frederick county 4-h fridays: stem activities! frederick ... · you share your project, anyone can...

Sara Arnold, 4-H Program Assistant

Frederick County 4-H Fridays: STEM Activities!

Frederick County 4-H Fridays:

STEM Activities!



Coding with Scratch What is Scratch?

Scratch is a coding program designed primarily for children that uses block-based visual

programming language to create codes. With Scratch, users can program

their own interactive stories, games, and animations, and have the

opportunity to share their creations with others in the Scratch community.

“Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work

collaboratively - essential skills for life in the 21st century.”

-Taken from Scratch’s website

Getting Into Scratch:

Go to the website: www.scratch.mit.edu

If you want to be able to save or share your projects, you will need to make an account. Do

this with a parent/guardian.

Creating:

Once you’re signed in, click “create” at the top left corner of the webpage.

This is called a “sprite”. In scratch, a sprite means an icon that you are able to

move and manipulate to make it look a certain way or to make it do certain

things.

If you want to use a different sprite, go to the lower right corner of your screen and

click the button that looks like a cat’s head with a plus sign. From that menu, you’ll

be able to choose hundreds of different icons to use in your creations. You are able to add

as many different sprites as you want, and you can make each of them do different things!

For the “animate a name” activity, each letter of the name will be its own sprite. To delete a

sprite, click the trash can icon in the list where you see all of your sprites.

You can also change the background (or backdrop) to give your

sprites a scene. To add a backdrop, click on the button next to the

one where you added a new sprite.

http://www.scratch.mit.edu/



Animating Your Sprites:

Once you’ve chosen a sprite you want to animate, you can click and drag the blocks on the

left of your screen into the large white space (your workspace) in the

middle of your screen. Scratch is a coding software, so each block

represents a different code. You can (and should!) link blocks together so

that your sprite can do multiple things at once! For example, the code

here says that the sprite will move ten steps AND turn 15 degrees at the same time, which

will make it look like it’s spinning! This is because they are linked together. If they were

separated, I would have to click them both individually.

There are a lot of different ways to animate your sprite! Look at the sidebar to see all of the

coding options. Explore what each of them can do! For beginners, the categories

recommended to start with are motion, looks, sound, events, and control.

o Motion codes change how your sprite moves. Here you can make them move

side to side, turn, or go to certain places.

o Looks codes change how your sprite looks. You can make them have thought

bubbles to “say” or “think” things or switch their costumes (at the top, you’ll

see three different tabs - one of them is “costumes” where you can change the

color of your sprite).

o Sound codes make your sprites make sound. There are some pre-recorded

sounds or you can record your own sound using the “sound” tab (next to the

“costume” tab at the top of the screen).

o Event codes make your code do something after a certain event happens. For

example, you can have your sprite do something when it is clicked or when a

certain key is pressed on the keyboard. All event codes will be at the top of

your chain code because when that event happens, a code will run.

o Control codes control how your sprite is animated. For example, you can have

your sprite wait a certain number of seconds before doing something or you

can make your code repeat.



There are a few codes that take your creation to the next level! Here’s how to use them:

When the green flag is clicked: the green flag is kind of like the

“GO” button for your creations. You can find this code under the

“event” tab on the left. It’s important to use this code if you want

all of your different sprites to “GO” at the same time. The code for

the green flag will always be at the top of your code chain.

Remember that you will need this code for each sprite you’re

animating. If you click on each sprite in the bottom right hand corner, you’ll be able to

see the codes you’ve created for each sprite. You can test if your code is working by

clicking the green flag at the top of your screen. You’ll see a preview of what your

code will look like in the big white box on the top right of the screen.

Forever: You can make your sprite animated continuously by using the forever code.

You can find this code under the “control” tab. Notice that the forever code wraps

itself around other codes. This means that whatever is inside the

forever code will keep repeating itself over and over again. How fun!

This makes it so you won’t have to keep clicking the green flag to run

your code - it will go automatically. This applies for motion, looks, and

sound codes. Now if I click the green flag, my sprite will continue to

spin forever and ever!

If on edge, bounce: This code does exactly what it says it will.

Sometimes when we’re animating our sprite, we make it move so far

over that it will go off of the display window so we can’t see it. If you

put in the “if on edge, bounce” code, it will no longer go off the screen

and it will instead bounce off the edge!

Saving and Sharing Your Project:

Whenever you add or delete something to your project, you should see a “Save Now”

button in the upper right corner of your screen. You can save your creation at any time, but



you should always hit the save now button before exiting the program or else you may lose

part of your creations.

When you’re ready to share your project with us (meaning that your project is completely

finished), you can do so by looking at the top of the screen and clicking the orange “Share”

button. You can rename your projects by typing in the box next to the shared button. Once

you click the shared button, it’ll take you to your creation’s “Project Page”. Here, you can

add instructions on how to use your projects and add any notes and credits. Note that once

you share your project, anyone can see them through a search, try out your codes, and

remix it.

At any time, if you want to see all of your projects (shared or not), click on your account name

at the top of the screen, and click on “My Stuff”.

Viewing Other Scratch Projects:

On Scratch, you have the ability to search for other projects. A lot of people have made games

using scratch. For example, search for “maze game”. If you click on a project, you’ll see a “See

Inside” button. This allows you to see all of the coding that went into their creation. If you

really like how they did something, you can find out what codes they used and then use those

codes in your own creations. Games require a LOT of coding - think about it the next time you

play a video game!

You will also see a green button that says “Remix”. Remix allows you to open up all of the

codes used in their project and change/manipulate them. It’s kind of like copying and pasting

their project into a project space for you. Pretty neat!

Other resources if you need help:

https://scratch.mit.edu/help/studio/tips/howto/nametip-intro/

https://cdn.scratch.mit.edu/scratchr2/static/__709da8e5f3d72129538a4ccdbcbf5f2a

__/pdfs/help/Getting-Started-Guide-Scratch2.pdf

https://scratch.mit.edu/help/studio/tips/howto/nametip-intro/

https://cdn.scratch.mit.edu/scratchr2/static/__709da8e5f3d72129538a4ccdbcbf5f2a__/pdfs/help/Getting-Started-Guide-Scratch2.pdf

https://cdn.scratch.mit.edu/scratchr2/static/__709da8e5f3d72129538a4ccdbcbf5f2a__/pdfs/help/Getting-Started-Guide-Scratch2.pdf



Straw Rockets!

Did you know that you have the ability to make a rocket using only 4 things? What about that you can launch a rocket using only your breath? Follow these directions to find out how! Materials:

Nose-cone and tailfin template (attached at end of lesson) Tape Drinking bendy straws Protractor (optional) Measuring tape (optional)

Instructions Picture

1. Print out the “nose-cone and

tailfin’ worksheet (attached at

the end of the lesson). If you

don’t have a printer, you can

try to recreate the template by

drawing it.

2. Fold the worksheet in half like

a hamburger and crease the

middle fold. Cut along the

crease. Then cut out the nose

cone and tailfins.



3. Roll the blank half of the paper

hamburger style (the side with the

shorter length) around the straw (a

pencil works too) and tape it so it

stays together. Make sure it’s not too

tight around the straw or else the

rocket won’t come off of the straw

when launched. Also remember not

to tape it TO the straw! When

finished, you will have a paper tube.

4. Close one end of your rocket (the

tube just created) by folding the edge

down and taping it shut. This

prevents air coming through so it has

enough force to launch!

5. Take your tailfins and fold on the

vertical line to create a tab. Tape the

tabs of the tailfins evenly around the

open end of your rocket.



6. Take your nose-cone and tape

the cone together. The striped

portion is for overlap. Tape it to

the closed end of your rocket.

7. Insert your straw into the open

end of your rocket and blow

through the straw to launch it.

If it doesn’t launch, here are

some questions to ask:

o Is your rocket sealed shut at the top? If you can hear air coming out at the top, you’ll need to seal your rocket a little better. This can be easily done by using tape.

o Is your rocket tube too tight or too loose around the straw? If the rocket is too tight, it won’t be able to launch off the straw. If it is too loose, too much air is escaping from the bottom of the tube.



What are some changes that can be made to your rocket in order for it to travel further? Do

you think the number of tailfins matter? Or what the nose cone looks like? Make changes if

you’d like!

If you tried bending your straw at different angles, what angle made your rocket go the

farthest?

References:

https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/marsforeducators/soi/MarsSOI2012_Lesson5.pdf

8. See how far your rocket can

launch!

9. OPTIONAL: You can also try

experimenting launching your

rocket at different angles. Place

your straw on a protractor and

bend it to different angles (0°,

15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, 90°).

https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/marsforeducators/soi/MarsSOI2012_Lesson5.pdf



Marshmallow Catapult!

Materials:

Instructions Picture

1. Stack 7 popsicle sticks on top of

each other and wrap a rubber

band around each end of the

bundle of popsicle sticks. When

finished, the sticks should be

secured very tightly to each

other.

2. Place the two remaining popsicle

sticks on top of each other and

wrap a rubber band around one

end of them.

3. Pull the two popsicle sticks apart

and place your bundle of seven in

between them. The bundle

should fit in a place between the

two sticks where it’s tight but not

tight enough to damage the two

sticks.

9 popsicle sticks

Rubber bands

Plastic spoon

Tape

Marshmallows

!



4. With the 2 bundles forming an “X” shape, wrap a rubber band around them at the point where they meet. Wrap the band one way first and then flip it so it wraps back across, forming an “X” shape. Make sure to wrap the rubber band so it tightly attaches the two different sections of sticks.

5. Tape a plastic spoon to the top popsicle stick. Wrap the tape around the spoon and popsicle sticks multiple times to make sure that it’s secure - you don’t want it flying off when you’re catapulting things! You may have to cut the spoon down if the handle is too long.

Launch your marshmallows from the spoon! Pull back the spoon to launch.

Extras:

You can make goalposts using other popsicle sticks. There are a ton of different ways to make a marshmallow catapult - research

other ways to create a marshmallow catapult. Make them and see what design works best!

Resources: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Marshmallow-Catapult

https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Marshmallow-Catapult



Crazy Corn Putty! Materials:

Tablespoon measuring spoon Corn starch Dish soap Small bowl or cup Fork

Instructions:

1. In the small bowl or cup, place two tablespoons of cornstarch.

2. Add 1 tablespoon dish soap to the cornstarch. 3. Stir together with the fork until thoroughly combined. 4. Use your hands to finish kneading the mixture as needed. 5. Play with the finished putty! Putty can be stored in a sealed plastic bag.

Extra Tips and Tricks:

If the mixture is too crumbly, add a drop or two of dish soap. If the mixture is too runny, add a little bit more corn starch.

If the mixture runs off the fork when held in air, then it is too runny and will stick to the hands of the students. It’s much easier to fix if it is too dry. Don’t add too much soap!

Increase the amounts proportionally to create larger amounts of putty. Add a couple drops of food coloring to change the color of your putty!



Rotocopters!

1. Cut out the pattern at the bottom of the page. Remember to cut along the solid lines only. Fold on the dotted lines.

2. Fold the “A” flap toward you. Fold “B” away from you (Picture 1 below). 3. Fold “C” and “D” over each other so they overlap (Picture 2 below). 4. Fold the bottom “E” up and put a paperclip on it (Picture 3 below).

5. Hold the Rotocopter by the paperclip. Throw it like a baseball, as high and far as you can. It will spin to the floor. You can also stand on a chair or on the stairs and drop it. Ask a grown-up if you can drop it out of a window.

6. If you want, you can use crayons or markers to color your Rotocopter before you hold it. The colors will blur together when it spins.

7. Experiment with your Rotocopter, add more paperclips and observe what it does, change the length of the body and/or the blade and observe what happens.

frederick county 4-h fridays: stem activities! frederick ... · you share your project, anyone can...

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