OVERVIEW

Activity Overview:

Students will create a ‘guitar’ from cardboard, aluminum foil, and a micro:bit and explain how energy is converted from touch to electricity to sound.

Meta description

• Subject Area: Computer Science, Science, Technology
• Grade Level : 3-5, 6-8
• Computer Science Domains:
  • Computing Systems, Algorithms and Programming
• Computer Science Principles:
  • Developing and Using Abstractions, Creating Computational Artifacts, Testing and Refining Computational Artifacts
• Materials:
  • Website, Micro:bit
• Considerations:
  • Scratch Link will need to be installed for this lesson to work.

Lesson Plan

Overview

Students will create a ‘guitar’ from cardboard, aluminum foil, and a micro:bit and explain how energy is converted from touch to electricity to sound.

ASSESSMENT PRE/POST-TEST

How does a computer know to make sounds? What types of energy can be changed from one type to another? How do you improve a code?

OBJECTIVES

code and design a microbit guitar. explain how energy transfer occurs in order for the guitar to work.

CATCH/HOOK

Demonstrate an example guitar. If possible, hide the alligator clips and microbit. Ask students how the computer knows to play notes. Have them generate questions to explore.

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

This activity is based on: https://microbit.org/projects/make-it-code-it/scratch-guitar/ Have students cut out a cardboard instrument and affix three strips of foil to one end of the instrument and another to the other. Attach the GND pin to the lone strip using alligator clips. Then use alligator clips to the three other strips to pins 0, 1, 2. Connect the MicroBit to the computer and code the code shown on the microbit link. If students don’t have a background in coding, or if the teacher is uncomfortable in this field, the code can be downloaded from the above link. Use this link to see a step by step coding and student digital workbook. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1A1_pBNJVDfa3ZGF-pTnnP-9wEtVLiws-ke8FWU82Lzo/copy#slide=id.ge4230c9e0a_1_0

Supplements

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REVIEW

Share guitars and discuss what went well and what needs to be modified.

STANDARDS