Mathematics Scratch

Expert

60 mins

Teacher/Student led

Learning Goals

Learning Outcomes

Lesson Files

+220 XP

What you need:
Chromebook/Laptop/PC or iPad/Tablet

Earth and Moon Orbits

In this project we will program the earth to orbit around the sun and the moon to orbit around the earth. We will also trace their paths to visualise their orbits.

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1 Create a new Scratch project
2 Add the Stars backdrop
3 Add the Sun
4 Add the Earth
5 Program the earth's orbit
6 Add the Moon
7 Program the moon's orbit
8 Trace the path of the earth
9 Trace the path of the moon
10 Challenge!

1 - Create a new Scratch project

Create a new Scratch project and delete the cat sprite.

Scratch: How to create a new project

Go to the Scratch website using the link below and click on the 'Create' link in the blue bar at the top.

By default, each new project starts with the cat sprite already added. To delete the cat click on the x in the blue circle beside the cat in the sprite list.

https://scratch.mit.edu

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Add the Stars backdrop

Open the backdrop library and add the Stars backdrop to your project.

Scratch: How to add a backdrop from the library

To add a backdrop from the backdrop library follow these steps:

Put your mouse over the Choose a Backdrop button
Click on the magnifying glass
Find the backdrop you want in the library
Click on your chosen backdrop

You can use search box or the filter links (Fantasy, Music, Sports etc) to locate your backdrop.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

3 - Add the Sun

Add the Ball sprite from the sprite library to your project. This is going to represent the sun.

Rename the sprite to be called 'Sun' and then add the following code to it so that it appears in the center of the stage area.

when green flag clicked go to x (0) y (0)

+15 XP

4 - Add the Earth

Again we're going to add another Ball sprite to our project, but this time we will choose the 'ball-b' costume to make it blue like the earth.

Add the Ball sprite from the sprite library to your project, rename it to be called 'Earth' and then add the following code to it so that it appears smaller than the sun.

when green flag clicked switch costume to (ball-b v) set size to (30) % go to x (0) y (160)

+15 XP

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Copyright Notice
This lesson is copyright of Coding Ireland 2017 - 2026. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.

Scratch is developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. It is available for free at https://scratch.mit.edu