Summer Institute Session Archive

Scratch Board and S4A

Add a sensor board to your Scratch programming activities!

Scratch Programming Lab

Hands-on continuation of Scratch programming.

Intro to Programming with Scratch

Scratch is a graphical programming language with a drag-and-drop design interface developed at MIT.  With rich support for multimedia and a robust online community, Scratch is a wonderful tool for introducing students to programming while developing creative thinking, systematic reasoning, and collaboration. 

The official Scratch 2.0 page is here: 

http://scratch.mit.edu/

And Scratch 1.4 version (the non-online version) used in the presentation can be downloaded here:

http://scratch.mit.edu/scratch_1.4/

Scratch is also very modifiable, allowing new features to be added.  Some of the best known Scratch mods are:

Snap/BYOB adds additional blocks, the ability to build your own blocks, and enables communication between Snap applications using a local network:

http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Snap_(Scratch_Modification)

A variant of the Snap mod is BirdBrain Snap v0.2, which can control Finch and Hummingbird robots:

http://www.finchrobot.com/software/birdbrain-snap-v02-alpha

Enchanting is a Scratch Mod that allows you to program LEGO Mindstorm roboots:

http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Enchanting_(Scratch_Modification)

Many more Scratch mods can be found on the Scratch wiki:

http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Zing!_(Scratch_Modification)

Presentation of Module Ideas

INSIGHT Teachers and Fellows present the ideas they have developed over the two-week summer institute.

Laser Light Security Grid

Former INSIGHT Fellow Scott Bell leads a hands-on actiivty about laser light, where participants try to build and then foil a laser security grid.