By: Jessica Gheoculet

Scratch

(Image contains a homepage view of scratch)

Introduction to Scratch:

Scratch is a beginner-friendly coding program. It is specifically block-based and it is designed to introduce individuals to coding concepts using a visual, drag and drop process. Users use the sidebar features to piece together coded blocks that program certain functions such as variables and loops. Color-coded blocks are also featured to help categorize certain actions making it simple for users to follow, for example: motion, looks, sound, events, control, etc. The great thing about Scratch is that it requires no prior programming knowledge. It really promotes learning through play and experimentation. The online community that Scratch has built allows users to share projects and remix others’ work. While scratch is a great resource for beginners, it may lead to difficulties and challenges when students encounter more complex coding concepts. The program lacks coding language as well making text-based programming difficult for users who expand to this. Overall, Scratch is a great, fun and engaging tool to introduce to first-time coding students, promoting creativity, problem-solving and collaboration

Working Progress:

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Scratch can be an engaging way to integrate coding into health and physical education by allowing students to design interactive games that promote sports knowledge, game rules, decision-making and strategy. A soccer game, for example, can help students understand the display of a soccer field, amount of players involved, their layout, teamwork and scoring mechanics while applying and building basic programming skills. To start, create a new project. Add a soccer field background by clicking “Choose a Backdrop”. Add Sprites which will act as the soccer players and soccer ball. Next, program the soccer ball movement by using the “Events” and “Motion” blocks. Users can go beyond this to add more player controls and a scoring system.

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Resource Information:

Tags: Sports, Physical Education, Health, Soccer, Rules

Costs: No costs

URL link to resource:

https://scratch.mit.edu/