For my project I will be be taking on the role of a 5th grade student solving a real-world problem.
As my personal learning project for my 5th Grade class, I propose a project attempting to solve a real-world problem. In my house we have a parakeet, Henry. Because Henry only eats the meat of the seeds and not the shells, and he discards the shells back into his dish, it’s impossible to tell at a glance if he has enough food or if his dish is full of empty shells.
The LilyPad has a variety of sensors available, one of which is a pressure sensor. As uneaten seed weighs more than seed hulls, I should be able to program it to light an LED when the weight of the dish falls under a desired limit.
I created a video which introduces this:
My Instructable link isn't working in the video, but it can be found here.
Finally, I am happy to share the full project on my blog.
For my final project I looked at three commercial games that rely heavily on programming language as part of their gameplay. The three games are “Shenzen I/O”, “else heart.break()”, and “Screeps”. I do so taking on the role of a student pursuing a personalized learning project and showing how playing these games can fulfil and demonstrate mastery of many technology standards. In particular, I will evaluate the games’ fulfilment of several high school level Massachusetts state technology and programming standards. To begin, I thought I’d take a deeper look into the standards and their expectations to better translate their application within the games.
I enjoy taking pictures of our girls and nature and I love to see them on a photo album, or hanging them in frames on the wall or on the shelves. I also like printing inspirational quotes or Bible verses and stick them on the wall. The result is that we ended up having too many photos that we have boxes of picture frames and photo albums when we moved.
Since I already bought a raspberry pi 3 and a new 22" Samsung monitor, I searched for raspberry pi 3 projects online and found the Rpi3 Digital Photo Frame with sensor to be very interesting and doable for me as a beginner. I was first hesitant to pursue the project because I don't have any experience with python programming but after exploring the exercises in raspberrypi.org perhaps I can do the project. So I used a USB drive instead of Flicker as my image source and perhaps later add a calendar and weather update along with the slideshow of photos. For a more detailed information on how to do this project please visit my blog at Marlboro.
I am not sure why I wasn't able to upload it via YouTube, but I suppose that's the way it goes sometimes. I opted to go with a shorter video. In fact it is what I will be using to kick off this challenge with my 5th grade students. Hopefully it gives enough information to at least pique your interest.
To say that this project put me outside of my comfort zone is a bit of an understatement. I consider myself to be somewhat technology savvy (minus the ability to get YouTube to recognize my account tonight) and I found myself with growing confidence in the area of block coding. So why, then, would I choose a project that focuses on an arduino, light sensor, and C? It's because that's what my students need (and Lucie really likes it when people feel uncomfortable).
I work with all 450 students in grades K-6 in my school with a focus on STEM topics. In first grade we work on an engineering design task to use what they know about light to illuminate 6 different hieroglyphs so that an artist could recreate all the details. They only have 1 light source and the location of that cannot change. What I was finding during their pre and post data collection was that the students weren't very accurate (or honest) with what they were seeing. They needed a more objective and consistent measure. Enter the light sensor.
While I may try almost anything, I am not about to try having my 1st graders learn C and build the tool to measure light intensity. I made a plan for one of my 5th grade challenge groups to work through this process.
Writing and Animation is a student-centric, collaborative, creative project. The goals are to sharpen your own existing skills as well as develop new skills for your partner and yourself.
The instruction is designed to cross-develop student skills under two learning standards: the Common Core State Standards and the International Society for Technology in Education. The lesson plan divides the class into even groups of proficiencies: reading and writing or coding and animating. Students will form teams of two, one member from each group, and develop both a narrative script as well as an accompanying animation to be displayed side by side as the final deliverable.
Taking inspiration from Jie Qi and Natalie Freed, I am embarking upon a quest to create a wifi-connected book. My plan, which won't be fully realized until the spring, is to embed a Particle Photon microcontroller that can send or receive data through Particle Build.
Paired with a free open-source Internet of Things (IoT) platform called If Then Than That, anyone can use a variety of common apps to connect with and control physical objects, such as the LEDs in a book, wearable, or other type of physical object. My project applies one simple way that the Photon, receiving data from Google Calendar, might be used as a component in a pop-up structure that might be set upon a tabletop or nested inside of a wifi-connected book.
Watch this video to learn how to power a servo motor using a Photon and IFTTT.
Here is the link to my Week 12 Reflection/ Final Project, detailing the creation of this project, as well as links to standards, learning resources, and the code I wrote.
To learn more about some of the work that I've been doing to learn about the Photon, feel free to peruse my Create with Code blog.
For my final project, I created a syllabus connecting Grammar with Scratch - Block based coding.
This course introduces students to Advanced Grammar and Grammar-Based Teaching (GBT) and Scratch, block-based coding with a focus on the concept that the English language consists of predictable patterns of what we see, hear, speak and read. GBT helps learners discover the nature of language where students gain an understanding of Grammar concepts such as subordination and coordination; nouns and adjectives, subjects and verbs, clauses and phrases. Scratch, a block based, free coding program introduces computational and pattern thinking, analyzing subroutines, debugging, working in sequence, and creating unique projects. It is the most accessible tool teaching computational thinking for the modern problem solver. The Scratch component will introduce fundamental concepts of block-based programming, including variables and assignment, sequential execution, selection, repetition, control abstraction, and data organization.
Here is my entry for my Final Project in the Creating with Code Course.
I have made a course for students to take to learn enough code to "show what they know" in science by creating Science Animations. My challenge was to create materials that would help personalize the experience for my students, and allow me to expose them to a high quality curriculum to get them started with coding.
First, I started a CS First Club with a focus on Art that my students will complete.
Second, students investigate an exemplar Scratch animation that I created on Photosynthesis to give them some ideas.
Third, I have created two of my own teaching videos explaining the animation I made, first showing how I made the sprites, and then showing how I made them move and act to demonstrate the concept of photosynthesis.
Teacher Section
As I was working, Lucie also encouraged me to add in material that would help teachers to also connect with this work. In response, I have added to my website several pages of resources:
There is a Standards Link with a complete explanation of how my students' work will help them meet the Next Generation Science Standards. to two exemplar
There is a page with dynamite examples of Science animations that students are making with Scratch
Another page shows some of the greatest examples of what people are doing in the realm of science animation.
Finally, there is a link to a series of Teacher Resources like tutorials, lesson plans, troubleshooting guides and worksheets for students at all levels.
I hope that you will find my course idea as exciting as I do, and that you will incorporate it into your classroom!
When some teachers asked me if we could build a temperature sensor that didn't require walking up and taking a physical reading, without hesitation I said yes. What followed was a deep exploration into the Arudino environment and an introduction to Python coding.
The project has been very rewarding. While not totally complete, we did answer the question of whether we could build a system that could remotely monitor the temperature and communicate that information in graphic form to another computer. Now the winter has left us, we'll have some time to move our beta to a real embedded model.
When I initially began the project, I worked independently trying to learn as much as I could about the hardware, what I needed to order and how to set it up. After some individual learning time, I started working with some students from our Computer Systems Technology class. They helped with soldering parts and setting up our communication network with our Arduino compatible radios. We also studied some of the Arduino code libraries, testing a variety of sketches using our new Xbee radios. Probably the most fun we had was building test models of projects that were not even related to our project. As long as the students were excited, I didn't mind the need moving slowly on this project. Learning can be fun, and experimenting is probably the best form of that.
Currently the project is in beta form. We have to still figure out how to use our digital sensor to pass data. We had no problem with the analog sensors. We also have to build a waterproof shell and configure the radios to hibernate so as not to burn out the batteries. I've spent countless hours working on various configurations, temp sensors and code combinations. I feel like I am a lot more confident while working with the Arduino IDE and writing basic code. I really enjoyed learning some Python basics and I only hope I can get a few more students interested in the project and other projects by showcasing this one. I plan to introduce this beta project with the new CST class next fall. We'll then form a group that will tackle this project including the design of the housing and computer configuration (remote IP address and website) that will be capturing the data.
I've included this Link to my Google Site - Create with Code. There you may explore the entire project, review the code and set up. Share any materials as you see fit.
This spring, fifth and sixth graders in FES English Language Arts classes had the unique opportunity to complete their Procedural Writing pieces by coding in Scratch.
The fifth and sixth grade is comprised of 30 students total; twelve 5th graders and eighteen 6th graders. The classrooms are usually blended, but students split by grade level for Math and ELA classes. As such, we will meet with 5th graders each Monday from 10:30 to 11:25 and will meet with 6th graders each Thursday from 10:45-11:25. The project will begin Thursday March 10th and guided instruction will conclude Thursday April 14th. Each class will have five guided work sessions. These guided sessions should not be the limit of their work time; rather, just the beginning.
Cross-Curricular Connections:
This project supports CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2, Vermont Transferrable Skills, as well as components of the new ISTE Standards. Additionally... (read more here)
Building Problem-Solving Endurance:
Many of the students who are in this class have been together since Kindergarten. They are the quintessential learning community. As each student works through their individual Procedural Writing piece, we will encourage collaborative problem solving. We will encourage students to look at problems as puzzles; with wonder and... (read more here)
Balance- Yearners and Schoolers:
Our approach is to balance curriculum with enrichment. We aim to find middle ground between content and play. Burke & Kafai describe a balance between the yearners and the schoolers. This integrated ELA experience strives to do just that by... (read more here)
Expanding Opportunities:
Also taking place this spring is our school’s first ever Coding Club. The Coding Club will be an expansion of our Advanced Lego Robotics program. Three of the students in the ELA class are also enrolled in the Coding Club. These overlaps are mutually beneficial (and totally coincidental)... (read more here)
This project has been such a positive and emboldening experience for me. I feel more enthusaistic about and way more prepared to introduce coding in our school. Familiarizing myself with online Coding courses by participating in two myself definitely boosted my confidence to coach and manage a CS First Club of 9 middle school students. This club will continue through the end of the school year and I will introduce a challenge opportunity for students to control their story through an object using the Makey Makey . What I've noticed during this club is students who are actively engaged, working together, excited to share their projects with classmates and on the Scratch site, and willing to identify frustrations with encountering something that doesn't come easy and requires perseverance.
In addition to starting a CS First Club this course was the impetus for me to work to introduce programmable robots using coding apps. This is the main focus of my project site. I collaborated with the second grade teacher to integrate Dash and Dot into several math lessons about estimation and measuring with the ultimate goal of having the students create a math lesson using Dash & Dot that they can share online via Wonder (the company that created Dash & Dot).
My site includes sample lesson plans to introduce Blockly and coding, the first lesson in the Estimation and Measuring unit, resources I consulted, and an implementation timeline. I'll be adding more to it today on our last day, but this is a work in progress and I am continuing to develop the math lessons together with the second grade teacher.
My video includes the overarching theme of my project which was to understand and experience coding to see if and how it connects and engages learners, encourages computational thinking, promotes problem solving and perseverance and can be embedded in content areas. I basically tested out much of what Papert, Kafai and Burke discussed in our text this semester. I am pleased to report that I observed and experienced first hand how teaching and connecting kids with code does truly connect and engage learners in more concrete, personally meaningful and hands on ways .
Onenote Guide for using Scratch & CS-First in the classroom
I created a resource for using Scratch and the CS-First site using the tools that we use in my district. Onenote is a great and potentially very powerful tool.
I've decided to divide this project's material into a few separate blog posts. I wanted to create standalone blogs for my step-by-step tutorials: Procedure for Starting a Node-Red Server and Procedure for RPi Connecting to Ubidots since each post contains detailed screen-captures and instructions. One long post would have created a horribly long scrolling experience. I've also included a link to the Google Drive project folder which contains other components of this project such as resource links and the assessment rubric.
Intro Video for Project
Building a People/Animal Counter or a Node-Red Flow
Project Info:
Tools and Product
Node-Red is is an open-source, block-based or (aka “drag-and-drop”) programming tool developed by the IBM Emerging Technology Team for “wiring” devices and software to communicate with one another within the Internet of Things. Another open source tool introduced in this project is Ubidots, an web based API (Application Programming Interface) that specifies structure of data that will be exchanged between devices connected to the Cloud.
This all might sound a bit complex, but Node-Red doesn’t require the user to do any text-based coding, so it is a great tool for people to get started with learning about the IoT. Node-Red currently comes bundled with the most recent version of the Raspbian operating system, Jessie, for Raspberry Pi. Node-Red allows users to build "flows" which are graphical representations of devices communicating via the Cloud, collecting, transferring, analyzing, and sharing data.
For this project, students will be borrowing portions of code and concepts from a variety of provided online resources which are included in the Links for Online Resources doc. This unit of study will take approximately three weeks to complete and will culminate with students presenting their final projects to their classmates, teachers, parents, and possibly computer science mentors from the local community.
Goals and Purpose
This high school level project is designed as an intermediate to advanced unit that would be assigned to students who have already spent several weeks getting familiar with circuit building, sensors, and Raspberry Pi programming software used in conjunction the the Raspberry Pi GPIO (General Purpose Input Output). Students will be encouraged to have their final project focus on a real-life situation that relates to environmental science and/or the collection of data relating to human activity and the effects of that activity on the environment.
Summary
My primary goal for this project is to create an open-ended, flexible project that can be applied to many high school fields of study and hopefully inspire teachers to begin integrating computer science projects into their curriculum. With a few small adjustments, this project could be redesigned to align with math, art, or social studies state and tech standards. Raspberry Pi, Node-Red, and the Internet of Things all provide a massive menagerie of tools that can inspire creative thinking and exploration of new technologies which offer new learning opportunities to all genres of students.
Wink was born on Kickstarter in November of 2015 by the folks at Plum Geek Robotics. The Wink Robot is unique in that it bridges the gap between coding robots using block coding platforms such as Scratch and coding more sophisticated robots which might use Python or C/C++. Wink is programmed using the Arduino platform which is a fairly simple programming language and great for entry-level coding. Plum Geek has done a great job of packaging some lesson plans with companion code which are well worth using with students.
The premise of my project was to introduce Wink into our high school Makerspace as a way for students to learn to code using the Arduino programing environment (rather than using the breadboard which is already available in the Makerspace). However, students enter the Makerspace at will and often without a whole lot of time or willingness to devote a great deal of time to learning something that might feel like work. So I decided to use a few of the lessons provided by Plum Geek Robotics and offer an abbreviated version of those codes to students as a starting point for remixing, in the hopes that they would quickly become engaged enough to spend more time coding. I’ve created one page (2 sided) sheets which will be laminated and in the Makerspace for students to pick up with instructions on how to remix the code and with more information and/or a challenge on the back. Here are examples of the first two:
Lesson Card #1 Back
Lesson Card #1 Front
Lesson Card #2 Front
Lesson Card #2 Back
I created the following intro video in an effort to entice students to try coding Wink. We will see how that works!
The standards I believe are addressed with this project are the following:
Computer Science:
CPP.L2-08 Demonstrate dispositions amenable to open-ended problem solving and programming
ISTE NETs:
1.bCreativity and Innovation - create original works as a means of personal or group expression
4.aCritical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making - identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation
In addition to starting a CS First Club this course was the impetus for me to work to introduce programmable robots using coding apps. This is the main focus of my project site. I collaborated with the second grade teacher to integrate Dash and Dot into several math lessons about estimation and measuring with the ultimate goal of having the students create a math lesson using Dash & Dot that they can share online via Wonder (the company that created Dash & Dot).
My video includes the overarching theme of my project which was to understand and experience coding to see if and how it connects and engages learners, encourages computational thinking, promotes problem solving and perseverance and can be embedded in content areas. I basically tested out much of what Papert, Kafai and Burke discussed in our text this semester. I am pleased to report that I observed and experienced first hand how teaching and connecting kids with code does truly connect and engage learners in more concrete, personally meaningful and hands on ways . 
