Motion Blocks Visual Guide¶

Run the Motion Blocks Visual Guide MicroSim Fullscreen
Edit in the p5.js Editor

About This MicroSim¶

This MicroSim is an interactive visual reference for all of Scratch's Motion blocks, showing each block's name, its parameters, and what it does—from moving and turning a sprite to setting its exact position, or reading its x position, y position, and direction. It helps students quickly look up and compare motion blocks instead of hunting through the Scratch block palette.

How to Use¶

Click a category button (All, Basic, Position, Direction, Change, or Reporter) to filter which blocks are shown.
Type in the "Search blocks..." text box to filter blocks by name or description as you type.
Each card shows the block's name, its parameters (if any), and a color-coded category label on the right.

Iframe Embed Code¶

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/scratch-textbook/sims/motion-blocks-guide/main.html"
        height="665px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan¶

Grade Level¶

Grades 3-6 (ages 8-12)

Duration¶

15-20 minutes

Prerequisites¶

Has started exploring Motion blocks in the editor (this section of the chapter, "Motion Blocks — Making Sprites Move!") and knows the coordinate system basics — x from -240 to 240, y from -180 to 180, center at (0, 0) — from earlier in this chapter. No need to have memorized any block names yet; this guide is meant as the lookup tool for that.

Activities¶

Exploration (5 min): Students click through each category button — All, Basic, Position, Direction, Change, Reporter — and read a few cards in each to see how the guide groups the 15 motion blocks.
Guided Practice (7 min): Given a short list of tasks (for example, "teleport a sprite to an exact spot," "read the sprite's current direction," "smoothly slide to a location over time"), students type into the search box to find the matching block and name its category.
Assessment (5-8 min): Using the guide as a reference, students explain the difference between move and glide, and between go to x: y: and change x by.

Assessment¶

Student can use the category filter or search box to locate a specific motion block on request, and can explain the difference between a teleport block (go to, set x/y), a relative-movement block (move, change x/y), and a reporter block (x position, y position, direction).