Live Code Along – Create an Emotions Badge using Microbits
We joined over 1000 pupils from schools across Scotland in a live event today as part of the Scottish Learning Festival and STEM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths).
A Microbit is a small computer that fits into the palm of your hand. It has lots of inputs and outputs to allow it to be programmed.
We discussed what is meant by the term abstraction, namely looking at things as a whole rather than as part of the individual details. We used abstraction to draw emotions on a facial expression e.g. our hair or ears don’t change when we show an emotional facial expression but our lips and eyes will; just like emoji faces. They only show the important bits to focus on.
We created programmes using inputs and basic blocks to design our own L.E.D. emoji faces.
We downloaded our code onto our microbits devices by clicking and dragging it to our device icon on the computer. We were then able to toggle buttons A & B to change the LED patterns to display two emotion ‘emojis ‘. We were able to do this both on our device and our simulator on the website.
To enhance our programming, we combined a function of when Button A AND B are pressed, a new facial expression emoji can be displayed.
We then added in musical sound melodies by adding a play melody code block to our coding bricks.
Our pupils used and applied HOTS (Higher Order Thinking) skills by tinkering to explore the capabilities of the devices – Creating, Analysing, Applying and Evaluating.
It’s great to use technology to link with organisations and opportunities that might not otherwise be possible. The children really enjoyed the session and are keen to do more. They can code at home without a Microbit at any time using this simulator on Microsoft MakeCode for micro:bit (microbit.org) and selecting New Project.
# Successful Learners
