Y9 Programming

This first stage is to learn the basics of programming using Scratch so that we can start to write more complicated programs.

The key areas you need to know and understand are:

• Variables

• Loops

• Conditionals & Comparisons

• Input

To begin create an account in Scratch or sign in using an existing account you have

Quick exercises to test your programming ability

Can you get scratch to.........

1. Whenever you press the B key, the sprite gets a little bigger. Whenever you press the S key, the sprite gets a little smaller.

2. Whenever the sprite hears a loud sound, it changes color.

3. Whenever the sprite is in the top 25% of the screen, it says “I like it up here.”

4. When the sprite touches something blue, it plays a high note. When the sprite touches something red, it plays a low note.

5. Whenever two sprites collide, one of them says: “Excuse me.”

6. Whenever the cat sprite gets near the dog sprite, the cat turns and runs away from the dog.

7. Whenever you click on the background, a flower appears at that spot.

8. Whenever you click on a sprite, all other sprites do a dance.

9. When the score reaches 10, the scene (background) changes.

10. The sprite falls as if controlled by gravity, but stops when hits the green ground.

11. The sprite follows the mouse-pointer, but it never gets too close to the mouse-pointer.

12. The sprite follows a red line.

Sprite is a computer science way of saying picture. You may want to use the Scratch Cat for any that require a sprite.

Some Fun Games to Create

Computational thinking for digital technologies

The progress outcomes describe the significant learning steps that students take as they develop their expertise in computational thinking for digital technologies.

At the end of this topic students will have had the opportunity to cover;

• understand that there can be more than one algorithm for the same problem PO3

• decompose problems into step-by-step instructions to create algorithms for computer programs PO3

• use logical thinking to predict the behaviour of the programs PO3

• develop and debug simple programs that use inputs, outputs, sequence, and iteration PO3

• students decompose problems to create simple algorithms using the three building blocks of programming: sequence, selection, and iteration PO4

• implement these algorithms by creating programs that use inputs, outputs, sequence, basic selection using comparative operators, and iteration PO4

• debug simple algorithms and programs by identifying when things go wrong with their instructions and correcting them PO4

• be able to explain why things went wrong and how they fixed them PO4

• evaluate the efficiency of algorithms PO4

• recognise that computers need to search and sort large amounts of data PO4

• They also evaluate user interfaces in relation to their efficiency and usability P04

• students independently decompose problems into algorithms. They use these algorithms to create programs with: inputs, outputs, sequence, selection (using: comparative and logical operators, variables of different data types), iteration. P05

• determine when to use different types of control structures. They document their programs, using an organised approach for testing and debugging P05

• develop programs considering human-computer interaction (HCI) heuristics P05