Crack the Code
Start here
Before week 1
- Order or count the kits — see resources & procurement.
- Charge the laptop trolley; install the Arduino IDE.
- Read Lesson 1 (Understanding control technologies).
- Print the printable folio or share the student link.
When you're teaching
- Open the presentation deck on the projector.
- Send students to the student home.
- Use this dashboard's lesson cards for prep, demo steps and evidence.
Syllabus mapping
NESA Technology 7–8 (2023) is implemented from 2026 — it's the primary mapping. The 2017 Technology Mandatory syllabus remains valid through the transition.
- TE4-DES-01 Designs algorithms for digital and engineered solutions, and represents them with diagrams and pseudocode.
- TE4-DES-02 Designs solutions to identified needs and opportunities by applying a design process and selecting appropriate tools, materials and processes.
- TE4-DIG-01 Explains how digital systems represent and transmit data, and how hardware and software components function to meet identified needs.
- TE4-DIG-02 Uses data and digital systems to code, design and produce projects that respond to inputs through a sequence of instructions.
- TE4-ENG-01 Explains how engineered systems use components and processes to convert energy, transmit motion and respond to control signals.
- TE4-PRO-01 Plans, manages and produces a designed solution within identified constraints and to specified criteria.
- TE4-PRO-02 Selects and safely uses appropriate tools, materials and processes to produce designed solutions.
- TE4-SOC-01 Explains how people in technology-related professions contribute to society and the impact of their work on individuals, communities and the environment.
NSW Technology Mandatory 7-8 (2017)
Version 2017 · effective 2019- TE4-10TS Explains how people in technology-related professions contribute to society now and into the future.
- TE4-1DP Designs, communicates and evaluates innovative ideas and creative solutions to authentic problems or opportunities.
- TE4-2DP Plans and manages the production of designed solutions.
- TE4-4DP Designs algorithms for digital solutions and implements them in a general-purpose programming language.
- TE4-7DI Explains how data is represented in digital systems and transmitted in networks.
Lessons
Weeks 1–2 — Understanding control technologies
≈ 110 min Identifying & definingLearning intention. 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.
Weeks 1–2 — First code — Blink, the IDE & binary
≈ 110 min Researching & planningLearning intention. Write, upload and modify your first Arduino sketch — make the on-board LED blink, explain each line, and modify it to meet a series of challenges.
Activities in this lesson: PRP 1: Digital output — Blink
Weeks 3–4 — Inputs, outputs & the PRP activities
≈ 220 min Researching & planningLearning intention. Use digital and analog inputs to control outputs. Read a button with `digitalRead`, a potentiometer/LDR with `analogRead`, and drive an LED and a piezo buzzer. Use the Serial Monitor to inspect what your program is doing.
Activities in this lesson: PRP 2: Digital input — Button · PRP 3: Analog input — potentiometer & LDR · PRP 4: Digital output — Buzzer
Weeks 5–7 — Generating, developing & testing design ideas
≈ 165 min Researching & planningLearning intention. Generate four alarm-system design ideas, evaluate each with PMI, choose two to test, and pick the strongest to take forward as your project.
Weeks 8–9 — Final design, circuits & electronics
≈ 165 min Producing & implementingLearning intention. Build a working circuit for your chosen alarm design — off the ThinkerShield, on a breadboard or soldered — and house it in an appropriate enclosure.
Week 10 — Final evaluation
≈ 55 min Testing & evaluatingLearning intention. Evaluate your finished alarm system against the design brief and the criteria for success, and reflect on what you'd change next time.
Assessment & rubric
Each focus area is marked out of 20, against the bands below. Outstanding 18–20 · High 15–17 · Sound 11–14 · Basic 6–10 · Limited 0–5.
| Focus area | Outstanding (18–20) |
|---|---|
| Project management | Time/action and finance planning is extensive; the project is completed within the time and budget; flowcharts follow a clearly logical sequence that solves the brief. |
| Coding and function | Coding is error-free and works in the design project; there is evidence of error-checking and tinkering; the project functions as intended to fulfil the brief. |
| Physical electronics | The project is housed in an aesthetically pleasing, appropriate enclosure; the circuit appears fault-free and is well constructed. |
| Final evaluation | The evaluation is detailed, objective and descriptive — outlining areas of success and areas for improvement (and why) if the project were made again. |
Evidence to collect
- Annotated PRP code (screenshots or pasted source) showing modifications and comments.
- IPO charts for each PRP and for the final design.
- Flowcharts and pseudocode for the chosen design idea.
- Time/action plan with ongoing evaluation entries.
- A photograph or short video of the working circuit on the ThinkerShield, and another of the final built circuit.
- The final evaluation against the design brief and criteria for success.
Differentiation & UDL
Every PRP activity provides three explicit pathways:
- Support path — pre-written code, one-number changes, sentence-stem reflections and a pair-programming partner. Students who need it can stay on the support path and still meet the success criteria.
- Core path — modify the sample sketch, complete the IPO chart and tackle the first two challenges.
- Extension path — combine inputs and outputs, use
millis()for non-blocking timing, add a state variable, design a mini alarm subsystem and document with a schematic.
UDL: provide visual diagrams alongside text instructions; allow students to record reflections as audio/video; let students choose the end-use application of their alarm (room, drawer, locker, box, pet). Print large-format pin-map cards for any student who needs them; provide a low-vision colour theme on the in-browser studio.
Safety
- Electronics + liquids don't mix. No drinks at the bench; spilt water shorts boards.
- Only place boards on non-conductive surfaces (bench mats, paper) — never on bare metal benches or metal stools.
- Long-nose pliers can pinch fingers. Demonstrate safe grip and supervise first use.
- Soldering, where used in the final builds, follows the school's WHS & ESIS guidelines: ventilation on, hot-end pointed away, irons returned to the stand, safety glasses, supervised use only.
- Safety-test every completed circuit (visual inspection + bench-supply check) before it is plugged into mains-powered USB.
