22 Microbits

Microbits - Coding and Innovation

The ability to program hardware through software is a skill that can lead to innovation as the world becomes more automated. Raspberry PI's and Arduino's have found a lot of popularity in this area but I think the BBC's Micro:bit makes entry in this area much easier because there are no drivers or software to download. It can be programmed and then the "*.hex" file can be downloaded and copied to the micro:bit that shows up as a USB drive.

The Micro:bit has an programmable 25 red LED screen to help a student quickly get started output information to. It also has the following sensors: a compass, a thermometer, a light sensor, an accelerometer, and Bluetooth communications. The Micro:bit also has 3 general purpose input output (GPIO) connections that allow for adding of other sensors or output devices like LED light, speakers, or motors, etc.

The Micro:bit can be programmed using a variety of enviornments such as: Python, TouchDevelop, or my favorite Microsoft's MakeCode block style programming with JavaScript in the background as a text based option. (https://makecode.microbit.org/)

Getting Started with Microbit Resources

Here a variety of resources to get started using Microbits in a classroom.

Beginning Microbit Projects.

One or 2 page documents with easy projects. https://sites.google.com/view/utahcodingproject/microbits/challenges

MakeCode Microbit Projects.

MakeCode Microbit Intro to CS Book.

https://makecode.microbit.org/courses/csintro (For printed copy go to Lulu.com and search for microbit.)

MakeCode Microbit Science Experiments

Published version of the projects. https://makecode.microbit.org/courses/ucp-science

Link to Google Doc versions of the experiments. These can be copy and modified as Google Docs. https://sites.google.com/view/utahcodingproject/csta/microbit-science-experiments