Computer Science: Scratch, Coding, & Projects

An Introduction

In our efforts to introduce all of our students to the foundations of Computer Science we have participated in multiple “Hour of Code” sessions. These activities have served as a basis for each student gaining an understanding of how coding can be strung together to make and control things in an animated, game-like format.

We have designed small projects, using MIT’s Scratch platform, to both teach and provide an environment for them to show their mastery over more and more complex programming concepts. Scratch allows us to use the elements of coding for anything from animating a story to creating playable games to share with others. In doing so, students are able to use their own creative and expressive abilities to bring their imaginations to life in many fun but rigorous ways. The end products become instant gratification for them, but also instant proof of their individual levels of mastery over the taught concepts.

Scratch uses a structure of “building blocks” that represent the numerous commands that would be expressed through written code in other platforms or languages. This way they do not have to be bogged down with the tedious discipline of proper syntax, just to have one little error make their programs not run properly or at all. Because they use “object-oriented” representation of real code, they can assimilate to other languages later, using the same logic from their building blocks. The students have covered programming fundamentals that include queries, conditional statements (If-Then, If-Then-Else, When _ is pressed-Do), Boolean operators, Wait commands, communication blocks for sequencing events, Loops, Conditional Loops, and more.

As we are always looking for multiple ways for our children to express themselves, this is one serious way that also gives them the confidence that they can take on such daunting things like the world of Computer Science. In comparison, much of the regular education world is not being exposed to this growing field of expertise, and their students will have to desperately catch up to ours some day.

Projects completed during the 2018-2019 school year include customized video games, student name animation, story-telling, a click game, and the students animated a life goal.

Summer Workshop: Robotics

Paradigm Development Center (PDC) had a three-day Robotics workshop! The workshop dates were June 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. Students engaged in the design engineering process while building and programming the Mindstorm EV3 robot.

Introduction to Robotics

Here are the lessons and activities they completed over three-days:

Day One

Day one was started with a short video on some of the specific and relevant 21st-century applications of Robotics in the United States and around the world. Students dived in by asking great questions that led Mr. Marvin into a Robotics introduction (what it is and how it is being used today). Then, they worked on trainer robots to get a better understanding of the use of specific parts such as the "brain", cables, gears, types of motors, and sensors. Then, they built a robot using EV3 Mindstorms.

Robot Parts

motors
allows the robot to move.

• electric 
• pneumatic
• liquid

gears

used to transfer motion.

sensors 
measures or detects physical properties. 

gyroscope sensor
a tool that can measure the "rate of change" or if it moves in a direction it can tell you have fast it moves in whatever direction. For example, our telephones have gyroscopes that allow us to change the direction of our screens.

push button sensor 
when the button is pressed scream all day until it is unpressed. Right now this thing can't do anything without an electrical feed going through it.

wheels 
round wheels and a spherical wheel.

microprocessor
tells the motor what to do.

The students disassembled two robots down to parts gears, shafts, tires, and cables.

Student question: How do robots know where to go? 

An Introduction To Sensors

Teacher (Mr. Marvin): "What are the two most important things you need to be able to see as a human being?".

Eyes. Your eyes are connected to your brain by an optic nerve. A robot's optic nerve is a cable that can send a signal to the robot "brain". Every robot has to have a brain. The microprocessor is the brain.

Motors and gears that have sensors can be used to control robots. If the motors do not have gears you can use pneumatics like air pressure and tubes to move the robot. After movement is accomplished, then one may ask, "How does my robot know where to go?". Just like the human body, robots need sensors (senses).

Day Two

A Programming Lesson

The students built their robots with a light sensor. Then, the students added intelligence to their robots by programming them.

Mr. Marvin walked the students through the online Mindstorms platform programming tabs. A student said, "That looks like what we did last week in Video Game Design."

Mr. Marvin covered basic programs and, briefly, covered complex programs (that use Physics and Calculus Algorithms). 

The K-Turn

Objective: Learn and program how to tell the robot what to do.

The K-turn, also known as the three-point turn is the standard method of turning a vehicle around to face the opposite direction in a limited space, using forward and reverse gears.

The students were told the objective was not to get it right the first time. The goal is to figure out what they needed to change to cause the robot to do what they wanted it to do.

Questions to ask: What does the robot need to do? How can we move the robot a specific distance?

Students performed Math calculations in order to go from the circumference to distance. Students learned and applied knowledge about the relationships of the circumference of wheels to distance traveled.

Here is a run-through test for the K-turn.

Day Three

Students performed mathematical calculations using (a-b)c to program their robot motor outcome value based on the distance to objects. 

Mathematical Relationship

(a-b)c is a relationship between things. Mr. Marvin talked with the students about variables and assisted each student through the mathematical calculations. He reminded the students, "Just like yesterday, we changed the numbers around to have the robot perform a K-turn. Today, we are performing the same operations to program the light sensor that will allow the robot to follow a black oval-shaped track".

Students built the black oval-shaped track with the understanding that they couldn't make the corners too sharp or the robot (light sensor) would have problems following it. 

Student question: Do we have to do Math all the time?

Teacher: The computer does the math, we only set up the relationship. We have to tell the computer what relationship we want to use for our numbers. For example, (a-b)c is the algorithm for speed adjustments based on distance.

Light Sensors

Mr. Marvin told the students a couple things about light sensors. He gave them a better understanding of what light sensors do. A light sensor has a light and a sensor. The light emits light and receives light. The sensor processes the percentage of light return. It knows how bright the light is and it processes the percentage of light return. With this understanding, students input their numbers into the Mindstorms programming platform.

The students performed a run-through to test the light sensors. 

On the last day, each student was given a certificate for successfully completing this workshop. 

Camp Daily Schedule

Inclusive STEAM + Nature Summer Camp

The schedule for both weekly camp sessions

July 22-July 26, 2019 from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm

July 29-August 2, 2019 from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm

The goal of each Camp Paradigm day is to nurture your camper's social, emotional, physical, and intellectual functioning with positive, fun, and challenging activities. 

At 10:00 am, each camp day will begin with fun, interactive group games and activities that focus on Self-Awareness, Awareness of Others, and Awareness of the Natural World. The keyword is Awareness. 

On Mondays & Wednesdays at 11:00 am, Karen Bunch Stirling will guide your camper through 20-minutes of low-impact yoga exercises and mind-calming activities. Additionally, on Mondays & Wednesdays, campers may create expressions of art that also calm the mind.

On Tuesdays & Thursdays at 11:00 am, your camper will participate in REFIT® exercises with Sara Tracey. REFIT® is a cardio dance, toning, and balancing exercise class. Moves that are set to music will impact every part of the body, including the brain!

Every camp day, at 12:00 pm, your camper will eat lunch. Each camper should bring their own lunch. 

Every camp day, after lunch, campers will engage in camping, survival, and independent living skills games and activities such as: Can opening without a can opener & how to maneuver through automated phone systems. 

Every camp day, at 1:00 pm, your camper will be guided through a fun, yet challenging STEAM activity. They will build & program a Mindstorms EV3 robot. They will also design & create their own personalized video games or complete an Hour of Code activity. Each camper will learn & exercise problem-solving, teamwork, and creative thinking skills.

Every camp day, at 2:15 pm, your camper will engage in nature education activities such as journal art, wood art, a nature scavenger hunt, building boats "that float" with items from nature, and nature walk. All outdoor games and activities are dependent on the weather.

On Fridays, your camper will end their week writing (or speech-to-texting) about their camp adventures in their personalized camp journals. Each Friday will also include a special guest and musical activities (Fun with maracas or "Name The Genre" game). 

*Please note: The schedule is subject to change due to weather or for other reasons.

**Additionally, if and when the weather permits, we will engage in outdoor activities (i.e., camp games, water balloons, a scavenger hunt, confidence course, water sprinklers, etc.)

Additional Information

During PDC's Inclusive STEAM + Nature program, campers 
10-19 years old will engage in group activities focused on awareness of self & others, Technology + Art activities, Lego robotics, yoga, physical activities, and nature-related activities. In addition to the regular STEAM + Nature Education activities, campers will also engage in camping, survival, and independent living skills. 

Camp t-shirts are sold separately and are optional. 

The cost is $300 per camper plus a $50 supply fee. The total camper cost covers materials for science & technology activities, recreation items, educational worksheets, hands-on activities, and the services of a yoga and fitness instructor.

To register your camper in the STEAM + Nature Summer Camp, fill out the application here.

Have questions? Call (281) 402-6677, email houstonpdc@gmail.com, or visit the PDC website.

www.paradigmdevelopmentcenter.com

Summer Workshop: Video Game Design

Paradigm Development Center (PDC) had a three-day Google CS First Game Design workshop! The workshop dates were June 13th, 14th, and 15th. Students engaged in Computer Science and created their own personalized video games. 

The Basics

Here are the lessons and activities they completed over three-days:

Day One

• Introduction to Computer Science
• Basic video game coding concepts (Moving the character smoothly with the arrow keys)
• Scratch computer programming language
• Customize projects with add-ons
• Projects Completed: Game Storytelling & A Racing Game

Day Two

• Programmed the game character to follow the mouse pointer
• Learned then programmed "Events" coding blocks to tell the computer when to run code
• Learned then programmed "Control" coding blocks to keep the characters within the boundaries of their game
• Learned about X & Y axis (the position of the game characters on the screen)
• Learned how to insert Text, Sound, & Color-Changing features using the Motion, Looks, Sounds, and Sensing coding blocks
• Learned how to code "Winning Conditions" (What happens when their game character wins.)
• Customized projects with add-ons
• Projects Completed: Maze Game & A Platform Game

Day Three

• Learned about Randomness, Variables (things that change), Problem Decomposition (breaking a bigger problem into smaller steps)
• Programmed their characters to move in random directions and bounce off walls
• Used a timer (variable) to keep score
• Watched a short video titled: 7 Game Design Mistakes To Avoid
• Customized projects with add-ons
• Project Completed: Escape Game
• Edited and further customized previous projects

Vocabulary

variables, values (x & y axis), program, code, application, condition, platform, operators, and statement

On the last day, each student was awarded a certificate for successfully completing Google CS First Game Design. They were also encouraged to continue developing their games and practice their coding skills with Hour of Code activities.