Lesson2 Teachers Guide
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Lesson 2 - Logical Thinking - Teacher’s Guide
http://www.stencyl.com/teach/act2/
Objective
Introduce students to “logical thinking” through programming. Students will learn the
following concepts:
●How do computers work?
●Control Flow (how a program runs)
●Conditionals (if, else, else-if, boolean statements)
●Logical Operators (equals, and, or, not)
Outcome
Students will create a 4-direction movement script from scratch. In this process, students
will translate real-world requirements into instructions.
Lesson Plan (1 hour)
Discussion
15 minutes
Cover the topics under Discussion Notes (Page 2)
Present the topics. Pose questions at appropriate points and encourage
students to participate in the discussion.
Demo
20 minutes
Demonstrate the Logic Designer to the class (Pages 3 - end)
Follow our template.
Alternate Plan: You may prefer to alternate between demoing and having
students complete parts of the activity.
Activity
25 minutes
Make a Game From Scratch
Students will build a game entirely from scratch using the concepts
they’ve just learned.
Note: If students don’t finish, let them finish it as homework or during the next
class. Either way, we recommend allowing an extra class to have students complete
some or all of the extra activities.
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Discussion Notes
Topic 1: What can computers do?
Computers power everything from the obvious (PCs, tablets, smartphones) to the not so
obvious (cars, planes, medical devices).
Discussion: Have students come up with examples and have them explain what role the computer plays
in powering those examples.
Topic 2: How do you tell a computer what to do?
We make
programs
. Programs are like recipes. They are instructions that tell a computer
exactly what to do.
Discussion: Wouldn’t that mean that a program does the same thing each time it’s run? What can you do
to change the outcome? (User input from keyboard/mouse/controller)
Topic 3: Conditionals
Conditionals let us change the course of a program. They are like asking a yes-no
question.
Example: If the hero falls off the bottom of the stage, play the death music and restart the level.
Conditionals come in several forms:
●if
●if-else
●if-else/if-else
Topic 4: Logical Operators
Every conditional contains
statements
. Statements always come out to yes or no for an
answer. Logical operators let us combine several statements into a bigger one.
●and
●or
●not
Discussion: Analyze examples from real games to make this all concrete.
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How to Demo the Logic Designer (20 minutes) - (ROUGH DRAFT - NEEDS EDIT)
Demo steps are divided into a description and accompanying actions. The descriptions have you (the
teacher) explain what’s happening. The actions are what you do on the computer to demonstrate
how to use Stencyl.
Part 1 of 4: Introduction
Description
Stencyl’s Logic Designer (also referred to as Design Mode) lets users write code without
having to worry about the syntax of a formal programming language. Instead of typing
code, users drag and drop colorful bricks together.
Actions
None. Just describe what our Logic Designer is and does.
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Part 2 of 4: Basic Operation
Explanation
In this section, you’ll run through the major parts of the Logic Designer and describe the
basics of using it.
Explanation (Part 1) - The Interface
Event Pane
A list of all of a Behavior’s events. Each event is associated with its own separate
workspace.
Workspace
Where you drag in the blocks that form the logic for an event. Also contains a
Trash Can for disposing of unwanted blocks.
Palette
The area on the right where you pick what blocks to add to the Workspace.
Split up into Categories (the buttons at the top) and Pages within a Category. Can
use the Search field to filter blocks by name.
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Explanation (Part 2) - How to Use
Adding Blocks
Drag and drop blocks from the Palette (on the right) into the Workspace.
Moving Blocks
Click and drag blocks around in the Workspace to move them.
Moving a Single
Block
Holding down SHIFT while dragging will let you pull out just the selected
block, versus the default behavior, which is to pull out the block and every
block below it.
Removing Blocks
Drag blocks to the Trash Can to remove them.
(Alternatively, right-click and select Remove.)
Copying Blocks
Holding down ALT while dragging will duplicate the currently selected block.
If you wish to copy a group of blocks, drag the desired group out, right-click
and select Duplicate.
Types of Blocks
Action Blocks have jigsaw puzzle notches on top and bottom.
Normal Blocks have no notches. They are placed into the fields (and
sometimes, dropdowns) of other blocks.
Some normal blocks look like hexagons.
These denote Boolean (Yes/No) blocks that fit, predictably, into fields that
also look like hexagons.
Actions
None. Instead, run through the information above and demonstrate as you go along.
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Part 3 of 4: Events
Explanation
Events are things that happen in your game that trigger some kind of action, or response.
Examples of actions include keyboard presses, mouse clicks and collisions.
You’ll now demo Events to students using Project 2.
Actions
1
Open up Project 2.
2
Create a new Behavior. Name it anything you’d like.
3
Click on Add Event. Talk about the different kinds of Events that are available.
Be sure to mention that Basics > When Updating is the most important event. It is the “event” that
“always” happens, so it is the default way to run logic in a game.
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Once you’re done explaining, pick out the Input > Keyboard event.
4
Explain how Keyboard events are fired when a key is pressed or released.
Keyboard events are mapped to controls. Instead of mapping directly to specific keys on a
keyboard, we work with controls instead.
Controls let you map events to abstract, human-friendly actions. If you ever decide to change the
key, you just need to change the control, rather than every event. Isn’t that convenient?
5
Inside the Keyboard Event, click on Control > Choose Control. Then, pick out the Fire1 control.
6
Inside the body of the event, insert the following.
7
Finally, attach the Event to the Hero actor.
8
Run the game. Press the Spacebar (the key that the Fire1 control is mapped to).
As you’d expect, the Hero will move forward (without stopping).
9
Optional - Add a second Keyboard Event that will stop the Hero when you release the key.
Optional: If you feel it would be useful to run through the creation of a simple behavior from start to
finish, this would be a good time to do that before students begin the activity.
Part 4 of 4: Begin the Activity
Take questions and turn students over the activity.
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IGNORE EVERYTHING BELOW THIS POINT
Solution to the Main Activity
TODO: Explanation?
Solution to “I’m Trapped”
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TODO: Explanation?
Solution to “Wrap Around”
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TODO: Explanation?
Solution to “Ice”
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TODO: Explanation?
Random Thoughts
TODO: Special signup form for educators making common logins, special education
alternate “download” that has the edu flag flipped to on by default (maybe even
pre-configured to the common login?), track this internally so we know what’s going on.
Pitch as a summer camp in a box and maybe pilot this in a few schools.
TODO: This kit assumes we can provide a reduced palette in “education” mode.
TODO: academy’s mobile app can initially focus on pre-packaged projects vs. trying to be
the entire experience.
TODO
- Make the corresponding page for this. Page is web-form of this activity with download
link of PDF (for students), download link for the project file, has images that the printable
portion lacks. Teacher comments via link to a forum topic.
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