Vidcode: Bestie Greeting Card
Educator Resources
70 minutes
JavaScript
The Activity
Learn how to make a greeting card with JavaScript! You will learn how to manipulate your own videos by accessing each and every pixel and telling it what to do with CODE! You can also upload and record your own footage to personalize the experience. Created in partnership with GSGNY.
Big Idea: Coding can be fun with friends!
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CSTA 1B-AP-09 Create programs that use variables to store and modify data.
CSTA 1B-AP-10 Create programs that include sequences, events, loops, and conditionals.
CSTA 1B-AP-15 Test and debug (identify and fix errors) a program or algorithm to ensure it runs as intended.
CSTA 1B-IC-21 Use public domain or creative commons media, and refrain from copying or using material created by others without permission.
CSTA 1B-IC-18 Discuss computing technologies that have changed the world, and express how those technologies influence, and are influenced by, cultural practices.
Lesson plan
Time: 70 minutes
10 minutes background
40 minutes coding
10 minutes sharing
10 minutes reflection
Background (10 minutes)
Programs can use functions to create and change effects. These functions control visual effects through values. The amount of the values determine the amount of the effect. The functions sometimes apply to videos or to text. Text functions also control the content of the text displayed.
Code Challenge (40 minutes)
Show the example project. Students will use functions to create a bestie card, and individualize it by making their own video, changing function values, color, text and graphic.
Sharing (10 minutes)
Be Prepared to share what you created and share/explain how it worked.
Reflection (10 minutes)
What things did other students create that you'd like to know how to do?
What things did you create that you are proud of figuring out?
How would you explain creative coding to your friend?
What is a function?
What are function values? What happens when you change them?
What is a property? How does it relate to an object?
The Girl Scouts of Greater New York and Vidcode Partnership
Our partnership is centered on a shared commitment to give teen girls leadership and STEM opportunities.
Girl Scouts of Greater New York is New York City’s largest girls-only leadership program, reaching 31,000+ girls ages 5 to 17 in every zip code of the five boroughs with the help of 8,100+ dedicated volunteers. Girl Scouts enjoy programs that include STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Business & Entrepreneurship, Environmental Leadership, and Personal Identity Leadership.
Vidcode is an award-winning software that teaches teens computer programming through their favorite hobby: video-making. Vidcode was built with teen girls in mind by an all female engineering team. Today it used by all - boys love it too! Users can upload mobile videos, code effects, and share with friends.
On Vidcode, we offer a multi-hour, self-paced curriculum in JavaScript for your Girl Scout troop to learn the fundamentals of programming and beyond! We teach programming through the lens of art. It's collaborative, social, and creative. For Computer Science Education Week we've created a special experience to get you started.
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