Scratch Project

Scratch Projects are projects that are created by students, using simplified computer programming to design and create games, activities, and presentations.

 Here is a sample introduction to a science lesson that I created with Scratch.

Scratch helps support the development of 21st century skills. According to Learning with Scratch,  it "enables students to express themselves more fully and creatively, helps them develop as logical thinkers, and helps them understand the workings of the new technologies that they encounter everywhere in their everyday lives."

Sratch projects can be an easy way to meet the ISTE_NETS-T Standard 1a: promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness. By giving the students the programming tools that allow them to be creative in digital media, they are able to express their understanding of concepts in a much more innovative way than with standard curriculum tools (tests, reports, etc). The nature of Scratch fosters creativity by default, without having to specifically assign or teach creativity. This leads to individual discovery and personal satisfaction, in a way that standard resources may not.

This lesson would tie in perfectly with the following CSO: SC.O.B.2.2 relate the structure of cellular organelles to their functions and interactions in eukaryotic cells. Here is a project I found that would be great to use in a science lesson about the basic cell. I think it's great that by hovering over the different diagram parts, you get information. This connects a visual model to the content being read, which improves understanding.