Lab 1.4 - Sprites in Action - rotational Style default

[toddcscar-prime]

The first instructions in Lab 1.4 read as follows:

1. In a new project, click on the file menu, then click costumes. Import the costumes dog2a and dog2b.

2. Write a script to make the sprite change costume each time the space bar is pressed. (The sprite should switch back and forth between the two costumes.)

3. Add to your script so that when the left arrow is pressed the sprite

• Face to the left.
• Move a few steps.
• Change costume when the left arrow key is pressed.

4. In your window, the dog should look like it is walking when you press the left arrow key repeatedly.

The image for the dog costume faces right.
Issuing either the turn block to 180 or the point direction block to -90 or 270 makes the dog costume upside down.
And so you cannot accomplish the 4th step of the instructions.

What is required to make the dog actually face left is to change the "rotational style" by using the "set variable" block and choose "my" and choose "rotational style" then enter a value of 2 and then the image will faces left. The default rotational style is 1.

IMO, It is too complicated to figure out this "rotational style" handling in the second unit of an Intro class without any guidance in the curriculum. Did the default value of the "rotational style" change somewhere along the lines in Snap!? Is there another way to make the dog face left that students should be able to find? I am not seeing any other option.

Update: There are three tiny buttons just to the left of the sprite image and name in the preview bar that controls the sprite rotation behavior. Don't rotate, only face right / left, can rotate. What I am arriving at is:

• Teachers need to completely go through every step of every single lab in the curriculum to make sure there are no missing pieces of information critical for the students to succeed.
• This lab or the accompanying slides need to be updated to refer to this rotation style.