Computer Science Lesson Plan
Class: 7 - Lesson: 12 Text to Speech, Video Sensing and Face Sensing Blocks

Purpose: To learn to use text to speech to create talking sprites, to apply video sensing to detect motion from a webcam and trigger events, and to use face sensing to control a sprite.

No. of Classes

One or two classes (teacher's decision).

Material Required

Scratch 3.0, internet, webcam.

Curriculum Content
  • 2.10) Text to Speech
  • 2.11) Video Sensing
  • 2.12) Face Sensing
  • 3.1) Using Scratch AI Extensions
    •

    Prior Knowledge

    Students should know:

  • The basic Scratch concepts - events, loops, variables, clones and custom blocks - and how to use the internet.

    • Exercises

    Exercise 1


    1. Create a Scratch program with four buttons - walk, fly, run and swim. When you click on each one, it explains that action and its benefits, using the looks blocks and text to speech.

    Exercise 2


    1. Insert a banana sprite. The banana keeps falling from the top of the screen to the bottom. If the video motion on the banana is greater than 50, the banana starts falling from the top again and the score increases.

    Exercise 3


    1. Detect your face on the screen. Your face movements (moving left, right, up or down) control a sprite - when you move your face left, the sprite moves left. When you smile or move closer, something happens in the game.

    Solutions


  • Link to copy the solution program for Exercise 1.
  • Link to copy the solution program for Exercise 2.

    • Teacher Instructions
    1. Before starting, ensure students are familiar with the basic Scratch blocks - events, motion, looks and operators - and know how to create simple programs.
    2. Teach students how to add the extensions (text to speech, video sensing, face sensing) in Scratch.
    3. POINTS TO PONDER: Ask students to imagine how the computer does text-to-speech - using whole words, using phonetics, or some other way.