Scratch Projects

Posted on 11/04/2013 by avanzati09 — 1 Comment

Part One: Scratch Project Activities

Fascinated in programming?

Scratch is a basic visual programming tool, which allows users to learn programming concepts of looping and branching while creative and fantastic in style and format. Scratch is fun, creative, simple, and very entertaining and it can be the basis for future programming and learning, and as a low maintenance free game, it is ideal for all ages, genders, races, and abilities. For the game itself, you can develop the game into potentially something bigger!

The word “programming” was overwhelming to me at first however, having utilised Scratch software I learnt that programming is not what it seems and it is quite simple to understand to the computer literate. Using Scratch to design, create, and manage games was enjoyable and entertaining. My very first experience of Scratch was positive. I watched tutorials and explored the in’s and out’s of the software piece. The ScratchEd Community for Educators and Scratch Website are fantastic websites for resources and lesson plan ideas. Definitely worthwhile exploring. At University, it was a requirement that we program a simple racing car, ping pong game and an Etch-A-Sketch using Scratch. By programming these scratch projects, I learnt that there are many features of Scratch that allows you to say and do what you want. Part one of the assignment was helpful as it was based on guidelines and step-by-step instructions. However, in terms of teaching students Scratch, I am curious if it would be suitable for students above Year 9, or would they get bored with it, especially if they have used this program in the past?

Part Two: Self-directed Extension Projects

Through self-directed extension projects, Scratch made me think more about computational thinking and complex problems as I explored some of the tools that I had not explored before. The tools that I discovered were variables, operators, sound effects, creating new sprites, and modifying the background. I also learnt that you can send and share scratch games with other people and scratch users around the world. This, in turn, opened up new possibilities for me. Through persistence, computational thinking, problem-solving, and trial and error I created two games: Fruit Pong and a Car Racing Game.

Fruit Pong

Screen Shot 2013-04-10 at 6.10.02 PM

I modified the script to achieve the desired outcomes which was to explore the tools of Scratch and to extend on previous projects.
I increased the complexity of the game as I created variables to change the speed (of the falling fruit), number of falling objects, and score (the score increases every time the fruit hits the panel)
I painted new sprites to represent different types of fruit and reveal instructions
To increase interest and engage users to play this game, I added in sound effects (pop and laser) and changed the objects to different types of fruit
When the user clicks ‘the green flag’ to start, I changed the script so that the falling objects were invisible. This was done intentionally so that users could not see what was coming next.
I also modified the script so that the game would stop when the object/s (fruit) fell below the red line.

If I were to create this game again, I would make this game more challenging by creating multiple levels and/or making it a 2-player game.

Car Racing

I modified the script to achieve the desired outcomes which was to explore the tools of Scratch and to extend on previous projects.
I created and added another car to make a 2-player game. I achieved this by creating a new sprite, duplicating the car sprite, and changing the controls
I added in images to enhance the background and “car passing” sounds to make it more engaging and fun.
To increase the complexity, I modified the script so that if a car went on the lawn, it would take the car back to the starting line
I encountered a few problems with the “High Score” element as it did not place the best scores in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, instead it just lists the timer results in order of play.

If I were to make this game again, I would extend the length of the race-track and/or add in objects to avoid on the race-track.

From this entire experience of using Scratch to program games, I strongly believe that teachers should use this in their classroom as it promotes computational thinking, problem solving, independent learning, mathematical thinking, and logic and reasoning. In my eyes, all of these skills are valuable for life-long learning. As future educators, we also need to recognise that there is a new Draft Digital Technologies Subject (Draft Australian Curriculum: Technologies). My personal experience of using Scratch has lead me to believe that it is a valuable resource for teaching and learning and one in which could be incorporated into Middle Years across the curriculum. Through Scratch, I believe we can start the Digital Technologies curriculum as it a great piece of software for programming and one that students should be encouraged to use.

Would you use this tool as a resource to promote learning, facilitate participation, and engage learners in middle schooling?