This was a challenging one to set-up onthe board for some reason…little wire mistakes, a switch on the arduino board that never had instructions to move. But with a little try - we got it all to work.
I think the best fit for me would be an intro activity to circuits with the 9’s to show how LED lights can work - what the variable resistor does to control flashing, etc…I use microbits with my 9’s to control circuits and I find the coding platform a little easier to work with. The arduino board would be more challenging but I think kids would like the moments when the light bulb comes on.
I could see myself guiding the students through the various steps as a groups so we can all move forward together - that way they can help themselves problem solve and accomplish the little missions along the way.
The fun would be seeing where they could apply this lesson if they were to build different circuits and projects.
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Although this lesson doesn’t fit in a classroom that I teach, it will fit nicely in the coding club and I can’t wait for them to try it out! Whenever there is such a great visual there seems to be great satisfaction and excitement for the instant feedback so this experiment will be awesome!
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Where does this lesson fit in with your curriculum?
It fits in with my light waves unit at 4th grade. It also fits with the engineering standards.
Which part or parts of the lesson would your students need extra support to be successful?
They might have trouble manipulating the wires and LED pins, I would have magnifying glasses available
If you were to teach this lesson to your class, describe your role during the class. What does a successful teacher actively do during this lesson?
I would take some time to model each step for my students. I would show large diagrams and the wiring from my document camera on the large Viewboard. I would challenge them to change the blink rate as well as the color values.
If you were to teach this lesson to your class, describe your student’s role during the class. What does “student success” look like?
Student success is marked by good attitudes, perseverance, and willingness to tinker with the code.
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Where does this lesson fit in with your curriculum?
I think this fits in nicely within the ADST curriculum. The idea of having to try something, modify, re-test, and repeat until an objective is achieved is a cornerstone of that curriculum. I also like to contrast what three colours of light are used in graphics vs colour mixing in art.
Which part or parts of the lesson would your students need extra support to be successful?
The wiring might require some support. I had to play with my LED several times before it successfully illuminated.
If you were to teach this lesson to your class, describe your role during the class. What does a successful teacher actively do during this lesson?
I think for this one I would be mostly tech support. A secondary role would be encouraging students to play with the code and document what happens when they do.
If you were to teach this lesson to your class, describe your student’s role during the class. What does “student success” look like?
Several layers of success seem possible - successful wiring, successfully manipulating and playing with code, success in documenting ideas and finally interpreting what happened and how to apply this knowledge
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- Where does this lesson fit in with your curriculum (if the lesson is not a fit for the class you teach, how could the lesson be modified so that it is applicable to your curriculum)?
My Technology class really like the sunglasses experiment. I did it in two different periods and they loved it. I can fit this RGB lesson at the beginning of the year when I am introducing the LEDs.
- Which part or parts of the lesson would your students need extra support in order to be successful?
I would say they should be careful at the moment of attaching the RGB to the board. Sometimes, is difficult to attach components on new boards because the legs can break. For those that do not have “code eyes”, it could be a little challenging figure it out when they need to do the change on the code.
3. If you were to teach this lesson to your class, describe your role during the class. What does a successful teacher actively do during this lesson?
I will facilitate the lesson, so I can monitor the placement of the RGB on the board. This is a lesson for independent practice, to explore and play with the colors and numbers. I will monitor and ask/answer questions.
4. If you were to teach this lesson to your class, describe your student’s role during the class. What does “student success” look like?
This is a What if? lesson. The students should be active learners. This is an activity that should be completed in one period (45 minutes). The students should be able to plug in the sensors, run the code, and play with the numbers to change the colors. Sweet lesson for rookies.
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I agree with you. I have two of my “rookie programmers” in my classroom when I was doing it. They ask nicely if they can try, so I let them do it. They were so excited and we ended up recording a video.
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Fully agree on the which parts of the lesson would student need extra support to be successful! I am also having a lot of trouble with me RGB light working. To the point where I have switched out all of the wires individually and gotten regular LED lights (in the other colours in the kit) to work. I also dug up other RGB lights at my school and have now switched rotated through three and can still not get the RGB light to light up. I know the area is getting power (so not the wires) because the LED lights light up. I through it was a bad RGB light, but I have tried two others. Any suggestions appreciated!
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