Online Physical Computing Workshop - Beginners
| Ideal Age: | 7 - 11 Years | |
| Dates: | Wednesday 17th June | from 2pm - 4pm |
| Monday 29th June | from 10:30am to 12:30pm | |
| Price: |
£10 per participant - Workshop Kit Required Workshop fee including BBC micro:bit, basic:bit and croc leads £28 Workshop fee including basic:bit and croc leads (for children with their own micro:bit £15 |
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| Choose Your Session | ||||
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Soil Moisture Alarm Workshop - Monday 29th June |
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Description
This workshop is all about developing a sensor that can help children begin to build an awareness of the world around them. Children will find out about simple electronics, build a circuit using a BBC micro:bit micro computer along with item found around the home and create a simple program for the BBC micro:bit that will turn lolly sticks and tin foil into a sensor.
This workshop challenge provides opportunities to learn and practice:
- Electronics
- Core fundamentals of programming taught at Key Stage 2 including:
- Sequence
- Iteration
- Selection
- Variables
What will my child need?
Kids will need 1 laptop with a power supply or a desktop computer:
- With either a built-in or external webcam and microphone
- With a high-speed internet connection
- At a table with space around to work
- Earphones or a headset are recommended, except when parents are joining to support their techie
- A micro:bit starter kit (we have stock of these available for sale)
- 2 x croc leads (included in the starter kit)
- basic:bit for the BBC micro:bit (included in the starter kit)
- A Plant (ideally one that needs watering)
- Aluminium foil (adult supervision may be required - this is at the parent/guardians discretion)
- 2 x lolly sticks or 2 x pencils
Will an adult need to accompany their child?
We ask that an adult remains present in the room with safeguarding in mind.
This also means if your child runs into difficulties, there is someone on hand to support.
The adult doesn't have to take part in the session and could easily be sitting nearby achieving other tasks.
If your child is confident at opening the croc leads, which can be tricky, please ensure that an adult is present for the first 45 minutes of the workshop.How will the workshop be run?
We will use a paid-for Zoom account which will be invitation only and will be locked once all participants have arrived. The workshop will be delivered by our experienced Enhanced DBS certified workshop facilitator.
Can you tell me more about the workshop itself?
This workshop uses a free online programming environment which allows the workshop facilitator to view your childs code live.
During the workshop, our workshop leader will welcome the group and introduce how to use video communication software as a member of a group and share the expectations.
After the initial introduction, children will move on to the workshop itself where they will:
- Find out about circuits and simple electronics
- Create the 'nodes' for their sensor and put the parts together
- Explore the free programming platform used in the workshop to code the sensor
- Learn about the fundamentals of programming
- Create a simple soil moisture sensor that will sound an alarm when the plant needs to be watered, which they can proudly share!
By the end of the workshop, children will have a simple understanding of electronics and be familiar with the free online environment introduced in the workshop.
Equipment purchased for this workshop will be able to be used in future workshops.