Year 8 › Term 1

Term 1 — Lessons 1–4

Unit 1 — Scratch: Animation & Storytelling. Your first sprite, a 4-scene animated story, an interactive quiz, and a playable collect-the-item game.

Lesson 1 — What is Scratch? Your First Animation

What you'll achieve: an animated sprite that moves, changes costume and plays a sound.

Scratch
Sprite
A character or object on the Scratch stage.
Script
A stack of blocks that tells a sprite what to do.
Event block
A block like "when green flag clicked" that starts a script.

I Do

This is your first proper introduction to coding. Everything you learn in Scratch this term — moving sprites, giving instructions, making decisions — is building towards something bigger: later this year you'll use these same coding ideas to control real, physical micro:bit devices. Today is about learning the basic building blocks that everything else depends on.

Log in to Scratch using the account details you've been given — go to scratch.mit.edu/login and enter your username and password.

  1. Click Create at the top of the screen to open a new project.
  2. Point out the four main areas: the Stage (top right, where everything happens), the Sprite list (bottom right, characters in your project), the Block palette (left, organised by coloured categories), and the Scripts area (middle, where you build code by dragging blocks).
  3. Click the Motion category (blue) in the block palette.
  4. Drag the block "move 10 steps" into the middle scripts area.
  5. Click directly on that block in the scripts area — the sprite moves. That's the whole idea of Scratch: no typing, just dragging blocks and clicking them to test.

We Do

  1. Everyone drag out "move 10 steps", then underneath it snap on "turn 15 degrees" (also in Motion). Click the stack to test it — the sprite should move forward, then turn.
  2. Click the Events category (yellow). Drag "when green flag clicked" and snap it on top of your stack, above "move 10 steps".
  3. Click the Looks category (purple). Drag "next costume" and snap it onto the bottom of your stack. Then add "say Hello! for 2 seconds" underneath that.
  4. Click the Sound category (pink/magenta). Drag "play sound Meow until done" and snap it onto the very bottom of the stack.
  5. Click the green flag above the Stage (top right) to run the whole script from the start. Check every block fired in order.

You Do

  1. Click the cat icon with the + symbol under the Sprite list to choose a new sprite from the library — pick anything you like.
  2. Build your own script starting with "when green flag clicked" from Events.
  3. Add at least one block from Motion (make it move or turn).
  4. Add at least one block from Looks (change costume or say something).
  5. Add at least one block from Sound (play a sound).
  6. Click the green flag to test. If nothing happens, check that every block is snapped together with no gaps — a floating block never runs.
  7. Go to File → Save to your computer (or ask your teacher how your class saves projects) once it's working.
🔑 Scratch Login → 🐱 Open Scratch →

Before You Go

What did you learn today?

Exit Ticket

Show what you've learned today.

Open Exit Ticket →

Lesson 2 — Inside a Quiz Game: Variables and If/Else

What you'll achieve: you'll play a quiz game, find its variables and if/else blocks by colour, change it to make it your own, and plan a new game.

Scratch
Variable
A labelled box that holds a number. The number can change, like a football scoreboard.
If/else
A fork in the road. YES → one path. NO → the other path.
Remix
Your own copy of someone else's Scratch project. You can change it and save it.

I Do

Part 1 — Play the game

  1. Click the green flag in the game.
  2. Read the question. Type A, B, C or D. Press Enter.
  3. Get 3 right and you win. Get 2 wrong and you lose.
  4. Watch the numbers correct and wrong at the top left of the game.

Part 2 — Big idea 1: Variables

Think of a football scoreboard.

It shows a number. A goal changes the number. A variable is a scoreboard inside your code.

Every variable has a name (the label) and a number (inside the box). This game has 2 variables: correct and wrong.

Variable blocks are orange-red — look in the Variables category.

BlockWhat it doesScoreboard
set correct to 0Puts 0 in the box.Reset the board.
change correct by 1Adds 1 to the number.A goal!
correctReads the number in the box.Look at the board.

Part 3 — Big idea 2: If/else

Think of a game show.

You say your answer. DING! if it's right. BZZZT! if it's wrong. Never both.

If/else is a fork in the road. Scratch asks a YES or NO question. YES → one path. NO → the other path. Only one path runs.

This is the code after Question 1:

ask "Question 1…" and wait
if answer = B then
say Correct!
change correct by 1
else
say Wrong!
change wrong by 1

Read it like this: "Is the answer B? YES → say Correct! and add 1 to correct. NO → say Wrong! and add 1 to wrong."

What about a plain "if"? No "else" means no second path.

"If it's cold, wear a coat." If it's warm? Nothing happens. The game uses this at the end:

if correct = 3 then
switch backdrop to You Win

We Do

Part 1 — Open the code

🔍 See inside the game →

  1. Make sure you are logged in to Scratch.
  2. Click the button above.
  3. Click Remix (top right). Now you have your own copy.
  4. Rename it in the title box: Game - [your name].

Look at the Sprite list (bottom right). You have 3 things: the Host, the Player and the Stage.

Part 2 — Change 3 things and explore

Click the Host sprite, then the Code tab. Make the 3 changes below. After each change, click the green flag and see what happens.

Tip: the Host's intro is long. Be patient!

Change 1 — A question

  1. Find the first ask … and wait block (light blue). Click inside its text.
  2. Type a new question with 4 options. Example:
    Question 1: What colour is the sky on a sunny day? A) Blue B) Green C) Pink D) Black
  3. Find the if … then … else block just under it (orange). Look for the = block (green) inside it.
  4. Click the letter in the = block. Change B to the new correct letter (A in our example).

Explore: play the game. Answer right once and wrong once. Which number goes up each time: correct or wrong?

Common mistake: you change the question but forget the letter. Then the right answer counts as wrong!

Change 2 — What the Host says

  1. Find a say block (purple). For example: Welcome to the BLC Quiz Quest!
  2. Click the words inside it. Type your own words.

Explore: click the green flag. What does the Host say now?

Change 3 — The Player's look

  1. Click the Player sprite. Click the Costumes tab.
  2. Click the small cat icon at the bottom left. Choose Choose a Costume and pick one.
  3. Click the Code tab again.

Explore: click the green flag. Does the new Player stand on the track? Too big or too small? Change the Size box under the Stage.

Now play the whole game. What changed? What stayed the same?

You Do

Make the game yours. Work in your remix. Start with Level 1. Then move up.

Level 1 — Change the questions

  1. Change at least 2 questions. Use the same 2 steps as before: new question text, then new letter in the = block.
  2. Each question has only one right answer. Make them fun!
  3. Test every question you changed.

Level 2 — Change how it looks

  • Change what the Host says: click the text inside a say block and type new words.
  • Change a character:
    1. Click the Host or the Player.
    2. Click the Costumes tab.
    3. Click the small cat icon at the bottom left. Choose Choose a Costume, Paint or Upload Costume.
    4. Too big or too small? Change the Size box under the Stage.
    5. Player too high or too low on the track? Change the y number in the go to x: y: block.
  • Change a backdrop: click the Stage (bottom right) → Backdrops tab. Use the paint tools. The T tool adds text.

Careful!

  • Don't delete the Host or the Player. Their code would be lost. Add a new costume instead.
  • Don't rename the backdrops. The code needs the same names.
  • Don't move the track. The Player moves 100 steps each time. The marks are 100 apart.

Level 3 — Change the rules

Pick one. Guess first, then test.

  • Click the Host. Right-click empty space → Clean up Blocks. Find the when I receive check ending script (yellow). Change wrong = 2 to 3. Is the game easier or harder? Why?
  • Click the Player. Change change x by 100 to 50. What happens? Why? Change it back to 100.

Save

Go to File → Save now.

Plan your own game

Now plan a new game on paper or in Word. It doesn't have to be a quiz! It can be a race, a treasure hunt, a pet game, a dodge game… Your game must use a variable and an if/else.

Answer these 5 questions:

  1. What is your game? Give it a name.
  2. Who is the player? What do they do?
  3. Variable: What will it count? (score, lives, coins, energy…) What number does it start on? What makes it go up or down?
  4. If/else: Write one YES or NO question your game asks. What happens on YES? What happens on NO?
    Example: Is the player touching the coin? YES → change coins by 1. NO → nothing.
  5. How do you win or lose? Example: coins = 10 → you win. lives = 0 → you lose.
🔑 Scratch Login → 🐱 Open Scratch →

Before You Go

Write one new question for your quiz with four options (A–D). Which letter is correct? Then tell us one thing you changed in the game today.

Exit Ticket

Show what you've learned today.

Open Exit Ticket →

Lesson 3 — Ask, Answer and Decide: Building an Interactive Quiz

What you'll achieve: an interactive "what type of person are you?" quiz.

Scratch
Variable
A named box that stores information that can change.
Ask and wait
A block that pauses the program and shows a text box for typing.
If/else
A block that runs one set of instructions, or a different set, depending on a condition.

I Do

Log in at scratch.mit.edu/login and open a new project.

  1. Click Sensing (light blue) in the block palette. Drag "ask What's your name? and wait" into the scripts area and click it to test — notice a text box appears at the bottom of the Stage.
  2. Still in Sensing, point out the oval block called "answer" — this already exists automatically and stores whatever was just typed. You don't need to create it.
  3. Click Control (orange) and drag out an "if ... then" block. Drag an "if ... then ... else" block too, and place them side by side to compare — "if" only runs code when something is true, "if/else" always runs one path or the other.
  4. Click Operators (green) and drag the "= " block into the gap in your "if" block. Drag the "answer" block from Sensing into the left side of the "=" block, then type cat into the right side.
  5. Snap a "say" block (Looks) inside the "if" block, so it only runs when the condition is true.

We Do

  1. Build together: "when green flag clicked" (Events) → "ask What's your name? and wait" (Sensing).
  2. Click Variables (orange-red) and click "Make a Variable". Name it name and click OK.
  3. Drag "set name to 0" under your ask block, then drag the "answer" block from Sensing into the white slot, replacing the 0.
  4. Add "say join Hello, and name for 2 seconds" — the "join" block is in Operators; drag it into the "say" block, and drag your name variable into its second slot.
  5. Add a second question: "ask Do you prefer cats or dogs? and wait", then an "if/else" block using answer = cats — "say You're a Cat Person!" if true, "say You're a Dog Person!" if false.

You Do

  1. On paper, plan 3 questions for your own quiz and what result each answer should give.
  2. Build each question using "ask ... and wait". Where you'll need to reuse an answer later, store it in its own variable (Make a Variable in the Variables category).
  3. Use if/else blocks to react differently depending on each answer.
  4. Give a final, personalised result that uses the name variable from your first question (e.g. "Sam, you're a...").
  5. Click the green flag and test your quiz twice, giving different answers each time, to check both paths work.
🔑 Scratch Login → 🐱 Open Scratch →

Before You Go

What did you learn today?

Exit Ticket

Show what you've learned today.

Open Exit Ticket →

Lesson 4 — Building Your First Game: Movement, Sensing and Score

What you'll achieve: a simple, playable collect-the-item game with a working score.

Scratch
Game loop
Code that repeats constantly while the game runs, usually a forever block.
Collision
When two sprites overlap on the stage.
Score
A variable that counts points.

I Do

Log in at scratch.mit.edu/login and open a new project. A "forever" block is like an engine that keeps checking something, over and over, many times every second — this is how every real game constantly checks for button presses and collisions.

  1. Click Control (orange) and drag "forever" into the scripts area.
  2. Click Sensing (light blue) and drag "key [space] pressed?". Click Control again and drag an "if ... then" block inside the forever loop, then drop the "key pressed?" block into its condition slot. Click the dropdown and change "space" to "right arrow".
  3. Click Motion (blue) and drag "change x by 10" inside the "if" block.
  4. Point out the most common mistake: if these blocks sit outside the "forever" loop, the sprite only checks once and then stops — always build inside "forever" for anything that needs to keep happening.
  5. Click the green flag to test, then hold the right arrow key.

We Do

  1. Build the player sprite together: "when green flag clicked" → "forever" containing four separate "if key [_] pressed? then change x/y by 10" blocks — one each for up, down, left, right (use "change y by 10" for up, "change y by -10" for down).
  2. Select a second sprite for the collectible. Click Variables (orange-red), click Make a Variable, name it score.
  3. Build: "when green flag clicked" → "set score to 0" → "forever" containing an "if touching [player sprite]? then" block (Sensing), with "change score by 1" and "go to random position" (both) inside it.
  4. Click the green flag and move the player into the collectible — check the score counter (top left of the Stage) increases and the collectible jumps to a new spot.

You Do

  1. Choose a player sprite and a collectible sprite from the Sprite list.
  2. Give the player a "forever" loop containing four "if key pressed" movement blocks, one for each direction.
  3. Create the score variable, set it to 0 at the start, and update it inside a "forever" loop on the collectible when it touches the player.
  4. Test your game for 30 seconds — move around, collect the item several times, and check the score keeps increasing correctly (not skipping or jumping by more than 1 at a time).
  5. Click the backdrop icon and choose a background from the library to finish your game.
🔑 Scratch Login → 🐱 Open Scratch →

Before You Go

What did you learn today?

Exit Ticket

Show what you've learned today.

Open Exit Ticket →
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