About this Workshop
Every engineer and computer scientist has a beginning. In this course, you’ll start from ground zero. You’ll be exposed to a variety of basic sensors, indicators, and actuators to learn electronics and coding with Arduino. If you don’t know what these words mean or parts do, that’s okay. We designed this course for beginners so that you can experience quick wins and get hooked. By the end of this course, you’ll learn to use these simple components to make a robot friend, night light, security alarm, kitchen timer, and other useful projects.
We find that if you don’t know the building blocks early on, it becomes difficult to comprehend the more advanced topics later down the line. To be successful, you’ll need to commit 1-2 hours (about 15 minutes per day) to this course. Our learning portal contains step-by-step instructions and videos to help you build each of the 12 mini projects from start to finish. If you get stuck or have questions, you can use our community forum to ask for help or collaborate with others.
Upon successful completion of this workshop, you’ll be prepared to take the next course in our curriculum TH 201: Climate, Science, & Technology.
What You'll Build
12 short projects that teach you the fundamentals of engineering, electronics, and computer systems.
1.Robot Friend
2. Night Light
3. Clapper
4. 8-bit Music Composer
5. Doorbell
6. Intruder Alarm
7. Thermometer
8. Kitchen Timer
9. LCD Backlight Disco
10. Analog Indicator
11. Music Machine
12. Simon Says
What You'll Get
A combination of sensors, actuators, indicators, microcontrollers, and small parts:
Button sensor
Piezo buzzer
LED driver
Light sensor
Servo motor
Capacitive touch sensor
Temperature sensor
Sound sensor
Wifi module
LCD display
Arduino “Thimbleduino”
Base shield
Plastic servo arm parts
3 LEDs, cables, screws
What You'll Need
Here are some things you’ll need before you get started:
- A computer running Windows, Mac OS, Linux, or Chromebook.
- Keyboard and mouse
- Working internet connection
- Arduino software
Next Generation Science Standards
MS-PS3-6, MS-PS4-3, MS-LS1-3, MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2, MS-ETS1-, MS-ETS1-4