Camp Explore

Today we will explore TurtleArt and program some art. I will get you started on the basics of using TurtleArt then direct you to some resources to help you create personally meaningful work.

Getting Started

Open your web browser and load TurtleArt. If you have programmed in Scratch or Makecode you will recognize the block-based programming that TurtleArt uses: Brian and Paula, from Playful Invention Company, helped create this paradigm as part of the Scratch Group's leadership team.

Dragging a block from the palette to the workspace makes it active. You can click the block to run the code.

The clean block will erase everything the turtle has drawn. Erase is all or nothing: you cannot erase part of a drawing.

You can drag out other blocks and connect them. The turtle will run the commands in the order that they are stacked.

If you click on the pink box it highlights it with a blue outline. You can type in new values.

Part of using a computer is being lazy. Instead of making our finger tired clicking the blocks we can go to the Flow palette, the yellow one, and select the repeat block. Any code you want repeated clicks under the bracket of the repeat block. Any code you want run after the repeat is finished goes below the repeat block.

Getting Help

If you are uncertain how a block works, you can click and hold on the block and a window pops up with an explanation of the block's function and an example of its use.

Creating a Named Procedure

You can program a stack of blocks then name that stack in order to easily incorporate the procedure into other procedures. This type of procedural programming makes debugging much easier. Let's start with our stack of blocks that draw a square.

Go to the My Blocks palette, the yellow one, on the left of the TurtleArt window. Drag the hat block and connect it to the top of your stack. You can click on the hat block and type a name on your keyboard.

TurtleArt will add a block with the same name in the lower portion of the My Blocks palette. You have to keep the original stack with the hat block around so the turtle knows the steps to draw your procedure.

You can incorporate that new block into other procedures. Notice that I am lazy and am letting the turtle calculate how far right to turn.

Saving Your Work

When you are ready to save your work click the download button in the lower left corner of the TurtleArt window, circled in red below.

Give your file a name and click OK. The file will be downloaded to the folder where your web browser saves downloads.

Resources

• • TurtleArt Help

  • TurtleArt Samples

  • Gary's New TurtleArt Cards

  • Rotation

  • Tiling 1

  • Tiling 2

What Next?

Work on programming original designs. They might be geometric, as we have explored here, or they might be representational, like the cat's ear plant pictured at the top of this web page. Make sure you save and download your designs: you will need them during the next two days of the workshop!