Scratch

Scratch supports math all over the place!  Have fun figuring out your angle.

Here's a blog that describes a 5-day lesson set for weekly Scratch days in a middle school math class.  After an introduction to programming (slide show is posted!), the students do their own game or animation projects.  http://pwoessner.com/scratch-programming/

If you need to have a more specific content focus, geometry was a standard starting point with Logo and those lessons work very well with Scratch.  What commands can kids discover to draw different geometric shapes?  How can they use the coordinate grid to draw the same shapes? Can they make a project that teaches others the meaning of geometric terms by means of an animation with text or voice over?

I gave a presentation at a math conference a couple years ago and made a short handout with geometry concepts and sample scripts to consider.  You can find it posted toward the bottom of http://wiki.classroom20.com/Scratch+Lesson+Plans

and.... To show kids some of the amazing ways people are combining math and Scratch, check out these galleries:
http://scratch.mit.edu/galleries/view/6423
http://scratch.mit.edu/galleries/view/134

Hope this helps,
Karen R.

Last edited by room209 (2009-02-07 17:13:30)

Wow.  There are so many great ideas from your links and your post.  I can't wait to really sit and go through it all.  I had done some searching yesterday and decided to make a "Pi" slideshow.  Something simple with images of Pi as the background, add the number of pi, definition and then have the students record a song to go with it.  I still might do that but I really like all of the ideas you have given me.  I have found that the students really  jump in to scratch.  All you have to do is bring them to it, and give them some tips and tricks.  It's amazing what they produce!

Hi am a 5th grader and I think your students would enjoy using random numbers and sensing blocks! It's quite a good math lesson. I know because our computer teacher teached it to us! You cuold show them something like this

when flag clicked set variable to 1

every second increase variable by one

this is a simple way to learn how to use variables

<when green flag clicked><set{ variable }to( 0 )<forever><wait( 1 )secsc><change{ variable  }by( 1 )

Last edited by pookie98 (2009-06-05 23:27:59)

Hi! I'm a 6th grader, so I should know. I think your students would enjoy making basic games! Like:

Ask a math question, if they get it right, they move toward the goal, if they get it wrong, they move away from the goal. There should also be some incentive for making the best program; Other teachers should judge; best program would include nicest graphics, best programming, and most math involved.