Grades 3-8: Robotics Intermediate (Virtual)

MicroBit: With kids comfortable using the Makecode interface and a handful of projects under their belt, more fundamental robotic programming structures are tackled. Students work through things like variables, conditional statements, and more complicated loops, while each of the many different inputs the MicroBit comes with are explored (including the direct detection of voltage at pins). The last functionally looked at is radio communication which allows MicroBits to transfer data to one another resulting in some very cool wireless projects.

Arduino TinkerCAD: After covering conditional statements and a few other slightly more abstract coding tools like variables, the intermediate section moves through component after component teaching kids what they do, how they work, and then presenting projects that they can utilize them in. This includes things like potentiometers, ultrasonic sensors, light sensors, motors, and more. One of the most important “devices” covered early on is the serial monitor which allows the Arduino to communicate with the computer over USB and can be very important for debugging and calibration.