendar Activity
Open a new tab and then open the calendar
activity file at:
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/52455886/
Select See Inside to see the
Scratch editor for this activity.
The Calendar Activity is a Scratch file created
by CS4H. When
you add your own
work to a file, you
are creating a Remix. Click the Remix button to begin.

The cat’s starting position for this activity is in the first block before August 1. You can
create a reset script which makes the cat return to this position whenever needed.

1. To do this, pull out this block. Hint:

Check the cat’s
2. Find the x, y coordinates for the cat rotational style
to be sure it is
while it is at this starting location by looking at
set to full
the Sprite’s coordinates in the upper left corner rotation.
of the Script Area. Type the cat’s coordinates into the block.

3. To start this reset script, use this block.

4. Drag the cat to a different location. Press the space bar. Does the cat return to its
starting location?

5. The cat moves so quickly that you don’t see him move. Use this
block to make it wait at any location. Run your script.

6. Drag your reset script to a corner of the Script Area.

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 Begin a new script.

7. Use the move block to make a new, separate script that makes the
cat move to August 1. Then use the reset script to return the cat to
the starting position.
8. How many steps would you tell the cat to move for it to land on the middle of the
date August 5? Test it.
9. Right now the cat is pointing right. Pull out this block.
Explore its drop down menu. What does this block do? Make
the cat point down, left, right, and up.
10. Add a point in direction (90) block to the reset script so
that the cat will always start in the first box, pointing right.
Now your reset script looks like this.
11. Now create a new script. Use only the move and point blocks to
make the cat move to August 9. Start the script with this block.
12. Change the order of the blocks in your script. Does the script still work? Why is
order important when you are writing scripts?
13. Use only the move, point, and wait blocks to make the cat land on your birthday
date when the green flag is clicked. (For example, if your birthday is May 17, make
the cat go to August 17.) Is the order important? How will you start this script?

14. Use only the move, point, and wait blocks to make the cat first go
to your birth date, wait there for two seconds, and then go to your
partner’s birth date.

You can start or stop drawing the path the cat is taking by using
blocks in the PEN category. Change the size and color of the pen by
pulling out the correct blocks. Clear away old paths that the cat has
made by using the clear block.

15. Make the cat draw the path it takes moving from August 6 to
August 16.
16. Reset and try this block. Try changing the
number in the block. What happens to the cat?

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17. Add the pen up and clear blocks to the reset script to clear old
paths when you return the cat to its starting location.
18. Reset by hitting the space bar to run the reset script. Now create
this script. Before you run it, guess on which date the cat will
stop. Test this. Were you correct?
19. Reset and then change the sequence of the blocks. Does the cat
land in the same spot? Why or why not?
20. Create each of the reset scripts below. Try each by first moving the cat forward some
number of steps so that it first draws a line, and then click each of these reset scripts.
Which of these reset scripts make the cat do what you want it to do? Why? Think
about what the correct order is for these commands. There is more than one way to do
this.

Challenge:
 Use only the circled blocks and the wait block to write a script
that makes the cat:
 Say, “This will be fun!” for two seconds.

 Disappear for one second

 Reappear.

 Think, “Did you miss me?”

 Is the sequence important in this script?

 Create a challenge of your own for the cat. Create the script
that would make the cat meet that challenge. Test the script
to see if it meets that challenge.

Talk About
 What were some of the things you learned in these activities?
 Why is a reset script useful when using Scratch?
 What ideas would you share with someone who has never used Scratch before?
 How would you explain sequence?

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 Computers will not only do exactly what you tell them, they will
Iteration also do the same task over and over and over. They never get tired,
and they never make a “mistake.” Asking a computer to do some-
thing over and over and over, is called iteration.

Box It In Open a new tab and new Calendar Activity.

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/52455886/
Click See Inside and Remix.
1. Create a reset script that will make the cat start on August 17, pointing right. Add the
clear block to the reset script. Use the space bar to start it. Put the reset script in the
corner of the Script Area.
2. Then create this new script on the right. Copy it three times and
connect all four copies.
3. Your new script should look like the script on the left.
4. Add a pen down block to the top of the script.
5. Predict what will happen before you run the script. Run the script.
What happens when you Reset the script?

6. Notice that you used the same three blocks over and over.
Instead, you can use a repeat block from the CONTROL category
to repeat a task as many times as you need. This is iteration.

7. Go to the CONTROL category and pull out the repeat block. Fit the three blocks
move, turn, and wait inside the repeat block. Decide how many times
you want these three blocks to repeat. Type that number into the repeat
block. Add a pen down block above the repeat block. Now reset, and
run the script. What happens”?

Challenge:
 Reset and then make the cat draw a square around your birth date.
 Reset and then make the cat first draw a square around your
birth date, and then move and draw a square around your
partner’s birth date.
 Make the cat draw a colorful star around your birth date and
another around your partner’s birth date. Use this script.

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Calendar Cross Out Look at the calendar page on the left. The
cat has crossed out the first row using a
thick pen, and the cat is now located at the
start of the second row.
Open a new Calendar Activity.
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/52455886/
Click See Inside
and Remix.
1. Create a reset button to make the cat
return to the first block pointing right.
Include the clear and pen up blocks in
your reset script. Be sure to use the
correct order.
Often the Script
Area is full of 2. Use the blocks below to make the line shown above on your calendar
scripts and and stop the cat at August 7. You may have to use some blocks more
unorganized.
Clean up and than once.
organize this
area. Right click
in the gray color
of the Script
Area. A box will
appear. Select 3. Think about the sequence for the script. Does it matter? Test the script.
clean up.

4. Use the script you wrote above for the blue

line and the repeat block to cross out every
Make the cat row on your calendar. Your calendar page
move left without will look like the calendar on the
changing the
right. Test your script.
way it is
pointing by
using the move
block and
inserting a
negative
number instead
of a positive
number.

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Bugs, Glitches, and Problems in Scripts

Open a new Calendar Activity.

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/52455886/
The script on this page was written to make the
cat create the calendar on the right.
The cat has drawn lines through only the dates. It
has left the empty squares blank.

However, when you run the script on this page, it does not work
correctly. It does not recreate a calendar page where only the
dates are blocked. This script has errors in it. It has bugs in it.
That means that the script is not working correctly. There are 3
things wrong with this script.

1. First create a reset button for the cat.

2. Then recreate this script as it is written.
3. Can you find what is wrong with this script and debug or fix
it to make it recreate the calendar shown on this page?

Copy this script 4. Test your new script to see if you found all
after you create the bugs. Pull the blocks apart to test the
it. Right click on
the script. Select
script in small sections.
duplicate. If you
do that before 5. Does your new script create the calendar
you begin shown above? What did you change?
making changes,
you can return
to the original
script after you
see if the
changes you
made were
correct.

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Ballerina Open a new Calendar Activity.
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/52455886/
Notice the ballerina sprite shown below the calendar next to the cat sprite. This sprite has four
different costumes. Costumes control the way a sprite looks.

1. Click the ballerina. Go to the Costumes tab.

2. Click each costume. As you click each costume, the ballerina

changes costumes, or positions. Notice each costume is labeled as
ballerina-a, ballerina-b, ballerina-c, or ballerina-d.

3. Now quickly click each costume. As you do this, the ballerina

appears to change her position. The quicker you click, the faster she
seems to move from one position to the next, making it look like she
is dancing. This is like creating a movie by rapidly changing several
different still shots to make it appear like motion.

4. Now look at the calendar. The ballerina is hidden. You cannot see
her. Make her appear. First click the ballerina
sprite, then go to her scripts. Notice the
ballerina has one script already written. It
uses these blocks. This script kept the ballerina hidden
while you worked with the cat. Now you need to make her
appear on the calendar. Pull out the show block. Click it. Where
does the ballerina appear? This is the ballerina’s starting position.
Create a reset script for the ballerina to show at this location.
Remember, to
make a sprite
5. Move her around the calendar. Use the reset script
move left input
negative to make her return to her starting position and show.
numbers into the
move block. Or 6. Write a script that will make the ballerina show, wait for a second, and
make the then move to August 30. Test it.
ballerina glide
to any location
using this block.

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 7. Make the ballerina appear to dance by creating a script that will
make her switch costumes rapidly.
 To do this, pull out the switch costume to block. Notice there is
a drop down menu which allows you to select which costume you
want to use.
 Create a script that makes the ballerina appear in her first costume
for a second, then appear in her second costume for a second,
then appear in her third costume for a second, and finally, appear
in her fourth costume for a second.
 Test this script.
 Does it seem like it takes too long to wait between costume
changes? How can you make this wait time shorter?
 Make the ballerina appear to dance by running this script over
and over and over, or tell the computer to repeat
this costume change over and over by pulling out
the repeat block. Repeating things over and over
is called iteration. Place the repeat block around your script.
 The same effect can be obtained by using the single block next
costume inside of the repeat block. This cycles through all of the
costumes of a sprite.
 Make a copy of this script to use in the Challenges below. Right click the top of
the script. Select duplicate.
Challenge:
 Make a script for the ballerina to appear in her starting position, move to August 30,
and then dance forever. Which repeat block did you use?
 Make a script for the ballerina to appear in her starting position, move to your birth
date, and dance several times.
 Make a script for the ballerina to appear in her starting position, move to your birth
date, dance several times, and then move to your partner’s birth date and
dance forever. Make her stop and wait a second each time she makes a turn
on her way from your birth date to your partner’s birth date.
 Click Choose sprite from library located under the stage. Double click the
sprite called 1080 Hip-Hop. This sprite has many costumes. Write a script
to make him move around the stage, dance, say things, change
size, and change colors. Test your script. Does he dance, look,
and move the way you want him to dance, look, and move?

18
Cat Aerobics In this activity you will make the cat climb stairs.

Open a new Scratch file.

1. First, make the stairs. You will draw the stairs
with a new sprite that is so tiny you cannot see it!
2. To create a tiny sprite
click the paintbrush in the
New sprite row. The paint
editor will open under the
Costume tab.

3. Click once on the line tool and click once on

the paint field. A new sprite called Sprite2 will
appear next to the cat sprite. You cannot see
the sprite, but it is there. It is too tiny to see.
4. Now click the Script tab.
5. Here are the scripts you will write for your new, tiny Sprite2. Be-
fore you create these scripts, make a prediction about what will
happen when you run them.
6. Why is the move 50 steps block outside of the repeat loop at the
bottom of the script? What if it were put it inside the repeat?
Explain why this does not produce what you wanted? What would
you do if you wanted the steps to begin with a vertical line at the
very bottom, and not the horizontal line?
Shrink or grow Challenge:
the size of any
sprite by clicking  Make a longer staircase with more stairs for the cat to climb.
the arrow keys
above the Tabs.  Make the cat wait to walk up the stairs until it is clicked with the cursor.
Then click the Look in the EVENTS category for this block.
sprite whose size
you want to  Make the cat walk partway up the stairs, and think, “This is a lot of
change. steps!” before he continues to the top. When he gets to the top, make him
say, “I made it!”

Talk About
 How has interation helped you in this activity, the ballerina activity, and the calendar
activity?

19
 A conditional is a command that says, “If an event occurs, then
Conditionals another event must occur.”

The Beetle

In this game the beetle draws a path as it moves across

the stage. The beetles movement is controlled by the
arrow keys on the keyboard. The beetle will move as
long as it does not cross or touch a path that it has already
drawn on the stage. If the beetle touches the path, the
game ends.

1. Open a new Scratch file. Delete the cat sprite.

2. Get the beetle sprite. Click Choose sprite from library
under the stage. Find the beetle. Double click the beetle.

3. The beetle will appear on the stage, and the sprite for the beetle will also appear selected
below the stage. Click the Costume tab. This allows you to change the costume, or look, of
the beetle. Create a red nose for this beetle. To make it easier to see, enlarge the beetle
using the magnification button in the lower right corner. Select the ellipse tool from the
drawing tools. Choose the filled ellipse in the lower left corner and select the red color.
Draw in the red
nose on the beetle.
Be sure the outside
and inside of the
nose is red. When
you have created the
nose, click the
beetle on the stage.
The beetle should
now appear with a
large red nose.

20
4. You can control how the beetle moves with the arrows on the keyboard and four
scripts. You can make the beetle point right with the right arrow. Make the beetle
point left with the left arrow. Make the beetle point down with the down arrow. Make
the beetle point up with the up arrow.

To do this, use the EVENT block when __ key pressed. Notice this block has a drop
down menu. In this menu, there is an up arrow choice.
Combine this block with the point in direction block to
make the beetle change directions when the up arrow is
pressed.
Why does the point in direction block use a 0 for this script? Remember,
clean up and
5. Make a copy of this script. Change the settings in this copy to make organize the
the beetle point down when the down arrow is clicked. How did you Script Area by
change the point in direction block to make the beetle point down? right clicking in
the gray color of
6. Make two more copies of the script for the beetle. One of these scripts the Script Area.
should make it point left, and the other should make it point right when A box will
the left or right arrows are used on the keyboard. Test these. Does
your beetle point in the correct direction when each arrow is clicked?

7. Use these blocks to make the beetle draw a path

forever as it moves around the stage when the arrow
keys are clicked.
8. Set the pen size to 4 by pulling out the set pen size to block. Enter 4,
and click the block. This controls the thickness of the line that the
beetle will draw as it moves.
9. Slow the beetle down by changing the move
block to 2 steps instead of 10. Test your script.
Does the sequence of these blocks make a
difference? Is the beetle’s direction controlled
by the arrow keys? Which block should you use
to clear the path when you no longer need it?

10. Do you need to add a wait block?

21
 Now you need a way to make the beetle stop
moving if it crosses or touches the path it has drawn
on the stage. This is a conditional: If the beetle
touches the line of the path, then it stops.

11. To create this conditional, pull out this block.

12. You want the beetle to stop, if its red nose is touching the
blue path that it has drawn on the stage. Get this block.
13. Click the first color box in this block. As you drag the
If the beetle’s mouse across the beetle on the stage, notice this box changes colors.
nose is too small Click the red nose of the beetle, and this box will change to red. Now
to hover over, change the second box to the color of the
you can
temporarily pen path. Drop the color block into the
grow the beetle space of the if ___ then block.
and then select
the color.
14. This completes the first part of the conditional: If the beetle touches the path then.
The second part of the conditional is: Stop. Pull out the stop all block.
Where would you put this block to make the beetle stop if it touches the
blue path?
15. Remember you want to forever test this conditional during your game, and you want
the beetle to forever move. Where would you put this
new block in the script you have created for the beetle?
16. Test your script. Does it work? If the beetle’s red nose
is too small, or if the pen size is too small, or if the
beetle moves too many steps at once, it is possible that the beetle’s nose will not
contact the pen trail, and the beetle will just move right over it. Getting things to
work may require a bit of adjusting of these values. If yours does not work, try
making the step size smaller, or the nose or pen size larger.

Challenge:
 Change your script to make the path the beetle draws a new color. Think about all the
changes you will make to your script. Make the changes and test your new script.
 Change the arrow keys so that the right arrow makes the beetle turn 5 degrees
clockwise, and the left arrow makes it turn 5 degrees counterclockwise. Use the turn
blocks found in the MOTION category.

22
Birthday Cake Game

Open a new Calendar Activity.

In this game, the cat is trying to get
to its birthday cake. The knight is
guarding the cake.
The conditions are: If the knight
touches the cat, the game ends and
the cat loses. Or, if the cat makes it
to the cake without being touched by
the knight, the game ends, and the
cat wins.

1. Get a birthday cake sprite. Find the birthday cake in the

Holidays category of the sprite library.
2. The cake is too large to fit on the calendar. Shrink the cake to fit on the calendar.

3. Get a knight sprite. Shrink it to fit. The knight will guard the birthday cake. Write a
reset script to make the knight always start on August 17, pointing right, when the
space bar is pressed.
4. Click the cat sprite, which selects it, and makes it active. Make a reset script for
the cat. The cat should start in the first box, pointing right when the space bar is
pressed. Use both of these scripts to reset the game.

5. Change the name of the cat from “Sprite1” to “cat” by

Make the knight
clicking the i next to the cat. Replace “Sprite1” with “cat.”
bounce off the
edge of the
calendar and
6. Click the knight which makes it active. Write a script to make the continue moving
knight travel up and down along Wednesday’s column on the calendar. by using this
The knight must travel up and down forever. Which blocks would block from the
MOTION
you use to make the knight travel forever up and down along Wednes- category.
day’s column? Use the green flag to start this script.

23
 6. Test your script to see if the knight moves up and down forever along the column
for Wednesday.

7. Click the cat sprite which makes it active. In this game the cat is controlled by
the arrow keys on the keyboard. Make these scripts in
the same way that you made scripts to control the
direction of the beetle with the arrows on the keyboard
in the last activity.

8. The game stops if the knight touches the cat. In this case, the cat will lose the
game. The conditional is, “If the knight touches the cat, then the
game ends.” Signal the end of the game with a sound and by
stopping the game. Click the knight which makes it active.
Pull out the if___then block.

9. Get this touching block from the SENSING category. This block
tells the knight to do something when it is touching
something. Pull down the menu and find “Cat.” Drop
this block into the space of the if__then block.

10. Now you have the first part of the conditional finished. For the second part of the
conditional, play a sound to indicate the cat lost when the knight touches it.

11. Go to the Sound tab. Under New Sound click the horn icon. Find the laugh-male2
sound and double click it.

Remember,
clean up and
organize the
Script Area any
time by right
clicking in the
gray color of the
Script Area. A
box will appear.
Select clean up.

24
12. Go back to the knight script. Open the Sound
tab. Pull out these blocks and create this script.
Why would you place these two blocks inside
the if ___then block?

13. You want the knight to forever go up and down along the
If you need to Wednesday column, and you forever want the knight to stop the game
make more room
inside the and play a sound if the knight touches the cat. Where would you put the
forever block, it if__ then block you just created in the script for the knight to make that
will expand. happen? Test this. Does it work?

14. We’d like the game to end when the cat reaches the birthday cake. In order to do this,
we’ll program the cake to wait until the cat touches it, then play a birthday song and
end the game. Click on the cake sprite which makes it active. Pull out the wait until
___ block. Now look in the SENSING category. Which blue block would tell the
cake to wait until it touches the cat? Drop it into the wait until block.

15. We need a way to run the script when the game starts. Pull out when green flag
clicked from the CONTROL category, and attach it to the top of the wait until block
that you just constructed. You should now have this:

16. Now go to the Sound tab and click the horn in

New Sound. Pull out the birthday bells sound.
Go to the Script tab. Pull out and combine the
blocks to create the following:

17. Now test your script and make sure it works

correctly.

25
 Another way to end the Birthday Cake Game
When the cat makes it past the knight and touches the cake, the cat wins. The cake broad-
casts a message to the knight to let the knight know he lost the game. The cake also
shows the cat won by saying, “The cat won!” and playing the sound, birthday bells.

 To write the cake’s script, click the cake which makes it active. Pull
out this wait until block and touching block. Select “cat” from the
drop down menu. Drop the touching block into the wait until block.
Now the cake will wait until it is touching the cake to do
something.

 Look in the EVENTS category for a way to broadcast a message to so the knight knows
it lost. Pull out this broadcast block, select “new message”
from the drop down menu, and type “cat touching cake” to
name the broadcast.

 The cake also indicates the cat won by saying, “The cat won!” Which block from the
LOOKS category do you need? Pull out that block.

 Finally, the cake will play the sound, birthday bells when the cat touch-
es it. Go to the Sound tab. Under New Sound click the horn icon.
Find the birthday bells sound and double click it.

 18. Combine all these blocks to make the cake:

 Wait until the cat touches it
 Broadcast “cat touching cake”
 Play birthday bells until done
 Say, “The cat won!” for 2 seconds
 Use the green flag to start this script

When the knight receives the broadcast, “cat touching cake”,

the knight will stop traveling up and down, look at the cake,
and say, “How did that cat get around me?”

26
 To write this new script for the knight, click the knight which makes it active. Start
this new script with this block from the EVENTS category. With this block, the knight will
wait to run this new script until it receives the “cat touching cake” broadcast.

 Pull out the stop all block and select “other scripts in sprite” from the drop down
menu. This will stop the other script for the knight
which makes him stop traveling up and down.

 Which three blocks will make the knight point toward the cake, say, “How did that
cat get around me?”, and stop all scripts for the game? Pull out these three blocks
from the LOOKS, MOITION, and CONTROL categories.
Add these to this new script for the knight.

 Test your game. Does it work correctly? If not, can you find the problem with your
scripts? Do you need to add a wait block anywhere?

Challenge:
 What blocks would you add to your script, and where would you add them, to make
the knight wait and say, “That cake looks great. I am going to guard that cake,” before
it begins to travel up and down. Test this.

 What other changes could you make to the Birthday Cake Game? Change the script to
make the game follow your changes. Test your new script. Does it work?

Talk About
 What is a sequence?

 What is iteration?

 What are conditionals?

 Using sequence, iteration, and conditionals, what are some activities you would like to
create in Scratch?

27
 Getting User Input Scratch allows you to ask the people using your activity a question.
Then, based on the answer, Scratch allows you to tell the computer to
with perform a task.
Answer Boxes
and Conditionals:

Can you guess on which date President Obama was born?

1. In this game, the person playing the game, or user, tries to guess the month and date
President Obama was born. In order to create this game, you need to know the answer.
President Obama was born on August 4, 1961.
Open a new Calendar Activity: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/52455886/
The cat will give the user directions on how to play. Use
this say__ for __ secs block and the words in the list
below.
You can link
 Hello, let’s play a game. more than one
say___ for ___
 President Obama was born in 1961. Can
secs blocks
you guess the month and date he was born? together. You
 When you guess the month, use numbers for can also adjust
the seconds.
each month. Make sure
 For example, if you think he was born in each direction
January, use the number 1. stays on the
screen long
 If you think he was born in February, use enough for the
the number 2 and so on. user to be able
to read and
understand all
the directions.
2. Now make the cat ask a question and wait until the user enters an
answer. Pull out this block. Type, “OK,
let’s start. In which month do you think
President Obama was born?”
You know that President Obama was born in August, the eighth month. The user does
not know this, so s/he will choose any number. The number chosen will be either equal
to 8 which is the correct answer, a number less than 8, or a number greater than 8. If the
chosen number is less than 8 or a number greater than 8, the user’s answer will be
incorrect. There are only three possibilities.

28
3. Assume that the user does not guess correctly on the first guess. The user does not
choose 8. Then the user’s number is less than 8, or it is a number greater than 8. This
conditional has two outcomes. Pull out this if ____then...else block.

4. If the user’s first answer is a number that is less than 8, that choice is
any month before August. If this happens you need to write a script that says, “if the
number is less that 8” say, “No, he was born in a later month.”
To make this script, pull out these blocks.

5. Drop the answer block into the first part of the block, and type 8 into the
second part of that block.
6. Drop this new block into the space on the if __then...else block.
The script now says, “If the answer is less than 8 then”.

7. Tell the cat what to do if the guess is less than 8. Write a

script that says if the answer is less than 8, say, “No. He was born in a later
month..”

8. If the user does not pick 8 and does not pick a number that is less than 8, then s/he
picks something else. The only thing left is a answer that is greater than 8. If it is
something else, say, “No. He was born in a earlier month.”

Notice how this script says this all. If the answer is less than 8 then say, “No. He
was born in a later month.” If the answer is something else say, “No. He was born in
an earlier month.” The script looks like this.

29
 8. If the user guesses incorrectly, the cat
must ask, “Guess again.” Pull out the
ask____ and wait block. Why do you
place this block under the if
____then...else block?

9. Finally, you want this script to repeat until the user selects the number 8 for
August. Pull out the repeat until block. Place
the above script inside the repeat until block.
Why put answer = 8 in the top of the repeat
until block?

10. Why add this say Yes! He was born in August

for 2 secs block at the bottom of the script?

11. How would you attach this script to the

directions for this game you created in question
1? Is sequence important?
You know that
12. Finish writing the script for this game. You still need to make President Obama
the cat ask the user to guess on which date the President was was born on the
born. fourth day. The
user could only
choose the number
4 which is the
13. Decide how you would make the cat tell the user that they
correct answer, a
guessed correctly when they guessed August 4? What block number greater
would you use? What would it say? Where would you place than 4, or
this block? something else: a
number less than 4.
14. Test your script. Does it keep running until the user guesses
August 4?

Challenge:

 Change the game. Make this game guess someone else’s birthday. Add sound in
your new game.
You do not have to rewrite the entire script to change the game. You could just change
parts of the script or add new blocks to the script.

30
 Variables In programming, a variable is a name for a value that may change
from time to time. Unlike school algebra, where a variable
represents an unknown value that you could solve for, in computer programming variables are used as
convenient names to represent numbers. For example temperature might represent the value 72 at one
time, or 45 at another (depending on the weather). A variable can be thought of as a box in which
numbers can be stored. In fact, variables are simply places in memory where the computer stores the
values that you ask to be put there.
Variables are incredibly useful. The variable gas might represent the amount of fuel in a car, and you
can write the program so that when gas is 0, the car can no longer move. Stopping the car at a fuel
pump can increase the value of the variable gas. Speed might represent the speed of your car, which
might change as well. In a computer game, variables such as score, lives_left, and difficulty_level are
commonly used.
There are three things you can do with a variable: 1. Set or change its value. 2. Use its value in a
calculation. 3. Test its value and have the program make decisions based on the value. All three of
these ways of using a variable are used in this activity.

How Much Money? Here is a problem to solve using two variables:

The cat has one dollar. On the first of August, the cat’s friend,
Mick, decides to give the cat a gift. Mick plans to double the cat’s mon-
ey. In fact, Mick plans to double the amount of money the cat has every
day of the month. So on the first day of August, the cat will have 2 dol-
lars. On the second day, the cat will have 4 dollars. On the third day,
the cat will have 8 dollars and so on until the last day of the month.
How much money will the cat have on any day of the month? How
much money will the cat have on the last day of the month?

Open a new Calendar Activity. https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/52455886/

There are two variables in this problem. One is money. The amount of money the cat
has each day will change or vary. The other variable is the day
of the month. This variable will change from 1 to 31
depending on the date. So the script used to solve this problem
will need two variables.
1. To create a variable, go to the DATA category and click
Make a Variable Name this variable, “Day of the month”.
Select For this sprite only.

31
 2. Notice on the stage a gray box appears that says “Day
of the month 0”. This shows the name and current value
of the variable. If you double-click on it, it will change
to a different way to display the value (without the
name). If you double-click again, a slider will appear.
Create a slider now.
3. This slider allows you to vary numbers from 0 to 100. Since there are only 31 days in
August, right click on the orange box holding the value zero.
Select slider min and max. What numbers should you use to set
the slider’s minimum and maximum amount for this problem?
Set the slider for this problem. Now you can use this slider to
select any day of the month.
4. Create the second variable for this problem. Name it amount of
money. You do not have to create a slider for this variable.
5. Hide any variable you do not want to show on the stage. Right click it and select hide,
or under the DATA category uncheck the checkbox in front of the variable’s name.
Hide the amount of money variable.

Now that you have created both variables needed for this problem, you have to set each
variable to a value.
 The day of the month variable can be set with the slider. For example, if you want
the day of the month to be 5, move the slider to 5.
 The amount of money variable needs to be set to show the amount of money for each
day.
6. To set the amount of money variable, pull out this block. Because the cat has 1 dollar
before Mick gives him any money, set the set
amount of money to 0 block to 1.
7. At the start of the problem, you want the amount of money to be equal to 1.
However, each day of the month the amount of money must be set to double. To do
this:
 pull out another set amount of money to 0 block
 pull out a multiplication block
 pull out an amount of money variable
 Write a script that says, set the amount of money to the amount of money times.
Create this script to double the
money each day.

32
8. Each day the cat calculates the amount of money it has. It needs to say that amount
each day. Since the amount of money varies, it needs to say the variable, amount of
money, each day. Which block in the LOOKS category can you combine with the
amount of money variable to make it say the amount of money each day? Pull out that
block. Which block goes into the blank to make the cat say the value of the variable
for amount of money?
9. When you run this three block script, the cat
says, “2”. $2.00 is the amount of money the cat
has on day 1: It stopped doubling on the first
day because you only ran the script once.

10. The script doubles the amount of money the cat has, but you want it to execute
repeatedly, once for each day. You can do this using a repeat block. Which of the
blocks in this current script go inside of the repeat block? Why leave the set amount
of money to 1 block out of the repeat block?
Think about the
11. Notice this repeat block is set to 10. This is fine for the 10th day of
first block, set
amount of mon- the month, because it runs the script 10 times, doubling the money 10
ey to 1. You times. But, you want the date
want this on the to change. You want the
first day to show
the cat starts number of times the script
with $1, but do repeats to match the date. So
you ever need to you need to use a variable.
set the amount of
money to $1
again?

12. Every time the date changes with the slider, you want the number of times the script
runs to also change. Pull out the variable Day of the Month block from the DATA
category. Drop this block into the
repeat block to make the script
repeat the same number of times as
the date. Your script looks like this.
Test your script. Does the cat say
the amount of money on each date?

13. How would you change the script to

make the cat only say the amount of money it would have on a certain date and not
say all the amounts of money it would have up to that date. Test your changes. Do
they work?

33
 Challenge:

 Write a script that makes the cat travel to your birth date, stop on that date, and say
the amount of money it would have on that day.
 Change this script to answer this problem:

The cat still starts with $1.00, but each day instead of doubling the
money, its friend, Anna, gives it $1,000 each day? Will the cat get
more money from Mick or from Anna? Use the two scripts to com-
plete the chart below.
Day of the Amount from Amount from An-
Month Mick na
1 $2 $1,001
2 4 2,001
3 6 3,001
4 8 4,001
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

Talk About
 Why are variables important and helpful when you write scripts?

 Make a list of all the things you learned during these activities.

 What are some things that you need more help understanding?

34
 Variables and Coders often look for ways to reuse parts of specific scripts in a
more general way. They find patterns, use variables to represent
Generalizations changes in those patterns, and create a more general script. Finding
and using general scripts saves coders time and effort.

Regular Polygons
1. Open a new Scratch file. Shrink the cat sprite.
2. Look at the script on the left. Predict what shape it
draws, then create and test the script. What shape
does it draw?

3. Look at this script on the right.

 How is it similar to the script above?
 How is it different from the script above?

4. Predict what shape it will be draw, then create and

test this script. What shape does it draw?

Remember, right 5. Look at the script on the right.

click on a script
 How is it similar to the scripts above?
and select dupli-
cate to make a  How is it different from the scripts
copy of the above?
script.
6. Decide which is the smallest number to
input into the repeat block so the script
Think about the
number of
makes a regular polygon Create and test
degrees needed this script. What regular polygon does it
for a full circle make?
turn.

7. Look at this last script.

 How is it similar to the scripts above?

 How is it different from the scripts above?

8. Decide which number to input into the turn block so

that the script makes a regular polygon and returns to
the starting position, without tracing over its path more
than once.

35
 9. The script on the right does not have a number for
the repeat block or for the turn block. Decide
what the smallest number possible is to put into the
repeat block and decide which number you would
use in the turn block to create a regular octagon.
Create and test your script.

10. Notice the sequence in this script is different. If you

change the sequence in the other scripts in this activity
would they still work? Why or why not? This script
draws a polygon that looks like a circle, but it’s really a
polygon with many small sides. Decide which number
you would use in the repeat block to create a closed
polygon. Create and test your script.

11. Look back at the scripts you created for this activity and complete this table.

Repeat Degrees Shape

3 120 Triangle

4 90 Square

72

“Circle”

12. What patterns do you notice in the table?

36
 Create Any Regular Polygon Using Generalizations and Variables

You can use the script that makes a regular polygon, and generalize it, or change it, by
using variables to make a script that will make any regular polygon. You
You can see
found that when you make a script for regular polygons only two things in
the polygons
the scripts change. These two things are the variables. To create a easier if you
generalized script for any polygon, you need variables for those two things. shrink the
One variable is for the number of polygon sides and another variable is for cat.
the number of degrees the cat turns. Open a new Scratch file.

1. To make a new variable click the DATA category. Click make a

variable. Name the variable number of sides.
2. Make the number of sides variable into a slider. A polygon must
have a minimum of three sides, so set the slider min max to a
minimum of 3. Decide on a maximum number and set the slider
min max to that maximum.

3. Generalize the triangle script to create the script for any

polygon.
 Drop number of sides variable into the repeat block.
 Now you can use the slider to choose the number of sides for
your polygon.

To draw a triangle the cat turns 120 degrees three times for a total of 360
degrees (the number of degrees in a full circle turn).
 To draw a square the cat turns 90 degrees four times.
 To draw a pentagon the cat turns 72 degrees five times.
 To draw a hexagon the cat turns 60 degrees six times.
The number of degrees in the turn is 360 divided by the number of sides of
the polygon.

4. Write a script that sets the variable for the number of degrees the cat
turns to 360 divided by the number of sides. Pull out this block.

5. Make this block say, 360 / (number of sides).

6. Where would you drop this block into your triangle script to make a script for any pol-
ygon? Test your script. Does it create any polygon?

37
 Spiral Polygons

Open a new Scratch file. Shrink the cat sprite. Make it very small.

Look closely at these two figures

Figure 1
Figure 2

1. Notice that all four sides in Figure 1 are the same length. Look carefully at the line
segments in Figure 2, starting with the small, center line segment (circled in red), the
segments get longer and longer with each 90 degree turn. If each segment stays the same
length, a square is formed. However, in Figure 2, because each segment gets a little
longer, a spiral is formed in the shape of a square.

2. Look closely at these two figures.

Figure 4
Figure 3

3. Notice that all five sides in Figure 3 are the same length. Because all five sides are the
same length, a pentagon is formed. However, in Figure 4, starting with the small, center
line segment (circled in red), the segments increase in length at each turn. This creates a
spiral in the shape of a pentagon.

38
4. Figures 5 and 6 show two more spirals.

Figure 5 Figure 6

5. The line segments in Figures 5 and 6 get longer

with each turn. Increasing the segment length each
turn creates a spiral in the shape of a polygon. We
can call these shapes spiral polygons.

6. Look at the regular polygon script again. The

script at the right is an example of how it may have
looked.

7. Make a remix of the regular polygon script. The remix creates any
spiral polygon instead of any regular polygon. To do this, think about
what needs to be different in the two scripts, and think about what
should be similar in the two scripts. For both, you need a
variable, with a slider, used to change the number of sides. In
both, you also need this block from the OPERATORS category to tell the cat the number of
degrees to turn. Create this block and this variable with a slider.

8. In the regular polygon script, you use the move __ steps block to tell the cat how
long to make each side. In the spiral polygon, each side lengthens by 2 steps after each
turn. Since the sides change length, a variable called, side length is needed. Create a
side length variable.

39
 10. The side length variable should be set to 2 for the first, small,
center line segment in the spiral polygon. Use this block.

11. The regular polygon script used the repeat block and the variable number of sides to
tell the cat how many line segments to draw. For the spiral polygon, the cat
continues drawing line segments that get longer and longer.
Instead of using the repeat block, use the repeat, until __ block
to stop the cat.

12. You have to stop the cat if the spiral is getting too big. Decide on a maximum side
length. Since this could change depending on how large or small you want the spiral
polygon to be, create another variable with a slider. Call it maximum side length.

13. You want the cat to stop drawing line segments when the side length is greater than
the maximum side length you set with the slider. Use this block, and
drop the variable names into the block. Then drop
this new block into the repeat until__ block.

14. Set the first, small, center-line segment with the set side length to 2 block. After that
first line segment is drawn, you want every other line segment in a spiral polygon to
increase by 2. Use this block.

15. Use these to make a script that will create any spiral polygon.

16. Test your script.

40
 Challenge:
 Make and run a script that fills the stage with colorful spirals like the image below.
How can you use this block?

Talk About
 How can variables and generalization be used in Scratch?
 What are some of the things you learned during these activities?

41
 When creating activities, scripts can become long and complex.
Modularization Instead of writing longer and longer scripts that are hard to debug
if a problem occurs, use modularization to simplify the scripts.
This process breaks the scripts down to manageable “chunks.”

Blocks and More Blocks

Open a new Scratch file.
Study the script below. Notice how each section of this script creates a different, regular
polygon.

The script inside this repeat block

creates a triangle.

The script inside this repeat block

creates a pentagon.

The script inside this repeat block

creates a square.

The script inside this repeat block

creates a hexagon.

The script above is long and complicated. The script on the right is
short and easy to understand. Both of these scripts create the same
drawing. They both draw a triangle, pentagon, square and hexagon.
This simpler script is easier to understand and create. You can create a
new “chunk” block for a “chunk” of code that you use over and over or
for a section of code that does a specific task.

42
 1. Click the MORE BLOCKS category. Then click Make a Block.
Name the new block, triangle.

2. When you click “OK”, a define

triangle block appears in the Script
Area.

3. Connect the script that draws a triangle to the new define

triangle block. Now triangle is defined. The computer knows
whenever you use triangle in a script, it should use this
definition.

4. In the same way, create and define a block for a pentagon, a hexagon and a square.
Combine the pentagon, hexagon, square, and triangle blocks to create the script shown
at the bottom on the previous page. Test this script.

Challenge:
 Make a block that creates and defines an octagon.
 Make a block that creates and defines a spiral polygon.

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 Spider Web

Open a new Scratch file. These spider webs were created using variables with sliders
and modularization.

1. Recreate these scripts. One defines a block for triangle. The other uses triangle to
create and define tri hexagon, a hexagon made of six triangles.

2. Create a variable for side length and another for max side length. Create a slider for
each.

These variables for side length and for max side length allow you to vary the size of the
spider web.

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3. Write a script that uses tri hexagon to create and define spider web.

This line controls the side length.

This line makes the

hexagon decrease in
size by 1/8 each time
the trihexagon repeats
in the spider web.
4. Look closely at the block
shown here.

It is created using the subtraction and division blocks from the OPERATORS category.
The division block is dropped into the second part of the subtraction block.

5. Create and define a block for spider web. Test your script. Does it work?

Challenge:
 The number 8 is used twice in this script. What happens if the number 8 is changed to
another number?

Talk About
 How is modularization helpful and important in Scratch?
 Look back at previous scripts you created. Could any of those scripts be made simpler
by using modularization?

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 Remix
Open a new Scratch file.
The object of this game is to get the beetle
to pop each balloon by touching it, and then
get the beetle to the green block to win the
game. The beetle is controlled by the arrow
keys on the keyboard. Each time a balloon
is touched by the beetle, it flashes off screen
and increases the score by one point. When
the beetle reaches the green finish line an
announcement is made, “You win!”

1. Create a background maze for your game. Click the

paint brush under the Stage Backdrops to Paint new
backdrop. Use the drawing tools to create a maze.
Don’t forget to include a green box for a finish line
on your stage background. To create
straight horizontal or vertical lines
for the maze, press and hold the shift
key while you place the line
segments for your maze on the backdrop

2. Import at least five balloon sprites

and place them in your maze.
Create these scripts for each
balloon.

If you want two sprites to have the same script, left click on the first sprite’s script you
want to copy, drag it and hover over the second sprite below the stage. When you stop
hovering, the script goes back to the Script Area for the first sprite. When you select the
second sprite, the script will appear in its Script Area.

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3. Create a beetle sprite. Delete the cat sprite.

4. Create a variable for score. Then create these

scripts for the beetle.
When you create
and define reset,
remember to use
the location you
want your beetle
to start as the
(x,y) location for
this script.

5. Test your game. Does it work? Does the beetle

make it to the green finish line? Do the balloons
flash off after they are touched by the beetle?

Challenge:
 Add a timer to your game. Look in the SENSING category. Make the beetle say the
time every 0.5 second.

 Make the beetle go back to the starting location any time it touches a line of the maze.

 Use the (__ > __) block from the OPERATORS category to make the game end if the
beetle is too slow in reaching the finish line.

 Add a sprite that appears and disappears at random locations on the maze. Shrink this
sprite to fit your maze. If the beetle is touched by this sprite, make the beetle go back
to the starting location.

 Think of other ideas that would make your remix fun. Create and test the scripts you
need for your new ideas.

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 Show What You Know!

Well done! You've worked hard, and

you've learned the basic elements of
computer programming (sequence,
iteration, conditionals, variables, and
modularization)! Now is the time to
get creative and make and share your
own projects. What will you make?
A game? A story? It's up to you!

Learn More

You’ve only Scratched the surface. There are many directions to go.
Here are some features of Scratch to explore next:
 Use and change interesting backdrops (in the LOOKS category).
 Import, play, and control video (in the SENSING category)
 Import or create and control your own sound effects (in the SOUND
category)
 Create new sprites automatically while the program is running, using
"clones" (in the CONTROL category)
 Interact with the mouse (in the SENSING category)
 Create your own blocks to do whatever you can imagine! (in the
MORE BLOCKS category)
 Create and use lists to store and manipulate data (in the DATA
category)
 Learn about writing recursive programs. This is a technique, not a
particular block. You'll have to read up on this on your own:
 http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Recursion
 http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Recursion_and_Fractals

Explore many more Scratch ideas at http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu.

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Scratch Offline Editor
To work on projects without an internet connection, you can install the Scratch Offline
Editor. With this you can create a new Scratch activity, edit projects, and save them to
your local computer or to a thumb drive. Get the Scratch 2 Offline Editor here.
https://scratch.mit.edu/scratch2download/
You can download a project from the Scratch site to your computer so you can work with
it offline:
 Click File at the top of the stage.

 Select Download to your computer.

 Decide where you want to save this on your computer or thumb drive.
 Name the activity.
 Now you can open this activity and work offline. Notice when you open your activity
you see “Scratch 2 Offline Editor” at the top of the window.

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