Mathematics Scratch Game

Expert

70 mins

Teacher/Student led

+365 XP

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

Space Shooter

In this lesson we will control a spaceship with your mouse and shoot down balloons that randomly appear on the screen. We'll use variables to keep track of your score and how many lives you have left.

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1 Create a new Scratch project
2 Add the Stars backdrop
3 Create 'score' and 'lives' variables
4 Setup the variables
5 Add the Rocketship sprite
6 Program your Rocketship
7 Add the Ball sprite
8 Add the Balloon1 sprite
9 Detect a mouse click
10 Fire a ball
11 Make the balloons appear
12 Score a point
13 Loose a life
14 Game over
15 Play the game!
Quiz

1 - Create a new Scratch project

Create a new Scratch project and delete the cat sprite.

https://scratch.mit.edu

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 - Create 'score' and 'lives' variables

Each time you shoot a balloon you'll get a point and each time a balloon touches your rocketship you'll lose a life. To keep track of these we need to create two new variables, one called 'score' and one called 'lives'.

In the Data palette, create two new variables by clicking the 'Make a Variable' button.

'score' this will store your score
'lives' this will store your lives

When you create your first variable you will notice that new blocks for variables become available to use in the Data palette.

Scratch: How to create a variable

In the Variables palette, create a new variable by clicking the 'Make a Variable' button.

Once you click this button a box will appear asking what you want to call your variable. Give it a name that reminds you what you will be using it for. For example, if you wanted to keep track of your score in a game, you would create a variable called 'score'.

+10 XP

4 - Setup the variables

At the start of the game we should have 0 points and 3 lives. Add the following code to the stage to setup your variables for the start of the game.

when green flag clicked set [score v] to (0) set [lives v] to (3)

+10 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