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Coordinates

🟨🐱 Technique Card: Understanding Coordinates in Scratch

How to use coordinates in Scratch!

✨ What Are Coordinates?

Scratch uses a 2D grid system to position sprites on the stage. Each place on the stage has an (x, y) coordinate:

Axis Direction Values go from Example
x Left ↔ Right -240 to 240 x = -100 is left of centre
y Down ↕ Up -180 to 180 y = 150 is near the top

The centre of the stage is at (0, 0) – right in the middle.

🧪 Try It!

Click on a sprite, then:

  • Use the go to x: ___ y: ___ block (from Motion category)
  • Try different values and watch the sprite jump to those spots
  • Try glide 1 secs to x: ___ y: ___ for smooth movement

🎓 Top Tips

  • Use positive x values to move right, negative x to move left
  • Use positive y to move up, negative y to move down
  • Use the Xy-grid backdrop (in the Backdrops library) to help visualise the coordinate system

💡 Handy Blocks

  • go to x: 0 y: 0 – sends sprite to centre
  • glide 1 secs to x: 100 y: -100 – smooth glide
  • set x to 150 / set y to -80 – move only in one direction

🛠️ Challenges

  1. Make a sprite jump to the corners of the stage using go to x: y: blocks
  2. Make a sprite glide in a square using glide and different coordinates
  3. Combine with when green flag clicked to set starting position

Watch the video