Lesson Plan

Lesson: Tracking Motion

Time: 40+ mins

Introduction

New Code Blocks

Vocabulary

• Variable: A value or piece of information that is stored, and can change over time
• Track: To follow or find an object
• Color tracking: Detect and follow an object, based on color
• Tynker calibration: A two-step process of first detecting, then saving the object’s color in a variable
• Tolerance value: Sets how precise the Actor should follow the color being tracked, where a small tolerance is more precise

Objectives

• Use color tracking to follow an object
• Use color tracking and pen blocks to turn an Actor into a virtual pen
• Create an art studio with buttons that can change the pen’s color

Materials

• Computers or iPads (1 per student) with a working camera and student account access to Tynker.com
• Brightly colored objects (e.g., pieces of bright colored paper, Snap Cubes, pencil cap erasers)

Warm-Up (5 minutes)

• If you created an “augmented reality” art game or project, what would it be? What are some objects you might have the player draw?

Getting Started (5 minutes)

Activities (30 minutes)

• This short video introduces the Tracking Motion lesson.

• This video introduces three coding concepts: “Get Color,” “Find Color,” and “Found X and Y.”
• As students calibrate a color, make sure they hold their bright colored object to the grey circle for 5 seconds.

• This short video introduces the Window Wiper puzzle module.

• In this puzzle module, students will need to program a squeegee to follow an object to help clean the window. But there’s a catch! Students need to clean the dirt off the window in less than 45 seconds.
• When the program starts, tell students to place their bright colored object on the squeegee for 5 seconds.
• How to play: Once students finish calibrating and programming their squeegee, tell them to control the squeegee with their bright colored object and move it around the screen to clean the entire window.

• This short video introduces the Doodle Tool DIY (do it yourself) activity.

• In this DIY, students will use color tracking and pen blocks to turn an Actor into a virtual pen to draw pictures.
• Tell students this DIY activity combines color tracking with Tynker’s pen tools.
• Once the program starts, tell students to place their bright colored object on the grey circle for 5 seconds.
• Encourage students to draw silly pictures on their face (e.g., new hairdo, glasses, cat ears).

• This short video introduces the Art Studio DIY activity.

• In this DIY, students expand on doddle concepts learned in the previous DIY activity to program an art studio!
• In “Step 6” of the tutorial, check that students are dragging the blocks of code to the appropriate Actor (i.e., drag the “when touching blue occurs - set pen color” blocks to the blue Actor)
• How to play: Tell students to draw with an object as they did in the “Doddle Tool DIY,” but this time, move their pen over the colored buttons to change the drawing color or clear the screen! Click the Stage to turn the pen on or off.

• Students will be tested on Tracking Motion concepts.

Optional Activities (20 minutes each)

• How can you track the location of a moving object in a video? (Track its color)
• What is calibration? (Detecting and saving an object's color) What blocks do you use for the two "steps" of calibration? (Get Color and Set Variable)
• How do you get the location of a color in a video? (use the “go to” and “found color position” code blocks)

Standards