In Game Application

•  Open-ended projects, stopping the shape shifter

The micro:bit has an on-board speaker that lets it make different sounds (all in various flavors of “beep” — it’s not a particularly complex speaker). It can play specific notes or even short songs.

Facilitator guides the students through “Make a Song” Project:

The micro:bit also had an on-board microphone that lets it sense how loud a sound is. At the most basic, you can tell it to use loud or soft sounds as an input (i.e., if the micro:bit senses a loud sound, it should do something).

The microphone can also be used to sense how loud a sound is. 

This is really useful because you can use it to control something depending on the loudness — for instance, to create the impression of a karaoke robot that “sings” to the music, or to have lights pulse in time to a beat.  — > Does this need a pause?? Check code!

Facilitator guides the students through “Sense a Sound” Project:

Some ideas for inspiration:

1. Explore the other sound blocks — tempo, volume, etc.

2. Use the sound level to control a servo. Try attaching materials to the servo arm for different effects.

3. Plot the sound level as a bar graph on the LED strip.