This introduction to programming in Scratch uses a trivial example to demonstrate simple audio and animation. It is written for Scratch 1.4 but can be easily adapted for later versions. ...

This short practical guide shows how to implement a bubble sort algorithm in Scratch. The procedure is easy to follow, and can be used in conjunction with theory or unplugged activities to aid...

This simple game is an engaging way to extend learning in Scratch. It uses fairly simple scripts running in parallel to detect collisions and move sprites, which have been designed in the Scratch environment. It could be used a basis for other similar ‘scrolling’ games. 

This activity is an introduction to writing programs that can handle errors. It also helps students to understand number bases, by guiding them through the writing of a ‘base converter’ program.

Suitable for students throughout secondary computing, including those studying at an advanced level, this exercise introduces the Heap Sort and explores why it is more efficient than the Bubble Sort in another Scratch Patch article. Students learn about tree data structures, including the correct terminology for...

This game-writing activity using Scratch will bring back youthful memories for some! It provides...

This practical guide to creating a simple game is aimed at those new to programming with Scratch...

Combining some fundamental physics with trigonometry and computer programming, this guide helps students to create a simulation of the projectile motion of a cannon ball. The concepts are all briefly explained, and the program introduces some clever mathematics as well as game elements, such as collision detection...

This project, exploring basic encryption, is a useful introduction to data security as well as iterating through strings to manipulate them. The program create a ‘substitution cipher’, one of the most basic forms of encryption. It also demonstrates that, for more complex chained commands, Scratch becomes rather...

This visual mathematics project focuses on the beautiful images known as Julia Sets (named after French mathematician Gaston Julia). Students use a repeated iterations to explore the world of complex numbers, writing and amending a relatively complicated Scratch program. 

The magic of…is a collection of four resources, produced by Queen Mary College at the University of London, designed for teachers to use in the classroom with the intention of making learning engaging and entertaining. The four resources are all linked to the relevant curricula and provide inspiration when teaching...

This edition of the Computing at School newsletter contains articles covering:

*Computing in the national curriculum

*Computational thinking in the classroom

Containing two linked activities, these resources from the CS4FN team introduce graphs to represent inter-related data and algorithms to negotiate them.

Suitable for non-programmers being introduced to algorithms, the two challenges – the Knights Tour and the Tour Guide – are similar. Both use graphs as...

This collection of STEM Learning videos explores the world of artificial intelligence, machine learning and computing. Taking a deep dive into AIs place in our world and what the future might hold. AI and machine learning are useful tools, developing rapidly and are around us every day, from ChatGPT, apps on mobile...

This is a suite of six units of work developed for progressive exploration of digital images and satellite data. The first three units provide an introduction to the fundamentals of manipulating digital images. In the latter three units students apply this foundation knowledge to process and analyse satellite...