Scratch 2.0 Beginner’s Guide, 2nd Edition

Create digital stories, games, art, and animations through six unique projects

Overview

• Discover how to use the new Scratch Version 2.0 to create games, animations, and digital stories
• Six hands-on projects that get you learning by doing with projects for all ages and experience levels
• Learn universal computer programming basics with no previous programming knowledge required

In Detail

As 21st century people, we live a digital life, but computer scientists around the world warn of a declining pool of digitally literate computer science students. The Scratch environment makes it fun for students of any age to think, create, and collaborate digitally.

This practical guide will teach you how to become a Scratch programmer and lay the foundation for programming in any computer language. Whether you are creating a birthday card or cloning bricks for a game of Breakout, projects are approached in a step-by-step way to help you design, create, and reflect.

This book demystifies Scratch programming through a variety of projects. The book assumes that you have no programming experience on page one, but by the last page you will be ready to teach other people how to use Scratch.

The projects start with the simpler concepts such as choreographing a birthday card, and get progressively more complicated in programming concepts and design. You will learn how to make multiple-scene stories, think through the logic of a fast paced arcade game of Breakout, interact with a sarcastic fortune teller, and more. If you want to know the “why” behind the game, animation, or story’s programming concepts, then this book is for you.

“Scratch 2.0 Beginner’s Guide: Second Edition” will give you a balanced introduction to Scratch and universal programming concepts as you create digital stores, animations, and games. With a firm grasp on the fundamentals, you’ll be ready to take on more advanced topics and projects.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Welcome to Scratch 2.0
Chapter 2: A Quick Start Guide to Scratch
Chapter 3: Creating an Animated Birthday Card
Chapter 4: Creating a Scratch Story Book
Chapter 5: Creating a Multimedia Slideshow
Chapter 6: Making an Arcade Game – Breakout (Part I)
Chapter 7: Programming a Challenging Gameplay – Breakout (Part II)
Chapter 8: Chatting with a Fortune Teller
Chapter 9: Turning Geometric Patterns into Art Using the Pen Tool
Appendix A: Connecting a PicoBoard to Scratch 1.4
Appendix B: Pop Quiz Answers