Ninja Instructions | Mentor Notes

Let's see if you can use the Pen feature of Scratch to program the computer to draw out several polygons. While this activity can be completed using coordinate based movement, we would like you explore direction based movement.

20-40 minutes

The base requirements for this project are that you write a program that:

• Runs when the green flag icon is pressed
• Begins by “erasing” the screen.
• Uses blocks from the menu to raise and lower the pen as the program runs.
• Moves the sprite around on the screen using the move and direction blocks from the menu
• The direction based movement blocks include and
• Draws out the following polygons on the screen when it runs:
  • Square
  • Triangle
  • Rectangle
  • Hexagon (6 sided polygon) or Octagon (8 sided polygon)
  • A “Circle”

• You may certainly prepare your program with the base requirements listed above. However, you should feel free to explore issues of color and pen size to create a more interesting project.
• While your project only needs to draw the figures listed above, you can feel free to put them together into an interesting drawing like a simple house!
• We would prefer that you use directions for drawing the shapes, but you can use the coordinate motion blocks to move the cat between the different shapes.
• While it isn't required for the first couple of polygons, drawing a circle will be much easier if you use a repeat block: (or try )

• What did you learn about the direction system of the stage in Scratch?
  • What direction is straight up?
  • What direction is straight left?
  • What direction is straight right?
  • What direction is straight down?
• How did using the repeat block make it easier to write the code for your circle?
• What did you learn about using the pen?
• What other programs could you write that use the pen to do something fun and creative?

If you need to review, read this page for instructions on how to share your project in a studio. The studio for this activity is located at:

• http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/905190/

This project is based on materials originally created by Ben Schafer at UNI.