Alice Tutorials Summers 2008-2012
Note: This material is still constantly being revised and added to.
Each tutorial comes with the original powerpoint (.ppt) file for you to modify as well as 1-slide, 2-slides, and 4-slides per page handouts. Most topical tutorials also have an exercises page with suggested practice to reinforce what was taught in the tutorial. Files (such as starting worlds or sounds) needed for the tutorial are also provided to download. For many of the tutorials we now include a movie of the finished world.
We also provide a handout that is a glossary of Alice terms
Here are mappings of our Alice materials to the Common Core Mathematics standards and the Computer Science Teachers Association standards.

Adventures In Alice Programming Duke Site by Susan Rodger and Alice Team at Duke University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Tutorial Index:
- Getting Started Tutorials (Beginner)
- Essentials of Alice Tutorials (15 Minutes)
- Introduction to Alice Tutorials (1 Hour)
- Learning to Program with Alice Tutorials (3 or 4 Parts)
- Topical Tutorials
- Workshop Tutorials
- Helper Objects
- Additional Beginner Level Tutorials
- Additional Intermediate Level Tutorials
- Additional Advanced Level Tutorials
- Challenges (Mostly Advanced)
- Math Project Tutorials (Mostly Advanced)
- Other Project Tutorials (Mostly Advanced)
Back to the main page
Getting Started Tutorials
These tutorials are written assuming no previous experience with Alice. There are no pre-requisites to these tutorials which make them ideal for a student's first Alice tutorial. Once a 'Getting Started Tutorial' is finished the students will be prepared to tackle some of the other topical tutorials on this site. They are organized by time and depth into Alice. We suggest at least doing onf of the 1 hour tutorials, and, if time permits, one of the 4 part tutorials.
Essentials of Alice Tutorials (15 Minutes)
These tutorials are very short just so one can try a simple Alice world.
Name: The Essentials of Alice (Bunny)
Level: Beginner
Time: 15 minutes
Date: July 2008
Description: A short tutorial that introduces the learner to Alice by walking through the creation of a world with a bunny. Good for a first time glimpse at what Alice can do. Concepts introduced include scene set up and built-in methods.
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Name: The Essentials of Alice (Kangaroo)
Level: Beginner
Time: 15 minutes
Date: May 2009
Description: A short tutorial that introduces the learner to Alice by walking through the creation of a world with a kangaroo. Good for a first time glimpse at what Alice can do. Concepts introduced include scene set up and built-in methods.
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Introduction to Alice Tutorials (1 Hour)
These are about one hour tutorials to show Alice basics that have been used with kids from 3rd grade to 12th grade. These tutorials focus on similar concepts so you can do just one of them and move on, or do the second one to reinforce concepts.
Name: An Introduction to Alice
Level: Beginner
Time: 1 hour
Date: June 2009
Description:This tutorial can be used by first time Alice users to
learn the Alice basics. The characters are an astronaut and a humvee.
Finished World:
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Name: An Introduction to Alice (Short)
Level: Beginner
Time: 30 minutes
Date: November 2012
Description:This tutorial is a shortened version of the Getting Sarted tutorial above.
The characters are also an astronaut and a humvee and the user will learn how to add objects,
move and adjust objects in the world, use methods, create new methods, create events, and use the "vehicle" property.
Finished World:
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Getting Started with Alice
Level: Beginner
Time: 1 Hour
Date: July 2008
Description: This tutorial introduces basic Alice concepts such as adding objects, setting up a scene, writing and using a new method, camera control and simple events. This tutorial is written with a target of ages 8 and up to get younger kids interested in Alice but could also be used as a first tutorial for older kids.
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Learning to Program in Alice Tutorials (3 or 4 Parts)
These are multi-part in-depth tutorials for beginners that can be used as a first Alice tutorial, or you could start with one of the one-hour tutorials above in the Introduction to Alice Tutorials section and then reinforce and build on them by doing one of these multi-part tutorials.
Name: Princess and Dragon Version 2 - Introduction to Alice
Level: Beginner
Time: 45 Minutes per part
Date: July 2012
Description: In this tutorial, we'll be creating a short animated story about a princess who is captured by a dragon and rescued by a knight that comes riding in.
The tutorial is broken up into three parts. Note that this is the second version of the Princess Dragon tutorial, designed to be shorter and easier to complete while covering the same content.
Finished Worlds:
Part 1,
Part 2,
Finished,
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Part 1: Setting Up an Alice World
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Part 2: Using Methods
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Part 3: Billboards, Events, Sounds, 3D Text, and Properties
Downloads:
smooch.wav,
castle.jpg,
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Princess and Dragon Version 1 - Introduction to Alice
Level: Beginner
Time: 45 Minutes per part
Date: June 2010
Description: This tutorial has four parts showing you how to add
objects, set up scenes, write new methods, camera control, events, and how
to do many other things with Alice.
Finished Worlds:
Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3,
Part 4
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Part 1: Scene Set up and Starting Animation
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Part 2: Writing Methods and Events
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Part 3: Camera Control, Invisibility and 3-D Text
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Part 4: Sounds, Billboards, 3D Text, AsSeenBy
Downloads:
creature_roar2.wav,
forest-1.jpg,
stage-curtain1.jpg
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Name: Skater World: Learning to Program
Level: Beginner
Time: 45 Minutes per part
Date: June 2009
Description: This tutorial has four parts showing you how to add objects, set up scenes, change properties,
write new methods, camera control, import and animate 2D images, use 3D text, and sound.
Finished Worlds:
Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3,
Part 4
Part 1: Scene Set up and Starting Animation
Links:
Part One Powerpoint,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Part 2: Writing Methods, Changing Properties and using As Seen By
Links:
Part Two Powerpoint,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Part 3:Camera Control and Events
Links:
Part Three Powerpoint,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Part 4:Animating 2D Images, 3D Text and Using Sound
Downloads: Plane Image | TakeOff Image | Sound Clip
Links:
Part Four Powerpoint,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Name: Learning to Program with Alice
Level: Beginner
Time: 45 Minutes per part
Date: July 2008
Description: This tutorial has four parts showing you how to add objects, set up scenes, write new methods, camera control, events, and how to do many other things with Alice.
Finished Worlds:
Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3,
Part 4
Part 1: Scene Set up and Starting Animation
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Part 2: Writing Methods and Events
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Part 3: Camera Control, Invisibility and 3-D Text
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Part 4: Sounds, Billboards, 3D Text, AsSeenBy
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Topical Tutorials
Topical tutorials are written with the goal of giving the reader more
experience with a given topic in Alice. Before trying topical tutorials,
one should do one of the one-hour beginner tutorials, or one set of the
four one-hour tutorials.
The topical tutorials are organized in two
ways. First we give the topical tutorials we use in our workshops at
Duke. Then we list additional tutorials at different levels
difficulty from beginner, to intermediate, to advanced.
Workshop Tutorials
In our workshop at Duke, we first do the one-hour astronaut and humvee tutorial, followed by the four-part princess/dragon tutorial (both above in the getting started tutorials), followed by these tutorials.
Name: How Tall Are You? Introducing Decisions and the use of Functions
Level: Beginner
Time: 30 minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: one-hour beginner tutorial, or 4 part beginner tutorial
Description: This tutorial shows you how to make a decision by
asking a question whose answer is true or false. If the answer is true, you
can do one action, if the answer is false, you can do another action.
You will make a decision with an IF/ELSE statement and using functions
height and distance.
You will help the guy and the penguin figure out who is the tallest. The
tallest will then indicate they are the tallest.
Worlds:
Start,
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
4-Handout,
Exercises
Name: Headshots in Alice
Level: Intermediate
Time: 1 Hour
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: Any Getting Started Tutorial
Description: A tutorial that shows how to insert faces into Alice in the form of pictures on billboards. Topics covered include billboards, camera movement, and 'invisible'.
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout, Exercises
Name: Kangaroo Visits Friends: Making Methods More Flexible
with Parameters
Level: Advanced
Time: 45 Minutes
Date: June 2009
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: This tutorial shows how to teach the Kangaroo to visit
all his friends, one at a time, by just writing one method. This method is
more flexible in that it uses parameters as a place holder for the animal
and the phrase the animal will say.
World: Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links: .ppt,
Slides
(.pdf),
2-Handout
,
4-Handout,
Exercises
Name: Creating Simple Objects with Shapes and Textures: Texture Maps
Level: Intermediate
Time: 45 minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: 1-Hour Introduction and Billboards or 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: This tutorial teaches how to use texture maps to create new objects
by pasting pictures onto blank shape objects.You will learn how to make
a building, an American flag, and a person's head.
Worlds:
Finished
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
4-Handout,
Exercises
Name: Making Objects Move in Unison: Using Lists
Level: Intermediate
Time: 30 minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: This tutorial teaches how to use lists to make groups of objects move in
unison, or do the same thing one at a time. The main characters are a group of evil ninjas.
World:
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
4-Handout,
Exercises
Name: Sharing Alice
Level: Intermediate
Time: 15 Minutes
Date: July 2011
Prerequisite: Any Getting Started tutorial
Description: This tutorial shows you how to export your alice worlds into video format as well as use Alice's built in tools to print your code and create an Alice Webpage. Very useful for those of you that want to share your work but don't want to make others download Alice to view it.
World: Original Alice World
Alice Code: Code Page
Webpage: HugWorld.html
Videos: .mov, .avi
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout
Name: Changing Color: Advanced Functions
Level: Advanced
Time: 45 Minutes
Date: July 2009
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Using Functions
Description: This tutorial shows how to write functions,
introduces variables, and
how to generate random numbers and use them. The
theme is to click on the chicken and
change its color (in a cycle), and then click on the snowman and change
its color randomly.
World: Finished
Videos: .mov, .avi
Links: .ppt,
Slides
(.pdf), 2-Handout
, 4-Handout,
Exercises
Name: Creating a Fancier Chicken - Inheritance
Level: Intermediate
Time: 45 minutes
Date: June 2009
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Parameters
Description: This tutorial shows you how to modify and save out existing classes in Alice. You create a modified chicken class that inherits everything from the original Chicken class but also has some new methods and modified properties.
Files:
TalentedChicken.a2c
Links:
.ppt,
Slides,
2-Handout,
4-Handout,
Exercises
Name: Making Folders in the Local Gallery
Level: Intermediate
Time: 20 Minutes
Date: June 2009
Prerequisites: Any Getting Started Tutorial
Description: This tutorial will show you how to add and edit your own folders in the Alice Gallery. It will show you how to put objects into them as well as create images for the folders. The tutorial will NOT show you how to create new classes in Alice but you can use the classes you save out and put them in your own folders.
Downloads: directoryThumbnail.png
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout, Exercises
Name: Bunny Eat Broccoli: Repetition - Simple loops and Conditional
loops
Level: Advanced
Time: 30 Minutes
Date: July 2011
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Kangaroo Visits Friends (parameters)
Description: This tutorial shows how to teach the bunny to eat
all the broccoli, one at a time. It shows how to use a simple loop to move
the bunny. Then it shows how to move the bunny using a while loop, with
the bunny hopping over to the broccoli repeatedly as long as the distance
between the bunny and the broccoli is greater than 0.6. When the bunny
gets close enough to the broccoli, the while loop stops, and thus the
bunny stops. This tutorial also uses parameters and there is an optional
section at the end if you know lists.
World: Finished
World2: Finished
with optional List
Videos: .mov, .avi
Links: .pptx,
Slides
(.pdf),
2-Handout
,
4-Handout,
Exercises
Name: Scene Change
Level: Intermediate
Time: Approx. 30 minutes
Date: June 2009
Updated: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Variables
Description: This tutorial shows you how to animate scene changes, by changing the camera views
and importing an object that allows you to access the six template grounds.
World (New Version):
Finished
Videos (New Version):
sceneChange2.mov,
sceneChange2.avi
Links (New Version):
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf)
World (Old Version):
Finished
Videos (Old Version):
sceneChange.mov,
sceneChange.avi
Downloads (Old Version):
superGround.a2c
Links (Old Version):
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout ,
4-Handout
Name: Lights Camera Action! Part 3: BDE Events
Level: Intermediate
Time: 30 Minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: 1 Hour or 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Bunny Eat
Broccoli Loop tutorial
Description: This tutorial introduces a new type of event called the BDE. Concepts used in this tutorial include functions and methods. The tutorial will walk the user through the creation of a BDE event, explaining each of the components in a BDE.
World: Finished
Videos: .mov, .avi
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout, Exercises
Name: Repetition Everywhere - comparing while in a method and as an event
Level: Advanced
Time: 45 Minutes
Date: July 2010
Updated: July 2011
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial and Lights, Camera,
Action Part 3 BDE tutorial
Description: This tutorial builds on the BDE tutorial explaining
the difference between while used as an event and used in a method. This
tutorial also compares the when event to an if statement and the difference
between and while and a when event. It also shows how to guard a BDE so it
happens
only at certain times. (added Part 2 July 2011)
World: Finished
Part 1 only
World: Finished
with Part 2
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links: .ppt,
Slides
(.pdf),
2-Handout
,
4-Handout,
Exercises
Name: Simple Quiz
Level: Intermediate
Time: Approx. 30 minutes
Date: July 2011
Prerequisites: 1 Hour or 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Introduction to Functions, Variables
Description: This tutorial shows you how to create a simple quiz
using the three different "ask user" functions. (added Part 2 July 2011)
World:
Finished, Part 1 only
World:
Finished with Part 2
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.ppt,
Slides
(.pdf)
Handout 2/page
(.pdf)
Handout 4/page
(.pdf)
Name: Visual Arrays in Alice
Level: Advanced
Time: 1 hour
Date: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: The purpose of this tutorial is to demonstrate how to use visual arrays in Alice worlds.
An array is an ordered collection of objects stored by an index.
World:
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Helper Objects
Helper objects are objects we have created that make it easier to do something since they include a most of the code for that task. For example, a timer object is already written and you can just use the timer methods. In the quiz objects you can easily create a quiz by just calling a method to send the quiz a question and answer.
Name: Stopwatch Object
Level: Advanced
Time: 30 minutes
Date: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: This is a stopwatch object that you can import into your Alice world to keep time with three methods: start, pause, and reset.
Object:
Stopwatch.a2c
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Countdown Timer Object
Level: Advanced
Time: 30 minutes
Date: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: This is a stopwatch object that counts down and you can import into your Alice world with three methods: start, pause,
and initialize to set the start time to however many seconds you want.
Object:
Countdown Timer.a2c
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Scorekeeper Object
Level: Advanced
Time: 30 minutes
Date: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: This is a scorekeeper object that you can import into your Alice world to keep the score of a game or quiz with three methods: set score,
increment score (by any amount), and decrement score (by any amount).
Object:
Scorekeeper.a2c
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Fader Object
Level: Advanced
Time: 30 minutes
Date: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: This object will allow you fade out and fade in to different scenes in your Alice world
and you will also be able to specify how long you want it to take.
Object:
Fader.a2c
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Template World: Click on the object to answer
Level: Intermediate
Time: Approx. 30-45 minutes
Date: July 2009
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Parameters
Description: This tutorial shows you how to import a template object to create a quiz or game in which the user must click on the object to answer the question.
Template Object and Example World:
quiz template object,
Example World
Links for tutorial materials:
Worlds
Starting World,
Finished World
Tutorials
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Name: Template Object: Quiz using 'ask user' functions
Level: Intermediate
Time: Approx. 30-45 minutes
Date: July 2009
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Parameters
Description: This tutorial shows you how to import a template object to create a quiz in which the questions are asked using the built in world 'ask user' functions .
Template Object:
Quiz Template Object
Links for tutorial materials:
Worlds
Starting World,
Finished World
Tutorials
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Name: Template World: Click on the match
Level: Intermediate
Time: Approx. 30-45 minutes
Date: July 2009
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Parameters, Making billboards
Description: This tutorial shows you how to use a template world to create a quiz or game in which the user must click on the object that is the best match.
Template and Example Worlds:
Template World: match1.a2w,
match1 Example World
Template World: match2.a2w,
match2 Example World
Links for tutorial materials:
Worlds
Starting World,
Finished World
Download images
word1.jpg, word2.jpg, word3.jpg
Tutorials
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
4-Handout
Other Beginner Level Tutorials
Name: Teaching Characters to Walk: Learning Methods, Part 1
Level: Beginner
Time: 30-45 minutes
Date: June 2008
Prerequisites: Any Getting Started Tutorial
Description: This tutorial teaches the basics of writing methods. You will teach a turtle
how to walk, a kangaroo how to hop, and then make them race against each other.
Worlds:
Start,
Finished
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout, 4-Handout,
Exercises
Name: Using Parameters to Simplify Your Methods: Learning Methods, Part 2
Level: Beginner
Time: 20 minutes
Date: June 2008
Prerequisites: Learning Methods Part 1
Description: This tutorial builds on "Learning Methods, Part 1", continuing
the story of the turtle and the kangaroo. You will
learn how to use parameters, and how to save out your characters and use them in
other worlds. You will also learn how to use the "isShowing" property.
Worlds:
Start,
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
4-Handout,
Exercises
Name: Buttons and Birds: Introduction to Events
Level: Beginner
Time: 30 Minutes
Date: August 2008
Prerequisites: Learning Methods or 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: This tutorial introduces simple interactive events in Alice so that the user can interact with an Alice world using keystrokes and mouse clicks. The tutorial covers keyboard and mouse click events. Concepts used include methods.
Worlds:
Start,
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout,
Exercises
Name: Alice and Daisies
Level: Beginner
Time: 30 Minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: 1 Hour Introduction Tutorial
Description: A tutorial focusing on the movement and placement of objects in Alice. Concepts covered include centers, quad view, and orientation.
World:
Starting World
Links: .ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
4-Handout,
Exercises
Name: Lights Camera Action! Part 1: Camera Control
Level: Beginner
Time: 30 Minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: 1 Hour Introduction Tutorial
Description: This tutorial shows how to move and control the camera during world set up and drop dummy cameras. Concepts covered include adding and positioning objects in the world.
World: Finished
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout, Exercises
Other Intermediate Level Tutorials
Name: Nonvisual Arrays
Level: Intermediate
Time: 45 minutes
Date: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Functions
Description: This tutorial will show you how to create nonvisual arrays in Alice.
Nonvisual arrays are ordered collections of objects or data types the same as visual arrays, only without the ArrayVisualization object.
World:
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Visual Lists in Alice
Level: Intermediate
Time: 30 minutes
Date: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: In this tutorial, you will learn how to use visual lists in Alice with the ListVisualization object. We will make a group of characters
perform actions in order and then together at the same time, and then cycle through the objects by removing and inserting characters in the list.
World:
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Lights, Camera, Action! Part 2: Light
Level: Intermediate
Time: 30 Minutes
Date: June 2009
Prerequisites: 1 Hour or 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: This tutorial shows the user how to add Light objects in Alice and manipulate them to construct a scene from the Nutcracker. Changing of the atmosphere color and fog is also covered to create a realistic sunrise effect. Other Topics include the vehicle property, loops, and opacity.
Worlds: Start, Finished
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout, Exercises
Name: Shark vs. TRex: Understanding AsSeenBy
Level: Intermediate
Time: 30 Minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: 1 Hour or 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: Teaching the basics of asSeenBy in Alice using an interaction between a shark and TRex over a coconut. Additional concepts covered include methods, sound, style, and events.
World: Finished
Downloads: Start World, Jaws.wav
Videos: .mov, .avi
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout, Exercises
Name: Making Billboards
Level: Intermediate
Time: 45 Minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: 1 Hour or 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: A tutorial that will teach you how to import images into Alice in the form of Billboards. Tutorial walks the user through the creation of an instruction and a question billboard. Concepts include events and methods.
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout, Exercises
Name: Let's Play Catch: Keeping Score in Alice
Level: Intermediate
Time: 45 Minutes
Date: May 2010
Prerequisites: 1 Hour or 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: This tutorial shows you how to make a game with a score. You will create a game where the player must catch a ball. Topics covered include collision detection, scores, dropping a dummy at an object
World:
Finished
Videos:
.mov, .avi
Links:
.ppt,
4-Handout
Name: What can burn in the Junkyard? Creating Functions
Level: Intermediate
Time: 30 - 45 Minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: 1 Hour or 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Variables
Description: In this tutorial you will add functions to an interactive world by restricting what objects can be burned. Functions
and parameters are the main focus but nested IF/ELSE statements are also covered.
Worlds:
Start,
Finished
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
4-Handout
Name: Checking for Collisions
Level: Intermediate
Time: 30 Minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Introduction to Functions
Description: This tutorial explains how to create and use a function that tests for the collision between two objects in Alice. Concepts used include functions.
World: Finished
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout, Exercises
Name: Restricting Events
Level: Intermediate
Time: 30 Minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Variables
Description: This tutorial starts off with the beginnings of a chicken game. The game is broken however because you can move onto the next task/level before the first level is finished. The tutorial shows the user how to fix it by restricting events in Alice.
Worlds: Start, Finished
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout, Exercises
Name: Animating Objects in Groups: Using Arrays and Lists
Level: Intermediate
Time: 30 minutes
Date: Summer 2008
Prerequisites: 1 Hour or 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description:This tutorial instructs how to use arrays and lists to animate
objects all together, or to animate only part of a group together. The main characters
are chickens, and they are programmed to do movements either simultaneously, one
at a time, or in small groups.
Worlds:
Start,
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
4-Handout,
Exercises
Other Advanced Level Tutorials
Name: Nonvisual Arrays and Recursion in Alice
Level: Advanced
Time: 45 minutes
Date: June 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Functions
Description: This tutorial will display how to create and use nonvisual arrays and recursion in Alice.
Nonvisual arrays are ordered collections of objects or data types the same as visual arrays, only without the ArrayVisualization object.
Recursion is an advanced computer science concept when a function must call itself with a smaller problem in order to solve a larger one.
This example uses Fibonacci's series as the recursive function.
World:
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Coloring Randomly: Random Selection
Level: Advanced
Time: 30 Minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Parameters
Description: Walks the learner through the creation of a world where the penguins change to one of four colors randomly and then the name of the color appears. Additional concepts covered include color changing, 3D text, and parameters.
Worlds: Start, Finished
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout, Exercises
Name: Timer Tutorial
Level: Advanced
Time: 30 Minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: 1-Hour or 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Variables, Parameters, Functions
Description: A tutorial that creates a timer that can count down and be used in developing games in Alice. Concepts used include variables and while loops, parameters, and functions.
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout, Exercises
Challenges
Challenges are Alice worlds that are already built except for one part (a missing method or function) that focuses on a concept to learn. Most of these are related to math projects for middle and high school math. The handouts explain the problem and tell you which function or method you need to write. These challenges are more advanced.
Name: Tic-Tac-Toe
Level: Advanced
Time: 15 minutes
Date: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: In this challenge, we want to complete a world function
"determineWinner" to make the boy give the correct winner every time a new random
board is generated.
World:
Start,
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Trigonometry Prom
Level: Advanced
Time: 30 minutes
Date: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: Complete the world function howFar
(distanceToDiscoBall, heightOfDiscoBall) to
figure out how far he needs to move to meet
his date under the disco ball for a dance.
World:
Start,
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Distance Challenge
Level: Advanced
Time: 30 minutes
Date: January 2013
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: Complete the world function "distance" to calculate how far Jimmy must travel
to reach his destinations in the city.
World:
Start,
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Calculator Challenge
Level: Advanced
Date: January 2013
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: Fill in the functions of this world to create a calculator that can add, subtract, multiply, and divide in Alice.
If you get this, make sure to try out some of the more advanced challenges to make a better calculator.
World:
Start,
Finished (Basic)
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Boat Racing Game Math Challenges
Level: Advanced
Date: January 2013
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: These challenges are based off of the Boat Racing Game Tutorial in the Project Tutorials section. Use the data collected from the games that you play
to complete the functions that will calculate averages and speed.
Challenge #1 deals with calculating the average time the boar travels,
Challenge #2 deals with calculating the average distance between arches,
Challenge #3 deals with calculating the speed of the boat during a game,
and Challenge #4 deals with finding the average time over multiple games played.
World 1: Start, Solution
Videos: .mov, .avi
Links: .pptx, Slides (.pdf)
World 2: Start, Solution
Videos: .mov, .avi
Links: .pptx, Slides (.pdf)
World 3: Start, Solution
Videos: .mov, .avi
Links: .pptx, Slides (.pdf)
World 4: Start, Solution
Videos: .mov, .avi
Links: .pptx, Slides (.pdf)
Math Project Tutorials
These particular project tutorials are all related to middle school math. The tutorials will walk you through the creation of a certain type of world. Many of these worlds are similar to the worlds found on the Examples page. These tutorials will put together many of the concepts learned in the topical tutorials and thus are more advanced.
Name: Distributive Property Tutorial
Level: Expert
Time: 1 - 1.5 hours
Date: July 2011
Description:
This tutorial shows how to build a world to practice using the distributive property to expand simple expressions, which also includes practice multiplying negative integers. Programming concepts covered include: variables, random numbers, parameters, while loops, conditionals ("if" statements), events, arrays, and Alice animations.
Worlds:
Finished
Links:
Powerpoint,
Slides (.pdf),
Handout,
instructions.png,
Exercises
Standards
Name: Multiplication Table
Level: Advanced
Time: 45 Minutes
Date: June 2011
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Lists
Description: This tutorial will show you how to create an interactive multiplication table, while also teaching arrays, random numbers, nested loops, Whiles, animation, and other basic Alice concepts.
Worlds:
Start,
Finished
Links:
Powerpoint,
Slides (.pdf),
Handout,
Standards
Name: Ready, SET, Go!
Level: Advanced
Time: 1 Hour
Date: July 2011
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Lists
Description: This tutorial will teach you how to build SET, a card game whose objective is to identify as many groupings (sets) of three cards as possible. SET can be used as an early introduction to set theory, combinatorics, randomness and probability, and it also reinforces the programming concepts of events, loops, dealing with several methods and parallel arrays.
Worlds:
Start,
Finished
Links:
Powerpoint,
Slides (.pdf),
Handout,
Exercises
Name: Balancing the Scales: Inequalities
Level: Advanced
Time: 1 Hour
Date: June 2011
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: This tutorial shows how to create a world that tests a players knowledge of inequalities by comparing objects on a scale. Programming concepts covered are keeping score, events, nested conditionals, and other basic Alice topics.
World: Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links: Powerpoint, Slides (.pdf), 2-Handout, 4-Handout,
Exercises,
Standards
Name: 1 Ball, 2 Ball, Red Ball, Blue Ball
Level: Advanced
Time: 1 Hour
Date: June 2011
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Lists
Description: This tutorial teaches you to create a simulation to use simple random sampling and stratified sampling to sample red and blue marbles from two boxes. Programming concepts included are arrays, random numbers, variables, and other basic Alice animation.
Downloads:
instructionsBillboard
Worlds:
Start,
Finished
Links:
Powerpoint,
Slides (.pdf),
Handout,
Exercises,
Standards
Name: Can I Get Your Number?
Level: Advanced
Time: 45 Minutes
Date: June 2011
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Lists
Description: This tutorial will teach you to build a world that animates the process of random digit dialing to collect a random sample of the population. Programming concepts covered include arrays, random numbers, loops, variables, events, and other basic Alice concepts.
Download:
instructionsBillboard
World:
Finished
Links:
Powerpoint,
Slides (.pdf),
Handout,
Exercises,
Standards
Name: Line Up
Level: Advanced
Time: 1 Hour
Date: June 2011
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Lists
Description: Here you will build a demonstration that animates all of the possible permutations of 2, 3, and 4 students standing in a line and relates this to factorials. Programming concepts covered include arrays, loops, billboards, events, and more basic Alice concepts.
Downloads:
permutationsBillboard,
factorialBillboard
Worlds:
Finished
Links:
Powerpoint,
Slides (.pdf),
Handout,
Exercises,
Standards
Name: The Matrix
Level: Advanced
Time: 1 Hour
Date: June 2011
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Lists, Parameters
Description: This tutorial will show you how to create an interactive matrix multiplication tool in Alice that you can use to multiply any two 2x2 matrices. Programming ideas covered include arrays, variables, helper methods, billboards, and other basic Alice concepts.
Downloads:
instructionsBillboard
Worlds:
Start,
Finished
Links:
Powerpoint,
Slides (.pdf),
Handout,
Standards
Name: Plotting Points
Level: Advanced
Time: 1 hour
Date: June 2010
Prerequisites: 4 part beginner tutorial, variables
Description: This tutorial shows you create a world in which the player has to plot certain points on a graph. Topics covered include billboards, object position detection, and the print method.
Links: Powerpoint,
Slides (.pdf),
grid.gif
Worlds:
Finished
Advanced Example Worlds:
Plotting a Line,
Scatter Plots and Best fit lines
Videos:
bikePlot.mov,
bikePlot.avi
Name: Probability World
Level: Advanced
Time: 45 minutes
Date: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Methods, Lists
Description: In this world, you will create a probability game where players will have to give the probability of choosing a certain colored
ball from a hole in the ground.
Note: There is also a minor bug in this game where you must copy the instructions in the while loop of the selectBall method, delete the instructions
there, and move the copy back to the while loop. Sorry for the inconvenience and this problem will be fixed soon.
World:
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Other Project Tutorials
Project tutorials will walk you through the creation of a certain type of world. Many of these worlds are similar to the worlds found on the Examples page. These tutorials will put together many of the concepts learned in the topical tutorials and thus are more advanced.
Name: Asteroids
Level: Advanced
Time: 1.5 hours
Date: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: This tutorial shows you how to recreate the 1979 Atari
classic video game Asteroids in Alice.
World:
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Building the Solar System
Level: Advanced
Time: 1 hour
Date: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: The purpose of this tutorial is to use Alice to build a working
model of the solar system.
World:
Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: Let's Race!: Keyboarding Racing Game
Level: Advanced
Time: 45 minutes
Date: July 2012
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: In this tutorial you will be creating a
bike racing game to practice
keyboarding. Your bike will move
forward when you type the correct
letters. Get to the end first to
win!
World:
Start, Finished
Videos:
.mov,
.avi
Links:
.pptx,
Slides (.pdf)
Name: 3D Helium Molecule Tutorial
Level: Intermediate
Time: 1 Hour
Date: June 2008
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Lists
Description: A tutorial that walks the learner through the creation of a helium molecule model. Topics covered include changing object properties, lists, billboards, and the vehicle property.
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout, Exercises
Name: Creating a Historical Tour in Alice
Level: Intermediate
Time: 1 Hour
Date: May 2010
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Billboards
Description: This tutorial shows how to use Alice to make a historical tour
world, that can be used to showcase a student's knowledge of some historical
topic. The history of the Brooklyn Bridge is the example used.
World: Finished
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 2-Handout, 4-Handout
Name: Making a Book Report in Alice
Level: Intermediate
Time: 1 Hour
Date: June 2010
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Billboards
Description: This tutorial shows how to use Alice to make a book report. The
book "Charlotte's Web" is used as the example book, but any book can be used
when completing this tutorial.
World: Finished
Videos: .mov, .avi
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 2-Handout, 4-Handout
Name: Space Man Sam: Grammar Mistakes
Level: Intermediate
Time: 45 minutes
Date: July 2010
Prerequisites: 1-Hour Introduction or 4-Part Introduction Tutorial
Description: A tutorial that teaches opacity, how to change it, and what it can be used for. Some examples that will be exercised in this tutorial include invisible buttons, fading text, and highlighting when clicked. Topics covered include opacity, methods, and events
Worlds:
Finished
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
2-Handout,
4-Handout
Name: Alice Pong
Level: Advanced
Time: 1.5 Hours
Date: June 2010
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Variables, BDE Event, Parameters
Description: The goal of this tutorial is to create a two player pong game in Alice. In the process, we will show you different ways of doing collision detection in Alice as well as two different ways of using keys to interact with a world. Variables will be used to keep track of state in the game. A BDE event will be used to put together all of the methods .
World: Finished
Downloads: Instruction Billboard Image
Videos: .mov, .avi
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 2-Handout , 4-Handout
Name: Creating a Boat Racing Game in Alice
Level: Advanced
Time: 1.5 Hours
Date: July 2010
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Variables, Lists.
Description: This tutorial shows how to use Alice to make a boat racing game,
in which you steer a boat through several arches, getting points for each
arch you drive through, and trying to beat the clock.
World: Finished
Videos: .mov, .avi
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 2-Handout, 4-Handout
Name: Treasure Hunt: A Click Adventure Game
Level: Advanced
Time: 1.5 Hours
Date: July 2010
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Variables, Parameters, Scene Change
Description: This tutorial shows you how to create a point and click adventure game in Alice. The story involves a boy trying to find treasure on an island.
World: Finished
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 2-Handout , 4-Handout
Name: Piñata Game: Keeping Score in Alice
Level: Advanced
Time: 45 Minutes
Date: July 2009
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Timer, BDE Event
Description: This tutorial teaches you how to create an object to keep track of score in a game. You will implement a game that allows players to hit a swinging piñata with a bat.
Worlds:
Start,
Finished
Links:
.ppt,
Slides (.pdf),
4-Handout
Name: Wizard Game: Class Level Variables
Level: Advanced
Time: 45 Minutes
Date: July 2008
Prerequisites: 4-Part Introduction Tutorial, Introduction to Functions
Description: A game in which a wizard must collect glowing gems. The wizard can teleport and magically locate gems. Create class level variables and use them to restrict the game as well as display them as the game is being played. Concepts include functions and if/else statements.
Worlds: Start, Finished
Links: .ppt, Slides (.pdf), 4-Handout, Exercises
Name: Cooking Show
Level: Advanced
Time: 1 hour
Date: June 2010
Description: This tutorial shows you how to create a cooking show game where the player must click and drag each ingredient to the bowl in the correct order. Collision detetection, restricting events, parameters, and variables are used.
Prerequisites: 4 part beginner tutorial, parameters
Worlds:
Finished (Spanish)
Finished (English)
Advanced example world (Spanish)
Advanced example world (English)
Links:
Powerpoint,
Slides (.pdf),