Scratch1.4

toc media type="custom" key="23433702" =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 being developed 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 year we will be using Scratch 1.4, but will move to Scratch 2.0 in the future.

The best way to learn it is to download it and give it a try. The version we will be using is **Scratch 1.4** and can be obtained here.

This short screencast tutorial will show you how to save your Scratch project and introduce you to the basic features on the Scratch working screen by creating a very simple program to draw a blue line. For best viewing, watch it in full screen mode. You can watch it without the audio or use headphones if you are in the classroom.
 * __NOTE__: There is a new, web-based version of Scratch (Scratch 2.0) that was officially released in May 2013. Projects created using Scratch 2.0 will __NOT__ open in Scratch 1.4. If you want to work at home and then bring your project to school to work on, I would highly recommend downloading Scratch 1.4 and using that off-line. **
 * =Getting started 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="23532684" align="right" || One are of difficulty that students often face is understanding how to position the sprite on the stage. To do this you need to understand that stage sits on top of an invisible grid that is 480 "steps" wide and 360 "steps high." It is laid out as a Cartesian plane running from -240 to 240 in the horizontal direction and -180 to 180 in the vertical direction. 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="23454654" || There are a few elements of good coding practice that all programmers should use.
 * =Positioning the Sprite=
 * =Creating good code=
 * Always include a "Start" command
 * Optimise code (use as much as you need to do something and no more)
 * Always include comments with your code
 * Always include an "End" command

This screencast tutorial will show you how to use each of these elements while creating a simple programming script for drawing a square. Note the use of the "repeat" command icon rather than using the same code four times and the "wait" command, which is strictly used for visual effect.

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="23454658" || 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="23480362" || 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="23782460" ||