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Crack the Code · Stage 4

Weeks 1–2 · Understanding control technologies

Identify control technologies in the world around us, describe how they use inputs, processing and outputs, and explain what a microcontroller and a shield are.

TE4-1DPTE4-2DPTE4-7DITE4-10TSTE4-DIG-01TE4-SOC-01

Open this deck on the projector and press F for full-screen. N toggles speaker notes. The accompanying teacher guide is at /curriculum/crack-the-code/teacher/lessons/1.

Before this lesson:

  • Read the design brief and constraints; have a built example of the alarm project ready to show.
  • Charge the laptop trolley; check every Arduino + ThinkerShield + USB cable boots cleanly.
  • Pre-load the Arduino IDE on every machine; set board = "Arduino Uno"; bookmark the curriculum page.
  • Print or share the link to the PRP 1 student activity (/curriculum/crack-the-code/student/lessons/1).
  • Pull up the Tickle Me Elmo clip (audio muted) and a pulled-apart TV remote.
hook 2 min

Someone's in your room.

What if your bedroom, your locker or your treasure chest could tell you when someone opened it?

Hook with the design situation. Don't show the brief yet — get students to volunteer ideas first.

intention 1 min

Crack the Code — your unit

Over the next 10 weeks you will design, build and evaluate your own alarm/alert system using code and electronics.

Today: meet the tools.

Read the design brief out loud. Make the criteria for success concrete: control system, alert/alarm, microcontroller, working inputs, working outputs.

concept 5 min

Input → Processing → Output

Every control technology does three things:

  1. Input — something the device senses (a button, a sound, a light, a motion).
  2. Processing — a decision made about what to do.
  3. Output — something the device does (a light, a sound, a motor).

Use the TV-remote demo here. Point at the buttons (inputs), the chip (processing), the IR LED (output). Have students draw the IPO chart for a remote in their workbook.

demo 5 min

Meet the Arduino + ThinkerShield

  • Arduino Uno — the brain. A small programmable computer.
  • ThinkerShield — clicks onto the Arduino. Has LEDs, a button, a knob, a buzzer and a light sensor already wired in.

We code on a laptop, upload to the board, and the board runs forever.

Pass an Arduino + ThinkerShield around. Plug yours in — point out the red power light coming on. Show the IDE picking it up under Tools → Port.

task 15 min

Set up your kit

  1. Get out your kit. Put it on a non-conductive surface.
  2. Connect the board to the laptop with the USB cable.
  3. Open the Arduino IDE.
  4. Tools → Board → Arduino Uno.
  5. Tools → Port → usbmodem (Mac) or the right COM number (Windows).
  6. Label all the parts of the Arduino and the ThinkerShield in your workbook.

Circulate. Common issues: USB cable is charge-only (no data), wrong port, the IDE forgot the board between lessons. Have spare cables ready.

check 2 min

Three safety rules

  1. No drinks at the bench.
  2. No metal under the board.
  3. Unplug the board before you move it.

Have students chant them. Write them in the workbook.

reflect 2 min

Exit ticket

On a sticky note: one thing you learned today and one question you still have. Post it on the way out.

Read every sticky over the break — they'll tell you what to revisit at the start of next lesson.

End of lesson 1

That's it.

Tomorrow / next lesson: First code — Blink, the IDE & binary.

Teacher guide Next lesson's deck → All decks