This lesson was prompted because I wanted to help my students make connections about coordinate planes and moving sprites in Scratch. I have to say, this turned out to be a super fun and engaging lesson!
I searched Pinterest for ideas and came across a free Flocabulary video. I love their videos, but don't have a subscription. I was stoked that this one was free! I knew the kids would love it and the fact that several moved up by the screen to enjoy the video was proof. They were hooked!
Next, I had them open a Scratch file containing a grid. I found a similar project here, but simplified it a little bit. Once the green flag has been clicked, students can move scratch around the screen using the arrow keys on the keyboard. They are able to see the x and y coordinates in the upper left-hand corner. I took this opportunity to talk about quadrants and what the kids noticed about x and y in each quadrant.
Finally, I had them code scratch the cat through a castle maze to find the treasure using only x and y coordinates. I loved how engaged the students were in working through the maze.
They came up with several different strategies and loved it when they made it to the treasure. I also had them add a pen to their code to see the line the cat took. I found the maze idea here and just changed it up to a treasure theme.
My students really enjoyed every aspect of this lesson. I love it when that happens! I will be using this again and hope to help students make more connections about coordinates, coding, and math.
Love your lesson plan. I am working on a lesson with Dash and coordinates to try out with 5th graders this week. I've just added the Flubaroo video in as an introduction. Thanks for sharing.
Michelle
Posted by: ColoradoGKN | 04/12/2015 at 04:52 PM