Looking at:

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Looking at
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WHY USE

• Myth of programming is too hard out of the
  equation
• Students have a visual of what their program is
  doing
• Syntax frustration is eliminated
• Allows for more complex algorithm development
  earlier

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GETTING STARTED

• FREE Download www.Alice.org
• Installation Options
• load to the computers hard drive and have
  students save their worlds on a flash drive
• Save Alice and worlds on a flash drive

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DownLoad now
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CREATE A WORLD
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Template Selection
This will be your ground or world
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MAIN SCREEN
Event Editor
Details Panel
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MODELS

• Library of Models are built in 3D
• All objects have built in methods and behaviors
  but new methods can be added

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ADD OBJECTS
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OBJECT DETAILS
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THE SCENE EDITOR
BEWARE!
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P.E.--FRIEND OR FOE

• Students can spend too much time designing the
  perfect world..
• Remember the purpose is.
• Programming
• Problem solving

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FRAME OF REFERENCE

• The yellow box that surrounds the object is
  called the bounding box
• Where the lines intersect is the objects center
  point
• Every object has its own frame of reference
• Forward, backward, up, down, left, right

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FRAME OF REFERENCE
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CAMERA CONTROLS
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MOUSE CONTROL TOOLS KIT
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SUBPARTS

• Objects do have subpartscheck frame of reference
• By selecting affect subpartsallows movement of
  only that part

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SUBPARTS--TRY IT!

• Larger wing?

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QUAD VIEW

• View relative positions of objects

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FINDING THE OBJECT?

• Use Scroll to center objects
• Use Zoom to get a bigger point of view

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INITIAL SETUP

• Add bee
• Web gallery?Animals?Bugs
• Add flowers
• Local gallery?Nature?Flower class
• Move flowers below the ground
• How do you simulate
• growing?
• Move down underground
• and then disappear

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MOVING FLOWERS
Option 1
Option 2
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GROWING FLOWERS

• The flowers need to appear as if they are growing
• flowers move up
• get bigger
• become visible
• Flowers need to be invisible first
• click on each flower
• click the properties tab
• Opacity change from 100 to 0

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RETURN TO PROGRAMMING VIEW

• Click on the DONE button to return to the
  programming view.

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A PROGRAM IS BORN

• Solution to the scenario is now composed in the
  method and event editors.

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THE SCENARIO REVISITED

• A bee is above a green field
• Daisies begin growing
• The bee flies to the nearest daisy and devours it
  (yes, we have a mutant bee)
• Have the bee turn to face the camera, the flowers
  begin to grow and the bee buzzes from flower to
  flower.

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METHODS

• Select the world object from the object tree
• All worlds start with a single method referred to
  my first method
• This would be the main in a Java program

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ADDING METHODS

• Methods/commands are added by dragging and
  dropping from the detail panel to the code editor
• Select the bee from the object tree
• Drag the turn to face method into the code editor

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ADDING PARAMETERS

• When adding a method to the code editor if a
  parameter is required a menu pops up to select
  the arguments.
• For this scenario chose the
• camera

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MORE PARAMETERS

• Your program begins my first method should
  look like this
• Click on the more options to see the other
  parameters that can be changed.

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TESTING THE PROGRAM

• Click the play button to test your program/view
  the output
• What will execute? my first method because it
  is the only event at this point of the program

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BEHAVIORS

• The bee will buzz around while the flowers grow.
• Methods are either world level or class level
• World level methods can be used by any object
• Class level methods are used by only ONE object

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CREATE A METHOD

• Create a buz method
• Select the bee from the object tree and click on
  the create method button in the details panel.

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BUZ METHOD

• A naming window pops up for the new method
• Illegal names will appear in RED
• Notice a new tab pops up in the code editor next
  to your my first method
• Should your method have parameters?

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ADDING PARAMETERS

• How far to buz and how long to buz
• Click on the create new parameter button in the
  code editor

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ADDING PARAMETERS

• Name the parameter and choose from the list the
  data type
• distance NUMBER
• time NUMBER
• The buz method now requires 2 parameters

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ADDING CODE to BUZ

• To buz the bee will move up and then move down
• Drag the bee ROLL command into the hop method and
  fill in the parameters (up)
• Drag another move command (down)

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MORE CODE TO BUZ

• Change the duration of the move to half of the
  time parameter
• Click on the triangle to open the drop down menu
• Select math and divide time by 2

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BUZ METHOD EXAMPLE
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ADD A FLAPWINGS METHOD
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MY FIRST METHOD AGAIN

• The bee should buz while the flowers grow
• Initially the flowers are below the ground and
  invisible
• The flowers will grow by
• Appearing above ground
• Resizing
• Making them visible

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A NEW METHOD GROW

• Three different ways to create grow
• You could repeat the actions to grow for each
  flower and put it in a method
• Could make a class level method and then save as
  a new type of flower
• Could make a world level method and send each
  flower as a parameter.

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METHOD GROW

• Create a new world level method named grow
• Add a parameter type object
• Make sure you are on the world tab and that you
  choose the correct TYPE of parameter.

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COMMAND STRUCTURES

• Move up, resize, make visible must happen at the
  same time.
• The default in programming is top to bottom in
  order
• Do together is a primitive that executes commands
  together
• Drag and drop this structure into the grow method

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GROWING FLOWERS

• A Do together Block will execute together
• Drag and drop the parameter (flowerToGrow) into
  the Do together block and select the methods to
  move up and resize
• Change the duration?

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BECOMING VISIBLE

• Choose any object from the object tree
• Choose the properties tab
• Drag and drop the OPACITY property into the
  program and change to 100

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Visibility

• Replace the object (Bee) with the parameter
  (flowerToGrow).

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COMPLETED GROW METHOD
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REVISITING MY FIRST METHOD

• The bee can buz and the flowers can grow (The
  first part of the storyboard is complete)
• Now have the bee turn to face the camera and have
  the bee buz and the flowers to grow at the same
  time
• Do together

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BUZZING GROWING

• Drag the grow method into the Do together block
  for each flower created.

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TEST

• Test the program by pressing the play button
• Is anything wrong?

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RESIZING, BUZZING AND LOOPING

• Go to the grow method and alter the amount to
  move up that makes the flower appear below the
  bee.
• Flowers take 5 seconds to grow
• Have the bee move up and down .25 meters at .05
  seconds
• How many times will the bee buzz?

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LOOPS

• Drag a Loop into the Do together block
• How many times do you want to Loop?

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BUZZING

• Drag and drop and buz method into the loop
• Select 0.25 meters for distance to buz and 0.5
  seconds for time
• Test

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CHOOSING THE CLOSEST FLOWER

• The bee should turn to face the closet flower and
  devour it.
• Which flower is closest?
• Create a function

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FUNCTIONS

• Functions return an answer (we are asking a
  question that will return an answer)
• Create a function to return the flower that is
  closest to the bee.
• Select world in the object tree and the function
  tab

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CREATING FUNCTIONS

• Click the create new function button
• Give a name
• Choose the data type
• What type?

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WHICH IS CLOSEST?

• Decision making time
• When is flower vs flower2 closest?
• Drag an If/Else into the function
• Initial condition doesnt matter

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IF/ELSE CONDITION

• Select world in object tree
• Replace true in If/Else with altb function
• Initial values dont matter (simply placeholder)

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CHECKING FLOWERS

• Click on flower in the object tree
• Replace the first value in the altb with the
  function flower distance to
• Select the bee as the parameter

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CHECKING FLOWER

• Replace the second value of altb with the distance
  from flower2 to the bee
• You choose where to go from here

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CHECKING OTHER FLOWERS

• In the else, repeat for flower 2
• The last return should be the last flower

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CALLING THE CLOSEST FLOWER

• Go to my first method
• Select the bee and drag a turn to face
• Pick expressions and then use the function
  closestFlower

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CHANGING MY FIRST METHOD
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BUZFORWARD

• Create a method called buzForward
• Parameter for total distance (many options
  different ways to complete this task)

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COMPLETE THE MOVE

• Go to my first method and call the bee move
  method
• Pick a dummy value for totalDistance
• Replace value with distance from bee to
  closestFlower minus some offset (do not collide
  with the flower)

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EATING THE FLOWERS

• Make the closestFlower disappear
• Could add motion or sound as the flower is
  consumed.

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A COMPLETED FIRST METHOD

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ADDING TO THE PROGRAM

• Expand the program
• Add sounds
• Add scenery
• Add events
• Interactive programming can be created by adding
  events that the program will respond to

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More To Do....

• Create a world with 3 penguins
• Line the penguins up side by side
• Add other objects a lake, trees, other animals

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A Basic Program

• Penguin 1 will flap his wings
• Now have all 3 penguins flap their wings. You
  have just completed a Do Together
• Add on
• Have all 3 penguins move
• forward 2 times

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Problem/Scenario

• Three (3) penguins have
• planned a surprise party
• for each other. A cake
• mysteriously appears on a
• table. The penguins each
• take credit for the cake instead of fighting
  they perform an original dance once they realize
  the party is for all.
• Abstraction must be broken down into small steps

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StepWise Refinement
StoryBoard Design

• Step 1 Cake materializes
• Step 2 Each penguin wants to take credit for
  the cake and surprise party
• Step 3 Chaos ensues and disaster is averted.
• Step 4 Each penguin celebrates with his own
  unique dance.

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StoryBoard

• Step 2 CAKE MATERIALIZES
• This will be a world method. Actually it is a
  property of the cake we want to appear as if the
  cake is not thereso we will need to
• This will give the appearance of the cake not
  being there then we will need to
• This will make it magically appear

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StoryBoard

• Step 2 TAKING CREDIT
• Each penguin will have an expression for why the
  cake appeared (a String is created) the method
  is say

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StoryBoard

• Step 3 CHAOS ENSUES
• This will be a world method. As we want all the
  penguins to be able to use this method. We can
  incorporate parameters (1) whichPenguin (2)
  whichColor (3) distance
• Even though all penguins will do the same thing
  the appearance of doing something different.

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StoryBoard

• Step 4 CELEBRATION

This will be a class method. We want each penguin
to have a unique dance. A partyDance method
will be created for each penguin.
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Event Handling

• Allows the user to determine what will happen
  during the program.
• Allowing music to begin at the start of the
  program save music and then import into the
  program.
• Simple event
• handler allowing
• the user to
• move the camera

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Again, Why Use?

• Introduce a concept with Alice
• Methods
• Parameters
• Use other environments to reinforce the concept
• Jeroo
• Python
• Scratch
• Java

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OptionsUsing Modules

• Module 1Scratch
• Module 2Alice 2.2Alice 3.0
• Module 3Jeroo
• Module 4Robotics
• Module 5Python
• Module 6Hardware,Software,Networks
• Module 7Java
• Module 8Flash

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Contacts

• Stacey Armstrong
• stacey.armstrong_at_apluscompsci.com
• Cathy Austin
• Cathy.Austin_at_cfisd.net