A Scratch MIT fireworks display
If you haven't seen / played with / introduced your students to Scratch MIT, then do so soon. It's free, cross-platform (Windows, Mac, Ubuntu), fun, engaging, and a wonderful alternative to using the likes of Flowol for teaching control or simple computer programming.
I've uploaded a zip file of Scratch sprites for creating a New Year fireworks display in Scratch to the Resources Area:
The programming of the sprites was mine, with explosion graphics created by Doug Fletcher at the CLC. The sprites are:
- A Rocket
- A Catherine Wheel
- A Roman Candle
Here is a screencast showing how to put these together in Scratch itself:
Creating a Fireworks Display in Scratch MIT from Richard Anderson on Vimeo.
There's plenty of opportunity for students of different ages to modify / extend the scripting of the objects. Younger students can play with the timings of rockets, older students can make predictions about the effect of script changes to the angles of rotation or the random number component of the movement. Key Stage 3 / 4 students could study the scripting as a model, then start from ... Scratch.
Hope you enjoy using them with your students. They were a big hit with groups of Year 2s in November (yes, these were originally developed for Fireworks Night ...)
animation, fireworks, scratchmit in Resources 