Scratch™ 2.0 Sams Teach Yourself in 24 Hours

Scratch™ 2.0 Sams Teach Yourself in 24 Hours

by Timothy L. Warner
Released June 2014
Publisher(s): Sams
ISBN: 9780133748642

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Book description

In Full Color!

In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, learn how to make your own animations, games, simulations, and interactive stories with MIT Media Lab’s amazingly easy Scratch 2.0! Using this book’s straightforward, step-by-step approach, you’ll walk through everything from joining the global Scratch community to adding audio/video and sensing the outside environment. You’ll learn to write reliable, efficient code and take advantage of millions of Scratch programs shared online. Every hands-on lesson builds upon what you’ve already learned, fully preparing you to create inspired projects of your own!

Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common Scratch 2.0 programming tasks.
Quizzes at the end of each chapter help you test your knowledge.
Challenges give you the opportunity to extend upon what you’ve learned in each chapter and flex your new-found programming skills.
Notes present interesting information related to the discussion.
Tips offer advice or show you easier ways to perform tasks.
Cautions alert you to possible problems and give you advice on how to avoid them.

Learn how to…

  • Create your first project

  • Master basic features including the Stage, Backdrops, Sprites, and Costumes

  • Make things happen with Motion blocks

  • Add sophisticated logic without complicated coding

  • Use audio and video you capture with a webcam or microphone

  • Include your own drawings in your projects

  • Sense what your game’s players are doing and interact with them

  • Write programs that respond to outside changes such as temperature and touch

  • Test your projects to find and fix problems

  • Document and publish projects so others can help you improve them

  • “Remix” projects with online Scratch code and content

  • Create games with multiple game screens and button controls

  • Master skills you can use with even the most powerful programming languages

    •

    Table of contents

    1. About This eBook
    2. Title Page
    3. Copyright Page
    4. Contents at a Glance
    5. Table of Contents
    6. About the Author
    7. Dedication
    8. Acknowledgments
    9. We Want to Hear from You!
    10. Reader Services
    11. Introduction
      1. Who Should Read This Book
      2. How This Book Is Organized
      3. Downloading the Sample Files
      4. Conventions Used in This Book
      5. System Requirements
    12. Hour 1. What Is Scratch?
      1. What Is an Educational Programming Language?
      2. Understanding Scratch History
      3. Creating Your Scratch Profile
      4. Browsing the Scratch Websites
      5. Previewing Popular Scratch Projects
      6. Summary
      7. Workshop
      8. Challenge
    13. Hour 2. Creating Your First Project
      1. Navigating the Scratch Project Editor
      2. Formally Introducing Scratch Blocks
      3. Previewing Your Project
      4. Using My Stuff
      5. Summary
      6. Workshop
      7. Challenge
    14. Hour 3. Working with Costumes and the Stage
      1. Understanding Sprites
      2. Adding and Managing Costumes
      3. Understanding the Stage
      4. Adding and Managing Backdrops
      5. Let’s Assemble the Pieces, Shall We?
      6. Summary
      7. Workshop
      8. Challenge
    15. Hour 4. Using Motion Blocks
      1. Getting to Know the Stage More Intimately
      2. Bouncing Around the Stage
      3. Tracking a Sprite to the Mouse
      4. The Hour 4 Project: Drawing in Scratch 2.0
      5. Summary
      6. Workshop
      7. Challenge
    16. Hour 5. Using Looks Blocks
      1. Getting to Know the Looks Blocks
      2. Interacting with the Player
      3. Getting Sprites to “Talk” to Each Other
      4. Summary
      5. Workshop
      6. Challenge
    17. Hour 6. Using Sound Blocks
      1. Understanding Notes and MIDI Instruments
      2. Understanding the Backpack
      3. Playing the Drums!
      4. Using the Sound Library
      5. Recording and Editing Your Own Audio
      6. Summary
      7. Workshop
      8. Challenge
    18. Hour 7. Working with Pen Blocks
      1. Getting to Know the Pen Blocks
      2. Gaining Some Experience with the Pen Tools
      3. Creating a Simple Drawing Program
      4. Summary
      5. Workshop
      6. Challenge
    19. Hour 8. Using Events Blocks
      1. Understanding Events Blocks
      2. Digital Versus Analog Events
      3. Understanding Broadcasts
      4. Watch Me Move!
      5. Summary
      6. Workshop
      7. Challenge
    20. Hour 9. Using Control Blocks
      1. Introducing the Control Blocks
      2. Testing Out Control Structures
      3. Working with Clones
      4. Summary
      5. Workshop
      6. Challenge
    21. Hour 10. Using Operators Blocks
      1. Becoming Familiar with the Operator Blocks
      2. Performing More Complex Math
      3. Integrating Operators into Your Scratch Projects
      4. Summary
      5. Workshop
      6. Challenge
    22. Hour 11. Using Sensing Blocks
      1. Introducing Sensing Blocks
      2. Delving Deeper into Sensing
      3. Putting Together Everything You’ve Learned So Far
      4. Summary
      5. Workshop
      6. Challenge
    23. Hour 12. Using Data Blocks
      1. What Are Variables?
      2. What Are Lists?
      3. Combining Variables and Lists
      4. Summary
      5. Workshop
      6. Challenge
    24. Hour 13. Using Cloud Data
      1. What Is a New Scratcher?
      2. Creating Cloud Variables
      3. How to Post High Scores Using Cloud Data
      4. More About Username
      5. Summary
      6. Workshop
      7. Challenge
    25. Hour 14. Adding Multimedia to Your Project
      1. Adding Photos to Your Project
      2. Adding Audio to Your Project
      3. Adding Video to Your Project
      4. What About Hyperlinks and Interactivity?
      5. Summary
      6. Workshop
      7. Challenge
    26. Hour 15. Creating Your Own Blocks
      1. Spending Some Time with Layers
      2. Understanding Custom Blocks
      3. Creating Custom Blocks in Scratch 2.0
      4. Building Your Own Blocks in Snap!
      5. Summary
      6. Workshop
      7. Challenge
    27. Hour 16. Documenting Your Project
      1. Commenting Your Code
      2. Working with Pseudocode
      3. Wireframing and Storyboarding
      4. Publicly Documenting Your Scratch Project
      5. Summary
      6. Workshop
      7. Challenge
    28. Hour 17. Publishing Your Project
      1. Sharing Your Project
      2. Project Documentation, Revisited
      3. Interacting with Your Viewers Through Comments
      4. Interacting with Other Scratchers on the Forums
      5. Improving Your Project’s Visibility
      6. Summary
      7. Workshop
      8. Challenge
    29. Hour 18. Using the Scratch Offline Editor
      1. A Bit of Scratch Version History
      2. Introducing the Scratch 2.0 Offline Editor
      3. Uploading and Downloading Assets
      4. Understanding the Scratch File Format
      5. Integrating Scratch 1.4 with Scratch 2.0
      6. Converting Scratch Projects into Other Formats
      7. Summary
      8. Workshop
      9. Challenge
    30. Hour 19. Troubleshooting Your Project
      1. Learning the Basics of Debugging
      2. Resolving Common Scratch Script Errors
      3. Accessing Code Block Help
      4. Summary
      5. Workshop
      6. Challenge
    31. Hour 20. Remixing a Project
      1. The Importance of Attribution
      2. Understanding the Remix Tree
      3. How to Remix a Scratch Project
      4. Remixing Part of Another Scratcher’s Project
      5. Improving the Visibility of Your Remix
      6. Summary
      7. Workshop
      8. Challenge
    32. Hour 21. Creating Your Own Sprites and Backdrops
      1. Introducing GIMP
      2. Understanding Bitmap and Vector Graphics Modes
      3. Creating a New Stage Backdrop
      4. Creating a Custom Sprite—The Easy Way
      5. Creating a Custom Sprite—The Difficult Way
      6. Summary
      7. Workshop
      8. Challenge
    33. Hour 22. Implementing Buttons and Multiple Screens
      1. Working with Multiple Screens in Scratch
      2. Creating Multistate Buttons
      3. Wiring Up Buttons to Your Screens
      4. Summary
      5. Workshop
      6. Challenge
    34. Hour 23. Connecting Scratch to the Physical World
      1. Setting Up Scratch 1.4
      2. Introducing the PicoBoard
      3. Introducing the MaKey MaKey
      4. Summary
      5. Workshop
      6. Challenge
    35. Hour 24. Capstone Project: Arcade Game
      1. Introducing Dodgeball Challenge
      2. Laying Out the Screens
      3. Wiring Up the Screen Navigation
      4. Building the Sprites
      5. Adding the Main Game Logic
      6. Testing and Tweaking the Project
      7. Summary
      8. Thanks, and Goodbye
    36. Index

    Product information

    • Title: Scratch™ 2.0 Sams Teach Yourself in 24 Hours
    • Author(s): Timothy L. Warner
    • Release date: June 2014
    • Publisher(s): Sams
    • ISBN: 9780133748642