CS4HS at CSS Lesson
By: Kathi Tolo, Mary Ann Harala, Brenda Antonich and Carol Burger
Activity: Demonstrating Knowledge of Plants through Scratch Programming
Grade Levels: First/Second
Subject Area: Science and Computational Thinking
Time: 3 – 5 week unit
Description:
Pre- Programming Activities: Students will participate in a number of lessons to create awareness of
what computer programmers do. Students will explore codes and language to illustrate programming
language. Students will learn to write commands to help with understanding of programming language.
Students will practice various elements within the Scratch Program including choosing backgrounds,
sprites, movement commands and speech commands.
Students will participate in the activities and learning of the New Plants Module of the grade 2 FOSS
Science Unit.
Computer Activities:
Students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge of plants by creating a Scratch Activity.
Standards and Outcomes:
Computational Thinking Standards:
The student will be able to:
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Use technology resources to solve age-appropriate problems.
Recognize that software is created to control computer operations in a sequential manner.
Minnesota Standards in Science:
Life Science
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Code – 2.4.3.1.1 Plants and animals undergo a series of orderly changes during their life cycles.
Code – 2.4.1.1.1 Living things are diverse with many different observable characteristics.
Topics: Structure and function of plants; life cycle of a plant; different ecosystems support different
plant life; organisms and their environments
Academic Language:
Science Language: plant, root, stem, leave, bud, flower, seed, life cycle, sun, nutrients, pollination,
pollen, stamen, pistil, pollinators,
Computational Thinking Language: programming, code, commands, pixel, x and y axis, positive and
negative numbers
Scratch Language: sprites, background, stage, movement, motion, control, looks, sound, and operators.
Prior Knowledge:
Students will have an understanding of the plant unit and basic computer skills.
Planning Notes:
Teachers must be sure that the Scratch program is installed and available. Teachers should decide if
flash drives are going to be used and prepare for management of them. Teachers should create a
Scratch website to allow uploading of student work. Teacher will create a template of the Plant Scratch
Project with command codes.
Teaching/Learning Strategies:
Before Computer Activities:
During morning meetings teachers will connect games with computational thinking concepts.
The Orange Game
Sorting Students by Birthdays
Concentration
Zoom
Graphing Activities (Post It Note, X,Y Gym activity, Graph Art)
Moving a Sprite (Boss and Bossed)
Secret Code Activities
Students will create a picture illustrating the structures and functions of a plant. They will use the
picture as they make their Scratch project.
During Computer Activities:
Look at several Scratch example projects from the website. Examine the project code.
Present rubric and expectations for individual Scratch projects.
Make a Scratch project as a class using the Smart Board. Evaluate the project with the rubric.
Teach beginning Scratch programming including using sprites, stages, movement, and costumes. Allow
students to explore and share other Scratch functions.
Provide students a Scratch template with a plant or flower background and several sprites. Students use
command codes to create a Scratch project which will show their understanding of plant structures and
functions.
After Computer Activities:
Students upload projects for sharing with classmates, teacher and partner school buddies and parents.
Students make appropriate comments about the shared projects. (Teacher discusses ISTE standard
about digital citizenship.)
Assessment and Evaluation:
Formative Assessments:
Students will use a checklist of required essential elements to guide them as they are doing their Scratch
project.
Class will use Museum Walk to view progress of their classmates’ projects.
Summative Assessments:
Teachers will view the projects on the shared Scratch site and will use the attached rubric to evaluate
the projects.
Class will celebrate the completion of projects by having a screening of the work on the Smart Board
Accommodations:
Provide a sample project including sprite codes that can be copied and modified as needed.
Teacher may have students work in pairs as needed.
As students finish they will work as peer helpers to aid others with programming.
Resources:
Creative Computing Handbook from CS4HS class
Morning Meeting Activity Books
Graph Art Activity Books
FOSS New Plants Kit
FOSS Website