June 26, 2021
Week 3: Scratch Coding
We continued the 2021 Summer STEM Program in the third week by learning how to code! Students learned computer programming fundamentals using MIT's Scratch and even made a video game!
We started off with a brief introduction to coding. What is programming? How do people program? What are the different programming languages?
Then, we explained the basics of MIT's Scratch, a block-based visual programming language that serves as a great introduction to coding for beginners.
The students used blocks of code to develop a fun Pong game (a table tennis–themed video game where the player competes with an AI paddle to score points). The game had all the traditional elements of the original Pong game, with a few added effects and creative touches.
After the workshop, each student was able to personalize their game by adding various backgrounds, characters, difficulty levels, and sound effects. By the time we finished, students were getting comfortable with the interface and even started to develop their own spin-offs!
