**Course Title:** Introduction to Programming with Scratch **Section Title:** Variables and Operators **Topic:** Create a basic game that tracks and displays the player's score using variables. (Lab Topic) **Objective:** In this lab, you will create a basic game that tracks and displays the player's score using variables. By the end of this lab, you will be able to: 1. Create a game that tracks a player's score using a variable. 2. Use operators to update the score variable. 3. Display the score variable on the game screen. **Materials Needed:** * Scratch online account (create an account at [https://scratch.mit.edu/](https://scratch.mit.edu/)) * A computer or laptop with internet connection **Step 1: Create a New Project and Add Sprites** Create a new project in Scratch by clicking on the "Create" button on the top right corner of the screen. Name your project "Score Tracker Game". In this game, we will use a ball sprite to bounce around the screen, and a player sprite to click on the ball to score points. Create a new sprite by clicking on the "Paint" icon in the top left corner of the screen and then clicking on the "Convert to Vector" button. Name this sprite "Ball". Create another new sprite and name it "Player". This sprite will represent the player who will click on the ball to score points. **Step 2: Create a Score Variable** To track the player's score, we will create a variable called "Score". To create a variable, click on the "Data" tab in the top menu bar, and then click on the "Make a Variable" button. Name your variable "Score" and click "OK". **Step 3: Set the Initial Score** To set the initial score to 0, we will use the "Set" block from the "Data" category. Drag and drop the "Set" block into the script area and connect it to the "When Flag Clicked" block. This will set the score to 0 when the game starts. **Step 4: Update the Score** To update the score when the player clicks on the ball, we will use the "Forever" block from the "Control" category and the "If-Then" block from the "Control" category. Drag and drop the "Forever" block into the script area and connect it to the "When Flag Clicked" block. Inside the "Forever" block, add a new block: "If-Then". This block will check if the ball sprite is being clicked by the player. If the ball is being clicked, the score will be updated by 1 point. To update the score, we will use the "Change" block from the "Data" category. Drag and drop the "Change" block into the script area and connect it to the "If-Then" block. Set the score to increase by 1 point each time the ball is clicked. **Step 5: Display the Score** To display the score on the game screen, we will use the "Say" block from the "Looks" category. Drag and drop the "Say" block into the script area and connect it to the "Forever" block. Inside the "Say" block, type "Score: " followed by the "Score" variable. This will display the score on the game screen. **Step 6: Add a Reset Button** To add a reset button to reset the score to 0, we will use the "When Space Key Pressed" block from the "Sensing" category. Drag and drop the "When Space Key Pressed" block into the script area. Inside the "When Space Key Pressed" block, add a new block: "Set" block from the "Data" category. This will reset the score to 0 when the space key is pressed. **Conclusion:** In this lab, you created a basic game that tracks and displays the player's score using variables. You learned how to create a variable, set its initial value, update it using operators, and display it on the game screen. **Takeaways:** * A variable is a container that stores a value that can change. * Operators are used to update the value of a variable. * Variables can be used to track a player's score in a game. **Challenges:** * Add more features to your game, such as level up and lives. * Use different sprites and costumes to create a more interesting game. **What to Do Next:** * Experiment with different values and operators to see how they affect the score. * Try creating a different game that uses variables and operators. Leave a comment or ask for help if you are having trouble with this lab. You can ask for help by adding a comment below or by asking for help on the Scratch Forum. What's Next? In the next topic, we will learn about events and message broadcasting. We will create a program that responds to different events and broadcasts messages to other sprites. [Continue to Events and Message Broadcasting](not provided).