Musical Art

Procedure

1. Introduce coding. Ask students to share what they have heard or may already know about coding [aloud or in the chat].

   • • In computer science, code is specific instructions given to a computer or robot to complete a task or set of tasks.

2. Recap the last activity and block coding. Students will watch videos and create a "Musical Art" project in Scratch.

3. Watch Video 1 and Video 2 [see below] and provide the Starter Project link in the chat.

   • Video 2: Students might struggle with the idea of x and y coordinates. Look for students whose stamped pattern does not cover the whole screen when the code is run, and encourage them to increase their x and y coordinates. To cover the whole stage, they should use -240 and 240.

4. Give students 5-10 minutes of independent coding time to:

   • • Use the "go to" block to make the sprite go to a specific spot.

     • Make the sprite go to a random spot.

     • Make the sprite leave a stamp of itself.

     • Make the sprite repeat going to a random spot and stamping itself.

     • Start with a clear screen when the green flag is clicked.

5. Work through Videos 3-4, allowing time for students to work independently and share after each video.

   • • Video 3: Students need to add a “forever” loop around the "go to mouse pointer" block in order to make the program continue to run.

     • Students need one "if-then" block for each color they use, and they can duplicate the blocks by right-clicking on the code stack.

     • Students may have trouble selecting the color. They need to click the color dropper, then click on the color they want to match. This step presents a great opportunity to encourage persistence.

6. Students may choose Add-ons to enhance their project. [videos below]

7. Allow student(s) to share their screen and code with the class.

8. Discuss the activity and facilitate a brief discussion about what students learned and experienced.

• Question 1: What was your favorite part of this activity?

• Question 2: How did you use "If" statements? [Example answer: I told my sprite to make a noise "if" it touched a certain color. It controlled what happened or did not happen in my program].

• Question 3: How did you use a "forever" or "repeat" block? [Example: When the green flag was clicked, I had my "X" sprite follow the mouse pointer forever. Also, I had my other "If statements" run forever to test if different colors were touched by the sprite].