Choosing Your Theme and Brainstorming Ideas

In this lesson, you will select a focused theme on forests and their environmental impacts, such as climate or wildfire risk. You will identify a real-world process to simulate using an embedded system, choose at least one digital and one analogue input plus an output, brainstorm ideas in a document, share with a partner, and finalise a project title.

Learning Goals Learning Outcomes Teacher Notes

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1 Lesson Objectives
2 The Big Theme: Forests and Their Challenges
3 Feasible Project Ideas Directly Based on the Brief
4 Required Inputs and Outputs
5 Individual Brainstorming Activity
6 Pair & Share
7 Finalise Your Project Title
8 Checklist Before the Next Lesson

1 - Lesson Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will have:

Chosen a clear, focused theme related to forests and their influence on climate, biodiversity, water resources, species populations, carbon storage, wildfire risk, or similar areas from the brief
Identified a real-world process related to the theme that you can simulate with your embedded system
Ensure your idea is feasible with available hardware (e.g., Arduino-compatible sensors) and can run autonomously after initial setup
Listed possible inputs (at least one digital and one analogue) and at least one output for your embedded system
Decided on a disaster risk scenario for your computer-based model (advanced requirement) or a strong process simulation (basic requirement)
Started a short “Project Ideas” document to build on in future lessons

2 - The Big Theme: Forests and Their Challenges

The brief states:

“For this project you are required to develop a functional embedded system that collects environmental data and simulates a real-world process related to the theme of forests and their influence on climate, biodiversity, water resources, species populations, carbon storage, wildfire risk, etc.”

Your project must focus on forests and at least one of the areas mentioned above. Everything you build has to connect clearly to this theme.

3 - Feasible Project Ideas Directly Based on the Brief

Here are seven project ideas that fully satisfy the Leaving Certificate Computer Science coursework brief (at least one digital input, one analogue input, one output, and autonomous operation after start).

Theme	Recommended Board	Real-world Forest Process	Digital Input	Analogue Input	Primary Output	Advanced Extension
Wildfire Risk	Raspberry Pi Pico / Pico W	High temperature + low soil moisture increasing fire danger	MQ-2 smoke sensor	DHT22 temperature & soil moisture sensor	Buzzer + red LED or NeoPixel	Integrate live weather API (Pico W)
Drought Cycles	BBC micro:bit v2	Decreasing soil moisture over time without rain	Rain sensor	Capacitive soil moisture sensor	LED matrix warning + CSV logging	Predict tree stress levels
Canopy Cover Changes	BBC micro:bit v2	Reduced canopy → increased light → higher ground temperature	Push button (tree removed)	External LDR (light sensor) on pin 1	LED matrix temperature-rise display	Model deforestation scenarios
Species Populations	Raspberry Pi Pico	Imbalance caused by too few pollinators or too many predators	HC-SR501 PIR motion sensor	DHT22 temperature & humidity	Buzzer + RGB LED or NeoPixel	Population growth/decline model
Carbon Storage	Raspberry Pi Pico W or Pico + microSD module	Effect of tree density on carbon sequestration	Button (add/remove trees)	MQ-135 CO₂ sensor or LDR	Data logging to microSD or cloud	Afforestation scenario with dashboard
Acid Rain Soil Impact	BBC micro:bit v2	Acid rain events affect soil condition	Rain sensor	Capacitive soil moisture sensor	LED matrix + buzzer when soil affected	Log impact of each rain event
Illegal Logging Alert	BBC micro:bit v2	Sudden disturbance/light increase when tree is felled	Push button or tilt switch	External LDR on pin 1 (detects sudden light)	LED matrix + buzzer + optional radio alert	Send radio message to second micro:bit

Detailed Specifications and Equipment (all projects 100 % compliant):

Wildfire Risk – Raspberry Pi Pico or Pico W
Raspberry Pi Pico, DHT22 temperature & humidity sensor, capacitive soil moisture sensor, MQ-2 smoke sensor, buzzer, red LED or NeoPixel strip, breadboard, jumper wires.
Drought Cycles – BBC micro:bit v2
BBC micro:bit v2, rain sensor (pin 0), soil moisture sensor (pin 1), breadboard, jumper wires. LED matrix displays warnings; data logged as CSV via USB.
Canopy Cover Changes – BBC micro:bit v2
BBC micro:bit v2, push button on pin 0 (tree removal), external LDR on pin 1 (light level), optional buzzer, breadboard, jumper wires. LED matrix shows rising temperature indicator.
Species Populations – Raspberry Pi Pico
Raspberry Pi Pico, HC-SR501 PIR motion sensor, DHT22 temperature & humidity sensor, buzzer and RGB LED or NeoPixel, breadboard, jumper wires.
Carbon Storage – Raspberry Pi Pico W (preferred) or Pico + microSD module
Raspberry Pi Pico W or Pico with microSD module, MQ-135 CO₂ sensor or LDR, button, breadboard, jumper wires.
Acid Rain Soil Impact – BBC micro:bit v2
BBC micro:bit v2, rain sensor (pin 0), soil moisture sensor (pin 1), buzzer, breadboard, jumper wires.
Illegal Logging Alert – BBC micro:bit v2
BBC micro:bit v2, push button or tilt switch (pin 0), external LDR (pin 1), buzzer, breadboard or crocodile clips, jumper wires.

All projects run autonomously after initial power-on or a single start button press.

4 - Required Inputs and Outputs

From the brief – Basic requirements:

At least one digital input
At least one analogue input
At least one primary output (digital or analogue)
The system can be started/calibrated manually but must run automatically afterwards

Examples of common sensors that work well:

Digital inputs

Rain sensor
Smoke detector
Motion sensor

Analogue inputs

Soil moisture sensor
Temperature sensor
Light sensor (for canopy cover)
CO₂ sensor (for carbon storage monitoring)

5 - Individual Brainstorming Activity

Create a new document called “My 2026 Project Ideas” and complete the table:

My Chosen Theme
Real-world Process I Will Simulate
Digital Input(s)
Analogue Input(s)
Primary Output
Advanced Model / Disaster Risk Scenario (if attempting advanced)
Two “What-If” Scenarios I Could Test

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Choosing Your Theme and Brainstorming Ideas