Level 2: Grow a Dragonfly

Official Raspberry Pi Project

This lesson is based on the official Raspberry Pi Foundation project. Open it alongside this guide to access the starter project, step-by-step instructions and community remixes.

How to use it: Click the link above, then click See Inside on the Scratch project to explore the finished version. Use Remix to get your own copy to edit.

What You Will Build

Program a dragonfly to grow in size based on user actions using variables and effects.

What You Will Learn

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

• Use Events blocks to start scripts and respond to clicks
• Combine Motion, Looks and Sound blocks to create behaviours
• Use variables to track game state and scores
• Apply the specific Scratch concepts introduced in Level 2

You Will Need

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Add a sky or meadow backdrop.
2. Add a dragonfly sprite. Set its initial size to 30%.
3. Create a size variable and set it to 30 at start.
4. Add leaves or flowers the dragonfly can eat.
5. When the dragonfly touches a leaf: change [size] by [5], change size by [5].
6. Make leaves disappear when eaten: hide.
7. Respawn leaves after 2 seconds at a random position.
8. Add a maximum size (100) — when reached, play a fanfare and show say [Fully grown!].
9. Control the dragonfly with arrow keys using move [10] steps and point in direction.
10. Add wing-flap animation by switching costumes in a forever loop.

Extension Challenges

Try these after completing the main project:

• Add shrinking if the dragonfly hits an obstacle.
• Add multiple food items with different growth values.
• Add a baby dragonfly that hatches from an egg at the start.

Reflection Questions

1. Which Scratch blocks did you use most in this project?
2. What would you add or change if you had more time?
3. How could you reuse the ideas from this project in a different context?

Share Your Work

When your project is complete, click Share in Scratch and post the link to your class or the Techbase community.