After learning about flooding, students consider the design problems caused by its early detection. Students are introduced to moisture sensors, and can build their own using the instructions provided or use a ready-made version. This is connected to the BBC micro:bit and used as an input device. After processing...

In this challenge, students are asked to consider the impact of people suffering from heart conditions, both to the individual and to wider society. They then generate ideas for using programmable systems to improve people’s health, and to monitor themselves. A video introduces the idea of a heart rate monitor, and...

Students first evaluate existing alarm systems and learn about a burglar’s attitude towards them using a video featuring reformed criminals. They are then briefed to create a working door access and alarm system using a BBC micro:bit and selected input and output components such as LDRs, reed switches, buzzers and...

Reducing energy usage in the home saves money, increases energy security and reduces the need to burn unsustainable fossil fuels. The first step in doing this is monitoring how much energy is...

This is one of a series of resources to support the use of the BBC micro:bit. This resource focusses on pupils designing, programming and using a BBC micro:bit to complete the mission challenge to find out more about the planet Mars.

In this activity pupils will make use of the BBC micro:bit to design and...

This uses a motor, a sparkle and a marble to imitate a lighthouse. It can be made harder by incorporating LDRs.

This resource provides a set of videos and a practical investigation aimed at supporting working scientifically in the classroom and relating science to real world experiences. In the first video Professor Brian Cox joins a teacher in a classroom to demonstrate the setting up and carrying out of the experiment. In...

This is one of a series of resources to support the use of the BBC micro:bit. This resource focusses on pupils designing, programming and using a programmable device that can be used as a musical instrument in a class performance.

In this activity pupils will design and create a programmable device that can...

This is one of a series of resources to support the use of the BBC micro:bit. This resource focusses on pupils designing and programming a BBC micro:bit to help wheelchair athletes monitor and record their sporting performance over time.

In this activity pupils will make use of the BBC micro:bit to design...

Very simply, this involves making sparkles flash. The challenge is to work out how long a ‘dot’ and a ‘dash’ are, and to successfully code a message in Morse code.

Using LDRs and sparkles, the student learns how to code a nightlight coming on only once it gets dark. Digital switches can also be incorporated into this.

Robots are really useful in space as they can do lots of different jobs, some of which are too difficult or dangerous for humans. This activity looks at the different uses of robots in space exploration, with children...

Ideal for a Halloween-themed coding lesson! Using sparkles to mirror a candle in a pumpkin – can you make it flicker or only come on once it’s dark?

Ideal for a Halloween-themed coding lesson! Using sparkles to imitate eyes in a portrait – but can be made harder using LDRs or making the lights fade in and out.

This resource supports students to research and discuss the field of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). The resource provides a series of student tasks that explore the topic of whether robots are a threat to humanity. This resource would work well as a research topic for students undertaking projects in...