EDUCATOR PORTAL

Suggested student to kit ratio is 2:1 (up to 3:1 if necessary).

For large groups, assign roles, i.e. carpenter, inventory manager, documentation expert, etc.

Provide Engineering Notebooks for each student, or group of students to reflect on the process and document questions, ideas and solutions.

We advise you hold on to and charge batteries behind your desk until students finish building to prevent them from moving ahead.

Introduce the Piper Computer Kit and spend time looking at the blueprints, having the students take inventory which allows them to become familiar with identifying hardware terms and taking ownership of their kit. Since a blueprint doesn’t have much text, our first learning objective is for learners to understand and read exploded engineering diagrams.

When building Piper Computer Kits, students can work on tables or the floor. If there is not enough room for each team to spread out the poster, you can project the blueprint on a screen for the whole class to see or put them up on the walls!

For younger grades during Phase 1: Build lessons, you can have a built Piper available for reference. Watch the Piper Support Piper Assembly Video or have this playing in the background.

If you are worried about students going at different paces, you can give them particular sections of the blueprint to build per each class. If you want students to go at their own pace but meet back up at the end you can have fast groups go help slower groups so that students become “building experts for the class”.

The blueprint is made of high quality paper. It is designed for kids to sit on top of it and work. They can also put it up on a wall or lay it out on a work bench area. Some facilitators may choose to show a hi-res version of the blueprint on a projector or monitor.

New to Minecraft? 5 Functions to Know

• Left click the mouse to “break” blocks.
• Right click the mouse to “place” blocks.
• Use the mouse scroll to go through inventory (found at the bottom of the game screen).
• Right click on the “crafting table” to get instructions on what to build.
• Click on the blue “info block” to get hints on the challenge.

Troubleshooting is important in this first phase. As students learn how to build a circuit, the concept of how electricity flows is a key learning moment. Have the class watch a video on circuits and breadboards (one of our favorites in Science Buddies).

To further explain circuits, the University of Colorado has a free circuit simulation program called PhET available for educators. Look under the science topic Physics for their Electricity, Magnets and Circuits simulations. TinkerCad also is a free resource for online learning. Check out their TinkerCad Circuits website.

In the first challenge, students will need to touch two wires and move their character. If there are two or more students working on a single Piper, moving Piperbot with the wires while directing him with the mouse is a good way to incorporate both players.

Before closing activities, have students exit the software and close the Piper Computer Kit.

Make sure Piper kits are built, connected, functioning, and batteries are charged ahead of time!!

Introduce coding by playing Ruby the Robot:

• In groups of two, assign one learner to be Ruby “The Programmer” and one to be “The Robot”.
• Assign each pair an activity (may be written on a piece of paper pulled from a hat).
• Ask the Programmer to explain to their partner (Robot) how to perform the steps needed to complete their activity using words only (no non-verbal motions like hand movements)!
• Switch pairs.
• After the activity, use this as an opportunity to talk about the importance of simple, clear instructions and sequences (if the room is loud, say: “‘Head Programmer’ says, all Rubies stop!”).
• Congratulate learners for creating their first algorithms and pseudo code!

Tour the PiperCode platform as a class

All but the first Blink project are locked until the student clicks Next and successfully follows the prompts to build the code of each project.

The right click menu on the blank Canvas has some handy actions:

• Undo/Redo actions
• When the Code Canvas gets crowded, tuck away blocks (Clean up, Collapse/Expand)
• Add comment to leave yourself a note
• Duplicate - make an exact copy of the selected block or group of blocks to save time

Click the four arrowed icon on the top right of diagrams and videos to expand to full screen - this is helpful when trying to exactly line up lights and wires to the right pins on the breadboard.

Under Electronics tab in the Project Panel, you can always reference the GPIO pin map, but you might also want to coach the students to create their own physical “cheat sheet” diagram in their design journal or on sticky labels under the Pi board.

You need to click the green Start block on the top left of the Block Library to run your code. You should also see the lights on the Raspberry Pi board react.

To save time, you can right-click on a block in the Code Canvas and duplicate a single or group of blocks as a sort of copy and paste of your code.

Stop running the code when you’re adjusting blocks or variables! If you adjust the variables of the code blocks while its running, you have to start/stop to make sure you communicate the new code to the board.

If your code blocks string gets long:

• Click on the white of the Code Canvas and drag up to move the whole canvas.
• Use the mouse scroll to zoom in and out.

MiniGames are the small planets that unlock after completing a main project. These have been designed to extend play, so instead of solving a challenge and moving to the next level, students can play these games over and over to try and beat their last score or time.

Use minigames for student groups who are moving faster through Phase 2 & 3.

Host a Make-A-Thon in phase 4 to allow students to start creating their own technology.

Students can design their own game in PiperCode by selecting the /My Projects > NEW.

What is StarLab? StarLab has projects for the Sensor Explorer Kit, an add-on for the Piper Computer Kit. You can find these lessons in StoryMode, off the main navigation screen.

• Color Sensor = Chameleon Giant
• Temperature Sensor = TerraSense
• Ultrarange Finder = Post No. 34 1/2

The current model Piper Computer v4 (July 2024) includes a blueprint that guides the deconstruction process.

Before putting all the parts in the box, have students lay their parts on the blueprint for easily conducting a visual inventory.

We recommend to not unscrew the screen framing.

For more ideas on how to store your Piper Computer Kits for multiple year use, visit the Educator Community Page.

Missing parts or need replacement pieces? Email hi@playpiper for assistance.