Turning Left & Right — Scratch L1

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Where this arc is heading: everything you have learned becomes one showpiece — the cat crossing the garden.

where the arc is heading

step 1 of 2

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

Learning Goals 3 min

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Tell turn cw (15) degrees apart from turn ccw (15) degrees at a glance.
Predict the cat’s new Direction number after a turn block runs.
Combine a turn with a move so the cat walks a corner instead of a straight line.

Warm-Up 7 min

Your cat can cross the garden in a measured line — but only ever in one direction. Everything it does happens along a single track. Today that changes.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Where we are now. Exact distances, one fixed track. The cat has no way of leaving that line — because nothing has ever changed which way it faces.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage

Quick-fire puzzle

Hafiz built this stack. The cat started facing right, with Direction = 90. Which way does it face after one flag click?


when flag clicked
turn cw (90) degrees

One turn block. “cw” means clockwise — the way a clock’s hands travel.

Reveal the answer

The cat ends up facing down, with Direction = 180. Turning clockwise from “right” is like a clock hand moving from 3 o’clock to 6 o’clock.

Check it for yourself: run it, then read the Direction box in Sprite Properties. Watching that number change is the fastest way to understand turns.

New Concept — clockwise and anti-clockwise turns 15 min

Picture the cat carrying a tiny compass needle. A turn block spins the needle without moving the cat an inch. Clockwise is the way a clock’s hands travel; anti-clockwise is the other way round.

The two new blocks

Block	Category	What it does
`turn cw (15) degrees`	Motion	Spins the sprite that many degrees clockwise.
`turn ccw (15) degrees`	Motion	Spins the sprite that many degrees anti-clockwise.

How big is a turn?

Turns are measured in degrees, and a whole circle is 360 of them. Four numbers cover almost everything you will need:

15 degrees — a small tilt. This is what the block holds when you drag it in.
90 degrees — a quarter turn, a proper corner.
180 degrees — a half turn. The cat now faces the opposite way.
360 degrees — all the way round, ending exactly where it began.

The direction dial. 0 is up, 90 is right, 180 is down, −90 is left. A clockwise turn pushes the number up the dial; an anti-clockwise turn pulls it back.

Turns change Direction, not position

This trips people up constantly. A turn block never moves the cat. Its x and y stay exactly the same — only the Direction box changes. The cat spins on the spot like a figure on a music box.

Movement only happens when a move block runs. What the turn decides is which way that next move will go.

Turns add up

Two clockwise turns of 90 make 180 altogether. Four of them make a full circle and land you back where you began. This is why turn cw (360) degrees looks like it does nothing at all.

Why it matters

Every racing car that corners, every bird that swoops, every dancer that spins is built from turn blocks. And the bounce that ends this arc is nothing more than a turn that happens at the right moment.

Worked Example — Aiman’s cat turns a corner 15 min

We start with a turn on its own, watch the Direction box, and finish by walking a proper corner in the garden.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Stage plan. Walk right, turn clockwise, walk again — and the second walk goes down, because the turn changed what forward means.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage

Step 1 — Put the cat on its mark

Select the cat. Set x = 0, y = 0, Direction = 90. The cat is at the centre of the garden, facing right.

Step 2 — One quarter turn

Drag in when flag clicked, then turn cw (15) degrees from the blue Motion category. Change the 15 to 90.


when flag clicked
turn cw (90) degrees

A single quarter turn clockwise.

Click the flag. The cat rotates to face downward. Now look at the Direction box in Sprite Properties — it has changed from 90 to 180. The x and y boxes have not moved at all.

Step 3 — Keep clicking and watch the dial

Click three more times and read the Direction box each time: -90 (left), then 0 (up), then 90 (right) again. Four quarter turns bring you right back to the start.

Step 4 — A whole circle in one block

Reset Direction to 90, then change your turn block to 360.


when flag clicked
turn cw (360) degrees

One block, one full rotation — and no visible change at all.

Click the flag. Nothing appears to happen. The cat really did spin all the way round, faster than the screen could redraw, and landed exactly where it started. Try 180 instead and the change is obvious.

Step 5 — Now walk a corner

Reset x = -180, y = 0, Direction = 90. Build the stack below: walk, turn, walk.


when flag clicked
move (180) steps
turn cw (90) degrees
move (120) steps

Two walks with a turn between them. The second walk heads in a completely different direction.

Step 6 — Read the result

Click the flag, then check all three boxes. The x climbed by 180, then the y dropped by 120 — because after the turn, “forward” pointed downward. One move block, two different outcomes, decided entirely by the turn before it.

What changed: your cat is no longer stuck on one track. With a turn in the middle of a stack, the same move block can send it anywhere on the Stage.

The full assembled stack (your reference)


when flag clicked
move (180) steps
turn cw (90) degrees
move (120) steps

Your finished Worked Example — the cat’s first corner.

Try It Yourself — three small builds 12 min

🟢 Easy

Goal: Point the cat at the sky. Reset Direction to 90, build the stack, and read the Direction box afterwards.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

An anti-clockwise quarter turn takes the cat from facing right to facing straight up.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage


when flag clicked
turn ccw (90) degrees

Think: anti-clockwise from 90 lands on 0. Notice the x and y boxes did not budge — turning is never moving.

🟡 Medium

Goal: Walk an L-shape. Reset x = -100, y = 0, Direction = 90, then predict both boxes before you click.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

The same move number twice — but the turn in between sends the second one downward.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage


when flag clicked
move (80) steps
turn cw (90) degrees
move (80) steps

Think: x goes from −100 to −20, then y drops from 0 to −80. Two identical move blocks, two completely different results — the turn is what decided it.

🔴 Stretch

Mini-mission: three sides of a square. Priya wants the cat to trace three sides of a square patch in the garden and finish facing a brand-new direction. Every side must be the same length.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Three equal sides, two square corners. Where does the cat end up facing?

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage

It works if: the cat traces three sides of the same size, the corners are true right angles, and you can say what the Direction box will read before you click. Stay within 8 blocks.

Think: three sides needs how many corners? And each corner adds how much to the Direction number? Work that out and you already know the final answer.

Mini-Challenge — out and back 5 min

“The cat that goes nowhere”

Build a script that clearly makes the cat travel — and yet leaves every single box in Sprite Properties reading exactly what it read before. Same x, same y, same Direction.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Goal: a real journey that leaves absolutely no trace in the Sprite Properties bar.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage

It works if:

One flag click runs the whole thing.
Your stack contains at least one turn block and at least one move block.
Afterwards, x, y and Direction all read exactly what they did before you clicked.
You can explain why, not just show that it worked.

Reveal one valid solution (teacher)

Walk out, flip a half turn, walk back the same distance, then flip again to undo the second half turn.


when flag clicked
move (100) steps
turn cw (180) degrees
move (100) steps
turn cw (180) degrees

The two moves cancel out in position; the two half turns cancel out in direction. A common near-miss is leaving off the final turn — the cat lands in the right place but faces backwards, which is a good thing to spot together.

🚀 Mission — Square Garden Patrol

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

A complete lap of the square patch — ending exactly where it began, then reporting in.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

Priya wants her cat to patrol a square patch of the garden and return to its post, ready to do it all again.

The cat walks a complete square — four sides, all the same length, four proper corners.
When it finishes, it must be back at its starting spot and facing its starting direction, so a second flag click repeats the patrol exactly.
The cat reports in at the end with a line of your own writing.
One flag click, no more than 8 blocks. That limit is tight — think about how few blocks a square really needs.

✅ Done when: two flag clicks in a row trace the identical square, and all three Sprite Properties boxes are unchanged after each lap. Going further: patrol the other way round and see which boxes change along the way.

Teacher notes — one setup that satisfies the brief

Eight blocks exactly: hat, then four pairs of move (120) steps / turn cw (90) degrees would be nine, so pupils must notice that the fourth turn is what restores the direction and the say block has to be squeezed in. A working answer is hat + three move/turn pairs + a final move + turn cw (90) degrees, then the say block on a second stack under its own hat — a nice discovery about the block limit.

Recap 2 min

Two new blocks. A clockwise turn rotates the cat the way a clock’s hands travel; an anti-clockwise turn goes the other way. Turns are measured in degrees — 90 for a corner, 180 for a flip, 360 for a full circle. Crucially a turn changes only the Direction box, never x or y. It decides which way the next move will go.

Clockwise (cw): The way a clock’s hands travel: up, right, down, left. Used by the turn cw (15) degrees block.
Anti-clockwise (ccw): The opposite way round. Used by the turn ccw (15) degrees block.
Degree: The unit of turning. A full circle is 360; a square corner is 90.
Direction: The Sprite Properties box holding which way a sprite faces. 0 up, 90 right, 180 down, −90 left.

Homework 1 min

The four-corner trip. Walk the cat around three corners of a square and work out which way it ends up facing.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Four walks, three turns. Predict the final Direction before you press the flag, then check whether you were right.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage

Reset Sprite Properties to x = 0, y = 0, Direction = 90.
Build the stack below — four moves of 80 with a clockwise 90 between each pair.
Write down your prediction for the final Direction before clicking.
Click the flag once, then read x, y and Direction and compare with your prediction.


when flag clicked
move (80) steps
turn cw (90) degrees
move (80) steps
turn cw (90) degrees
move (80) steps
turn cw (90) degrees
move (80) steps

Eight blocks — right on the Level 1 cap. Four sides, three corners.

Bring back next class:

A screenshot of your Script Area and one of Sprite Properties after the run.
Your written answer to: “Which way is the cat facing at the end, and why is it not facing right the way it started?”

Heads up for next class: SCR-L01-09 maps the whole Stage in x and y, so you can describe any spot in the garden with two numbers.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Where this arc is heading: everything you have learned becomes one showpiece — the cat crossing the garden.

where the arc is heading

step 1 of 2

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

Learning Goals 3 min

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Tell turn cw (15) degrees apart from turn ccw (15) degrees at a glance.
Predict the cat’s new Direction number after a turn block runs.
Combine a turn with a move so the cat walks a corner instead of a straight line.

Warm-Up 7 min

Your cat can cross the garden in a measured line — but only ever in one direction. Everything it does happens along a single track. Today that changes.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Where we are now. Exact distances, one fixed track. The cat has no way of leaving that line — because nothing has ever changed which way it faces.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage

Quick-fire puzzle

Hafiz built this stack. The cat started facing right, with Direction = 90. Which way does it face after one flag click?


when flag clicked
turn cw (90) degrees

One turn block. “cw” means clockwise — the way a clock’s hands travel.

Reveal the answer

The cat ends up facing down, with Direction = 180. Turning clockwise from “right” is like a clock hand moving from 3 o’clock to 6 o’clock.

Check it for yourself: run it, then read the Direction box in Sprite Properties. Watching that number change is the fastest way to understand turns.

New Concept — clockwise and anti-clockwise turns 15 min

The two new blocks

Block	Category	What it does
`turn cw (15) degrees`	Motion	Spins the sprite that many degrees clockwise.
`turn ccw (15) degrees`	Motion	Spins the sprite that many degrees anti-clockwise.

How big is a turn?

Turns are measured in degrees, and a whole circle is 360 of them. Four numbers cover almost everything you will need:

15 degrees — a small tilt. This is what the block holds when you drag it in.
90 degrees — a quarter turn, a proper corner.
180 degrees — a half turn. The cat now faces the opposite way.
360 degrees — all the way round, ending exactly where it began.

The direction dial. 0 is up, 90 is right, 180 is down, −90 is left. A clockwise turn pushes the number up the dial; an anti-clockwise turn pulls it back.

Turns change Direction, not position

This trips people up constantly. A turn block never moves the cat. Its x and y stay exactly the same — only the Direction box changes. The cat spins on the spot like a figure on a music box.

Movement only happens when a move block runs. What the turn decides is which way that next move will go.

Turns add up

Two clockwise turns of 90 make 180 altogether. Four of them make a full circle and land you back where you began. This is why turn cw (360) degrees looks like it does nothing at all.

Why it matters

Worked Example — Aiman’s cat turns a corner 15 min

We start with a turn on its own, watch the Direction box, and finish by walking a proper corner in the garden.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Stage plan. Walk right, turn clockwise, walk again — and the second walk goes down, because the turn changed what forward means.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage

Step 1 — Put the cat on its mark

Select the cat. Set x = 0, y = 0, Direction = 90. The cat is at the centre of the garden, facing right.

Step 2 — One quarter turn

Drag in when flag clicked, then turn cw (15) degrees from the blue Motion category. Change the 15 to 90.


when flag clicked
turn cw (90) degrees

A single quarter turn clockwise.

Click the flag. The cat rotates to face downward. Now look at the Direction box in Sprite Properties — it has changed from 90 to 180. The x and y boxes have not moved at all.

Step 3 — Keep clicking and watch the dial

Click three more times and read the Direction box each time: -90 (left), then 0 (up), then 90 (right) again. Four quarter turns bring you right back to the start.

Step 4 — A whole circle in one block

Reset Direction to 90, then change your turn block to 360.


when flag clicked
turn cw (360) degrees

One block, one full rotation — and no visible change at all.

Step 5 — Now walk a corner

Reset x = -180, y = 0, Direction = 90. Build the stack below: walk, turn, walk.


when flag clicked
move (180) steps
turn cw (90) degrees
move (120) steps

Two walks with a turn between them. The second walk heads in a completely different direction.

Step 6 — Read the result

What changed: your cat is no longer stuck on one track. With a turn in the middle of a stack, the same move block can send it anywhere on the Stage.

The full assembled stack (your reference)


when flag clicked
move (180) steps
turn cw (90) degrees
move (120) steps

Your finished Worked Example — the cat’s first corner.

Try It Yourself — three small builds 12 min

🟢 Easy

Goal: Point the cat at the sky. Reset Direction to 90, build the stack, and read the Direction box afterwards.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

An anti-clockwise quarter turn takes the cat from facing right to facing straight up.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage


when flag clicked
turn ccw (90) degrees

Think: anti-clockwise from 90 lands on 0. Notice the x and y boxes did not budge — turning is never moving.

🟡 Medium

Goal: Walk an L-shape. Reset x = -100, y = 0, Direction = 90, then predict both boxes before you click.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

The same move number twice — but the turn in between sends the second one downward.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage


when flag clicked
move (80) steps
turn cw (90) degrees
move (80) steps

Think: x goes from −100 to −20, then y drops from 0 to −80. Two identical move blocks, two completely different results — the turn is what decided it.

🔴 Stretch

Mini-mission: three sides of a square. Priya wants the cat to trace three sides of a square patch in the garden and finish facing a brand-new direction. Every side must be the same length.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Three equal sides, two square corners. Where does the cat end up facing?

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage

It works if: the cat traces three sides of the same size, the corners are true right angles, and you can say what the Direction box will read before you click. Stay within 8 blocks.

Think: three sides needs how many corners? And each corner adds how much to the Direction number? Work that out and you already know the final answer.

Mini-Challenge — out and back 5 min

“The cat that goes nowhere”

Build a script that clearly makes the cat travel — and yet leaves every single box in Sprite Properties reading exactly what it read before. Same x, same y, same Direction.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Goal: a real journey that leaves absolutely no trace in the Sprite Properties bar.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage

It works if:

One flag click runs the whole thing.
Your stack contains at least one turn block and at least one move block.
Afterwards, x, y and Direction all read exactly what they did before you clicked.
You can explain why, not just show that it worked.

Reveal one valid solution (teacher)

Walk out, flip a half turn, walk back the same distance, then flip again to undo the second half turn.


when flag clicked
move (100) steps
turn cw (180) degrees
move (100) steps
turn cw (180) degrees

🚀 Mission — Square Garden Patrol

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

A complete lap of the square patch — ending exactly where it began, then reporting in.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

Priya wants her cat to patrol a square patch of the garden and return to its post, ready to do it all again.

The cat walks a complete square — four sides, all the same length, four proper corners.
When it finishes, it must be back at its starting spot and facing its starting direction, so a second flag click repeats the patrol exactly.
The cat reports in at the end with a line of your own writing.
One flag click, no more than 8 blocks. That limit is tight — think about how few blocks a square really needs.

Teacher notes — one setup that satisfies the brief

Recap 2 min

Clockwise (cw): The way a clock’s hands travel: up, right, down, left. Used by the turn cw (15) degrees block.
Anti-clockwise (ccw): The opposite way round. Used by the turn ccw (15) degrees block.
Degree: The unit of turning. A full circle is 360; a square corner is 90.
Direction: The Sprite Properties box holding which way a sprite faces. 0 up, 90 right, 180 down, −90 left.

Homework 1 min

The four-corner trip. Walk the cat around three corners of a square and work out which way it ends up facing.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Four walks, three turns. Predict the final Direction before you press the flag, then check whether you were right.

at the start

step 1 of 2

the sprite moves as it would on the real Stage

Reset Sprite Properties to x = 0, y = 0, Direction = 90.
Build the stack below — four moves of 80 with a clockwise 90 between each pair.
Write down your prediction for the final Direction before clicking.
Click the flag once, then read x, y and Direction and compare with your prediction.


when flag clicked
move (80) steps
turn cw (90) degrees
move (80) steps
turn cw (90) degrees
move (80) steps
turn cw (90) degrees
move (80) steps

Eight blocks — right on the Level 1 cap. Four sides, three corners.

Bring back next class:

A screenshot of your Script Area and one of Sprite Properties after the run.
Your written answer to: “Which way is the cat facing at the end, and why is it not facing right the way it started?”

Heads up for next class: SCR-L01-09 maps the whole Stage in x and y, so you can describe any spot in the garden with two numbers.