Unit of work
2 lessons
MakeCode
7-11 yrs
These lessons are aimed at students aged 7-9. Students familiarise themselves with the BBC micro:bit. They also create icons and animations by programming the micro:bit's LED display and using the forever block and count-controlled loops. You will ideally use physical micro:bits for these lessons, although you can also use the simulator.
Computer systems:
Input/output
Programming:
Iteration
Sequence
Creative thinking, evaluation.
In this lesson, pupils familiarise themselves with the micro:bit and identify various components on the device. Pupils examine how to transfer programs to the device and undertake a related unplugged activity. Pupils create their own programs using the predefined images, then go on to create their own images by programming individual LEDs.
Key learning:
In this lesson, pupils produce further programs with the micro:bit. Pupils produce an animation away from the device by creating a thaumatrope (an animation based on quickly moving between two images), which they share with the class. They then write a program containing their animation and a forever loop using MakeCode, before transferring it to the micro:bit. Pupils go on to use count controlled loops by producing a second animation, which they include within a program.
Key learning:
This content is published under an Open Government licence.
These lessons are mapped to the following learning objectives and standards:
This unit of four lessons is suitable for students aged 7-8 years. They create nature representations, firstly using art materials and are introduced to computational thinking and programming the LEDs on the BBC micro:bit.
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