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toc media type="custom" key="29576701" =What is Scratch?= Scratch is an application developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. At a very basic level it can be used as an introduction to computer programming using drag-and-drop icons for the computer code, but the world it opens up is much greater than that. With it you can create animations, interactive stories, games, tools for doing complex mathematical calculations and much, much more.
 * Please note:** This wiki is specifically to support year 7 students at Glen Eira College in Melbourne, Australia. It is not intended to be a general Scratch tutorial site.

This short screencast tutorial will show you how to create a Scratch account. It is important that you follow the instructions. If you lose your account log in, you may also lose your work.
 * The screencast tutorials below will help you get started on the Scratch site, make sure you save your projects so your work can be identified and give you tips on how to create good programs. I would highly recommend that you watch these before you start so that you get off on the right foot.**
 * =Setting up an account with Scratch=

You can also download the screencast video for viewing off-line by right-clicking the link below and selecting "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As..." || media type="custom" key="29576635" align="center" || This tutorial will introduce you to the Scratch programming environment through the creation of a simple obtuse angle. It will also show you how to save your program code both online and offline. Please note the suggestion that you include your student log in code at the start of the file name so that your teacher can easily identify the code as yours.
 * =An introduction to using Scratch=

You can also download the screencast video for viewing off-line by right-clicking the link below and selecting "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As..."

Note: since the creation of this introductory tutorial the Scratch home page has changed. To access the on-line tutorial you will need to click on the "Tips" tab. || media type="custom" key="29576649" || There are a few elements of good coding practice that all programmers should use.
 * =Creating good code=
 * Always include a "Start" command
 * Optimise code (use as much as you need to do something, but no more)
 * Always include comments with your code
 * Always include an "End" command

This screencast tutorial extends the previous one, showing you how to use your code to give you a reproducible outcome, how to add comments to your code and how to share your finished project with the Scratch community.

You can also download the screencast video for viewing off-line by right-clicking the link below and selecting "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As..." || media type="custom" key="29576655" || A simple approach to creating equilateral polygons is to use the "move" and "turn" blocks. This tutorial takes you through creating an equilateral triangle. The challenge is to use what you learn from this to create equilateral polygons with any number of sides (e.g. an octagon with eight sides) or even some non-equilateral polygons like any type of parallelogram. Even more of a challenge would be to work out how to use algebra to create a program that would allow the user to decide what equilateral polygon he or she wanted the program to create by doing nothing more than entering a value for the number of sides and pressing start.
 * =Creating an equilateral triangle=

You can also download the screencast video for viewing off-line by right-clicking the link below and selecting "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As..." || media type="custom" key="29576661" || You were introduced to grid referencing in the "Programming Using Scratch" tutorial. This tutorial will show how you can use this to create an isosceles triangle. The challenge here is to work out how you can use the idea of grid referencing to create other shapes, particularly ones that are not easy to make using "move' and "turn" blocks.
 * =Creating an isosceles triangle=

You can also download the screencast video for viewing off-line by right-clicking the link below and selecting "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As..." || media type="custom" key="29576665" ||


 * The two tutorials below were both created with Scratch1.4. Although it looks a bit different the basic principles are much the same. **

Animation in Scratch works on the principles of stop motion. The program quickly alternates between figures which are slightly different from each other, tricking the mind into seeing continuous movement. Scratch comes with many sprites that are ready to be used for animation, but you can also create your own or further modify the existing sprites.
 * =Animating movement=

You can also download the screencast video for viewing off-line by right-clicking the link below and selecting "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As..." || media type="custom" key="29576669" || This tutorial is an introduction to creating two elements of games - scoring and increasing speed. To do this we need to understand the concept of **//variables//** in computer programming. A variable is a number that does not have a fixed value. For example, if I create a variable called "score," the value of "score" will change in response to successfully completing something. The tutorial itself does not show you how to create a game, but does give example code for keeping score and increasing the speed of a sprite as the score increases. As a starting point, you may want to open up one of the games in Scratch (Fiile>Open>Examples>Games) and modify it to include scoring or changes of speed.
 * =Introduction to Game Elements=

You can also download the screencast video for viewing off-line by right-clicking the link below and selecting "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As..." || media type="custom" key="29576679" ||