Scratch Programming in easy steps

by Sean McManus

Overview

The Scratch programming language is widely used in schools and on the Raspberry Pi. Its drag-and-drop commands make it an ideal language for all ages to learn to program. And this popular book, Scratch Programming in easy steps, now fully updated for Scratch 3, is packed with ideas and games that illustrate what’s possible with Scratch.

Scratch makes it easy to create your own games, animations, music, art or applications. It’s the perfect way to learn programming because it takes away a lot of the complexity. That means you can focus on having great ideas and bringing them to life. With Scratch Programming in easy steps, 2nd edition as your companion, you’ll learn how to:

Build games that require skill, knowledge or quick fingers

Add music

Create eye-catching visual effects

Keep score

Avoid common pitfalls and learn how to fix bugs

Scratch Programming in easy steps, 2nd edition will help you to get creative and become a super Scratcher!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781840788594
Publisher:	In Easy Steps Limited
Publication date:	12/25/2019
Series:	In Easy Steps
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	216
Sales rank:	1,078,199
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	8 Years

About the Author

Sean McManus writes inspiring books about business and technology. His books include Web Design in easy steps and he has written for magazines including The MagPi, Raspberry Pi Geek, and Internet Magazine. Sean is also a Code Club volunteer.

Table of Contents

1 Introducing Scratch 7

What is Scratch? 8

Creating a Scratch account 9

Meet Scratch 3 10

Using the Scratch screen 11

Using Scratch on tablets 12

Exploring the blocks 14

Changing the backdrop 16

Creating your first program 17

Saving your project 20

Opening projects 21

Opening shared projects 22

2 Drawing with Scratch 23

Understanding coordinates 24

Changing a sprite's position 26

Using the pen 27

Drawing a house in Scratch 29

Using directions to move 31

Keeping sprites upright 32

Drawing using directions 34

Making shapes using repeat 35

Putting loops inside loops 36

Creating Rainbow Painter 37

3 Spiral Rider 39

Introducing Spiral Rider 40

Using the green flag 41

Creating variables 42

Drawing a spiral 44

Changing the backdrop 47

Adding sprites 48

Animating the crab 49

Enabling keyboard control 51

Enabling touch control 53

Making the fish move 54

Adding Game Over messages 57

4 Super Dodgeball 59

Introducing Super Dodgeball 60

Setting up the variables 61

Preparing for the game start 63

Using coordinates to move 64

Adding more images 66

Making random numbers 67

Moving the bad 68

Copying and cloning sprites 70

Adding the energy meter 72

Painting in Scratch 74

Creating the ice cream 77

Making the ice cream appear 78

Enabling the player to score 80

Tweaking the gameplay 82

5 Space Opera 83

Introducing Space Opera 84

Playing sounds 85

Adding the electric guitar 86

Using costumes 87

Adding graphic effects 88

Adding the drum 89

Adding the singer 90

Playing music in Scratch 92

Adding the synthesizer 93

Making your own tunes 94

London Bridge 96

6 Quiz Break 97

Introducing Quiz Break 98

Preparing for Quiz Break 99

Drawing the timer 101

Using broadcasts 103

Testing out broadcasts 104

Moving the clock hand 105

Adding a rising sound effect 108

Asking questions 109

Joining text to greet players 110

Preparing the quiz 111

Making the questions 112

Checking the answers 114

Reporting the scores 116

Adding the victory dance 117

7 Evil Robot 119

Introducing Evil Robot 120

Importing the images 121

Making a block for speech 122

Making the alphabet sprite 124

Writing on the Stage 125

Designing the Evil Robot 128

Creating the variables 130

Animating the robot 132

Adding the main game code 134

Creating lists 135

Using lists 136

Setting up the variables 138

Creating the game board 139

Showing the game board 140

Asking for the player's guess 141

Checking the letter 143

8 Space Swarm 147

Introducing Space Swarm 148

Creating the images 149

Adding sound effects 151

Creating the variables 152

Programming the hero 153

Enabling the player to fire 156

Moving and shooting aliens 157

Finishing touches 160

Adding the high score 162

9 Physical Computing with Scratch 163

What is physical computing? 164

Using a webcam 165

Using video direction 166

Going Batty 168

Making a clap-o-meter 170

Using a Sense HAT 171

Introducing Feeding Time 174

Creating the cat's script 175

Adding the donut scripts 176

Adding the dinosaur scripts 178

Setting up a micro:bit 180

Using a micro:bit 181

Introducing Balloon Floater 182

Drawing the cave 183

Coding the balloon 185

Coding the buttons 188

Using the Raspberry Pi GPIO 189

10 Seven shorties 191

Keepy-Uppy 192

Shop Cat 194

Penguin Patter 197

Abstract Artist 198

Maze Mania 199

Photo Safari 200

Gran Ama's Anagrams Quiz 202

11 Making and sharing projects 205

Making your own programs 206

Fixing common errors 207

Sharing your projects 209

Resources & Acknowledgements 210

Index 211