We have seen various uses of Scratch (story telling, drawing block letters, drawing with polygons) and a variety of Scratch capabilities including lists, importing data, and making use of if statements. Familiar topics are broadcasts (especially for "Places Everyone" & "Action"), movement for drawing, repetition, and creating our own blocks or new instructions, and variables. Hopefully, you are becoming comfortable with variables and collections of variables. The focus of this task is on more sophisticated animation and repetition. As usual it should allow for creativity and problem solving, and be interesting for kids (and for you). The task is to do something that involves multiple kinds of animation, at least two at the same time for some sprite. You might choose some sort of game or story activity but are encouraged to think a bit outside the box.
Some examples that make use of continuous/repeated animation blended with user input for an additional animation are:
Have a sprite bouncing up and down on a trampoline and 1) when the user presses the left or right arrow key the sprite rotates (flips) that direction or if the user presses the space bar the sprite extends arms & legs.
Have a sprite flying across the top of (or randomly around) the screen and when the user presses the space bar the sprite casts a spell (or belches fires) toward something on the ground.
Have a shark "follow" the cursor around and when the user presses the space bar, the shark opens its mouth and attempts to chomp down on a fish.
The task here is to come up with your own program that incorporates similar kinds of animation in some context that goes beyond the animation. Some sprite (as in the examples above) interacts with one or more other sprites in a way that makes sense beyond two sprites interacting for no purpose (other than to write some code).
This assignment builds on the expectations in the previous tasks and adds some new ones. Note that some of the specifications below are required. (Whether you meet the expectations is up to you, but it will be considered when determining the extra credit for shared programs. Also, there will be programming on the final—this is how you learn programming.) The expectations are:
You may work in pairs on this assignment if you wish. Those who do work in pairs are expected to have more impressive products. Everyone is encouraged to try to impress themselves and me. If you feel your project is worth sharing I will include it in a class sharing document. Scratch will allow you to share it with the world if you wish (but that is not how we'll share it—download and send me a copy of the program). Sharing it with the class can earn a bit of extra credit. Sharing earns a (very) little bit of credit. Sharing something that meets all the "required" expectations will earn a bit more extra credit and sharing something particularly fun, interesting, amazing, ... earns a bit more extra credit
As noted in the TARR (task-specific activity and program report) document the graded component of this assignment will be the report you submit. Please keep in mind that the activity report should indicate what you did/included in your program, i.e., which expectations you met and did not meet. The TARR document also includes a number of cues you can use to kickstart your reflection. The submission message should have the subject PEEE_Scratch-VII.
If you have questions about the assignment send me an e-mail or drop by my office. If you have a question while working on the assignment do the same. Keep in mind that when you encounter something you can't figure out you can/should think, explore, seek answers on google, etc. but, do not spend more than 15-30 minutes trying to overcome a particular error or problem.
I encourage you to suggest additions to our code templates page. You might suggest a revision to clarify (or finish) something that is there already or an entirely new topic. Please indicate how/why you think the would be helpful. Communicate as clearly and fully as you can what is needed/desired. (This can earn you extra credit.)