Microbit Sensors & Circuits Coding Basics

Intermediate

60 mins

Teacher/Student led

+70 XP

What you need:
Chromebook/Laptop/PC

Designing a Microbits Weather Station

Follow this guide to build your own weather station using Microbit. Start by creating a new project on MakeCode, initialise variables, configure buttons and sound detection, create a forever loop, test your program, and reflect on your learning.

Learning Goals Learning Outcomes Teacher Notes

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1 Create a New Project
2 Initialize Variables
3 Configure Button A
4 Configure Button B
5 Configure Buttons A and B
Challenge
Quiz

1 - Create a New Project

Start by creating a new project. Navigate to MakeCode for Microbit and click on 'New Project'. Give your project a name, such as 'Weather Station'.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Initialize Variables

First, we need to declare and initialize our two main variables: 'mode' and 'reading'. 'Mode' will help us determine which sensor's data we want to display, and 'reading' will store the sensor data. Add the following code:

let reading = 0
let mode = 0
mode = 1

The following are the different modes we will have:

is for displaying the temperature.
is for displaying the light level.
is for displaying the sound level.
is for displaying movement.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Configure Button A

Let's start by configuring Button A. When this button is pressed, we want 'mode' to be 1. Add the following code:

input.onButtonPressed(Button.A, function () {
   mode = 1
})

+10 XP

4 - Configure Button B

Next, let's configure Button B. When this button is pressed, we want 'mode' to be 2. Add the following code:

input.onButtonPressed(Button.B, function () {
    mode = 2
})

+10 XP

5 - Configure Buttons A and B

Now, let's configure the combination of Buttons A and B. When both these buttons are pressed, we want 'mode' to be 3. Add the following code:

input.onButtonPressed(Button.AB, function () {
    mode = 3
})

+10 XP

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Your Answer or Description of Your Work

Project URL This can be a link to your project (e.g. a Scratch, Microbit, Arcade or CodePen URL link).

Upload File

You must be logged into Scratch to share your project, otherwise the link will not work.

To get the URL link of your Scratch project:

Make sure you're logged into Scratch.
Click on the Share button in the project editor.
Click on the Copy Link button.
Click on the Copy Link link. This will save the URL of your project page into your clipboard.

To get the URL link of your Microbit project:

Click on the button in the project editor.
Click on the Publish Project button.
Click on the Copy button. This will save the URL of your project page into your clipboard.

To get the URL link of your Arcade project:

Click on the button in the project editor.
Click on the Publish Project button.
Click on the Copy button. This will save the URL of your project page into your clipboard.

To get the URL link of your CodePen project:

Make sure you're logged into CodePen.
Open your project in the editor.
Click on the Save button at the top of the editor.
Copy the link from the address bar in your web browser (e.g. https://codepen.io/Jane-Smith/pen/gOVXxBQ)

Designing a Microbits Weather Station

Teacher Class Feed

1 - Create a New Project

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2 - Initialize Variables

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3 - Configure Button A

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4 - Configure Button B

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5 - Configure Buttons A and B

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