Electricity Flow and Switches

1 - 1:10 pm: Introductions and Getting Hands-On right away

●      As students arrive, guide them through creating a simple LED Glowie (that they can keep!) and talk about how electricity must have a closed circuit in order to flow. Other conversation topics can include:

○      conductors vs. insulators

○      electricity being the flow of electrons

○      electricity following the path of least resistance

○      LED polarity

●      Also use this time to have group introductions, learn names, and chat with each other.

Supplies: LEDs, Coin Cell Batteries CR2032

Supplies( for each student):

• Arduino Uno

• Laptop Computer

• USB-B--->USB-A Cables

• USB A to USB C Adapters

• 9V Battery with Barrel Jack Connector
  
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• LEDs

• 330 Ohm Resistors

• Solderless Breadboard

• Wires

3 - 4 pm: Introduction to Microcontrollers

●      Give a brief talk about what microcontrollers are, and how they can be used to do all kinds of automated things.

●      Make sure every student has an Arduino Uno in front of them to follow along as you introduce the Arduino board itself as a microcontroller, and go over the nitty gritty details of the different pins. Be sure to include the topics of:

○      Digital vs. Analog pins

○      Pins are used to both send and receive information/signals

○      TX (transmit) and RX (receive) pins D0 and D1 are not for normal use

○      5V and 3.3V sources and 3 Grounds

○      Barrel Jack and USB connections

https://arduinotogo.com/2016/08/20/chapter-1-parts-of-an-arduino/

Low-Voltage DC Electronics & Microcontrollers-wire colors

• Red: Positive voltage (+VDC).

• Black: Ground (GND) or negative voltage.

• White ,Yellow, Green, Blue: Signal lines or general data. [1, 2, 3]

●      Walk students through connecting their Arduinos to their laptops, downloading the Arduino IDE (or creating an account online to use the web browser, but the direct IDE download is preferable)

●      Once everybody is connected, demonstrate:

• how to select the port to connect their Arduino

• how to upload 'Blink' from the sample code

• how to compile/test the code

• how to upload it to the board and run the “Blink” program

●      Prompt students to examine the code for Blink, and discuss the various aspects of the IDE and the code. Try varying the delay times,  and illuminating multiple LEDs in a sequence.

●      Students have the rest of the time to either:

○      Finish up making their tiny electrified homes (they can take them home with them)

○      Messing around with the Arduino and the Blink program to change the blink rate and pattern, or add additional LEDs.

Void

Setup

Loop

pinMode

digital Write

delay

HIGH

LOW

Other introductory Videos: