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Lesson Materials

Piper Computer Kit

Learning Objectives

1. Understand buttons and switches are used in most complex electric and electronic devices, no matter the size.
2. Understand that switches are different than buttons in that switches allow current to continually run through a circuit. Buttons only allow this for one moment.
3. Understand components with polarity have to be placed a certain way in the circuit.
4. Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.
5. Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by electric currents.
6. Decompose problems into smaller, manageable tasks which may themselves be decomposed.
7. Perform different roles when collaborating with peers.
8. Generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns to transfer information.
9. Determine potential solutions to solve simple hardware and software problems using common troubleshooting strategies.

Lesson Preperation

• Review background materials and hints on Minecraft in Minecraft Reference.
• Go through the Power Plant and Rainbow Bridge stories yourself, follow the directions on the screen and build the circuits (don’t forget to turn on the speakers so you can hear the directions).
• Review Piper Quick Guides for Power Plant and Rainbow Bridge.
• Review your favorite teacher science materials for Electronics and Circuits background.
• Students in the same teams as before, or make adjustments as necessary.
• Make sure Piper kits are built, connected, functioning, and batteries are charged for the Raspberry Pi and the speaker.
• Retrieve student team storage boxes with Piper build components.
• Provide storage devices to teams to hold electronics - such as paper plate or paper cup or plastic box.
• Materials needed for electronic builds: 2 switches, 1 buzzer, and 6 wires (3 red, 3 blue).

PIPER 5E INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL

Engage

1. Tell students they will be playing through 2 more levels of the game today, exploring the many ways to use buttons and switches in Piper, and learning about polarity.
2. Activate prior knowledge: Ask “What do you know about polarity? When have you used that concept before?” Pause and wait 5 seconds for responses. Then ask “How about with magnets or with a battery?”
3. If you can project from a Piper onto a larger screen or projector, have a learner who might have surged ahead demo the first steps of Power Plant. Ask questions and engage students in a discussion about how the polarity plays out in this simulated circuit.

Explore

Encourage students to go through the Power Plant and Rainbow Bridge worlds.
Review Piper Quick Guides for Power Plant and Rainbow Bridge.

During this time, roam around the room, asking the essential questions* of this lesson:

1. Power Plant:
   • Where have you seen buttons and switches used before?
2. Rainbow Bridge:
   • Look closely at the buzzer, what special markers are used on it to indicate polarity?
   • What happens if you put in an LED instead of the buzzer?

*These checks for understanding help reinforce the learning of the science skill of applying scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another: (NGSS (4-PS3-4) A)

Explain

1. Review vocabulary words and definitions that were encountered during the lesson.
2. With grade 6-8 students, discuss how the kinetic energy from the falling water is converted to electrical energy and stored in the battery.

Elaborate

• Students take a picture of their control panel and circuits. After completing the stories, students take apart any circuits on separate breadboards and return parts to their proper bag in the storage bin.
• Students put the kit away to avoid distractions during the teacher-led discussion. Remind students to use the proper shutdown sequence.
• Teacher-led discussion: 2.3 SLIDES - More Buttons, Switches & Polarity, Audio. Use these slides to unpack and discuss the uses of buttons and switches in the outside world and also concepts of polarity and audio output.
• Group discussion/reflection: Combine a few teams together in small groups of 4 to 6. Have individuals contribute questions/answers on the topic of Buttons, Switches, and Polarity, giving references to the two Piper worlds they just finished that explored this new concept.
• Assign peer leaders to either document or summarize their group’s ideas. Provide prompts to help them get started:
  • What do we know about it?
  • How do we know that we know it? How did we demonstrate knowledge?
  • What got in the way of learning it?
  • What helped with learning it?
  • How can this knowledge be applied to a real-world engineering problem?

Evaluate

• Group discussion: Have one group volunteer to share their work with the class. Visibility for the whole class will be key.
• Address misconceptions as students share.
• Ask open-ended questions such as:
  • Why do you think..?
  • What evidence do you have?
  • What do you know about the problem?
  • How would you find the answer to the question?
• Have students complete Assessment Questions as an Exit survey (or gamify) to evaluate learning objectives.
• [Optional] Have students draw a circuit with a battery, switch, and a polarized component like a buzzer.

PHASE RESOURCES

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StoryMode Map

Below is a map of the StoryMode Planets

Graphic Organizer

Lesson 2.3 DOWNLOAD

Phase 2 DOWNLOAD

Term Glossary

Standards Alignment

We are excited to be aligned with the following standards.

K12 Computer Science Standards

Concepts	Standards
Computing Systems: Devices	CA 3-5.CS.1 Describe how computing devices connect to other components to form a system. (P7.2)
Computing Systems: Hardware & Software	CA 3-5.CS.2 Demonstrate how computer hardware and software work together as a system to accomplish tasks. (P4.4) 6-8.CS.2 Design a project that combines hardware and software components to collect and exchange data. (P5.1)
Computing Systems: Troubleshooting	3-5.CS.3 Determine potential solutions to solve simple hardware and software problems using common troubleshooting strategies. (P6.2) 6-8.CS.3 Systematically apply troubleshooting strategies to identify and resolve hardware and software problems in computing systems. (P6.2)
Algorithms & Programming	3-5.AP.13 Decompose problems into smaller, manageable tasks which may themselves be decomposed. (P3.2) 3-5.AP.18 Perform different roles when collaborating with peers during the design, implementation, and review stages of program development. 6-8.AP.13 Decompose problems and subproblems into parts to facilitate the design, implementation, and review of programs. (P3.2) 6-8.AP.18 Distribute tasks and maintain a project timeline when collaboratively developing computational artifacts. (P2.2, P5.1)
Practices	P1. Fostering an Inclusive Computing Culture P2. Collaborating Around Computing P4. Developing and Using Abstractions P5. Creating Computational Artifacts P6. Testing and Refining Computational Artifacts

Next Generation Science Standards Connections

Concept	Standard
Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.	(4-PS3-2) &(4-PS4-2)
Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.	(4-PS3-4)
Generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns to transfer information.	(4-PS4-3)
Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem (Performance Expectation).	3–5-ETS1-2
Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved. (P.E.3.4.7)	3–5-ETS1-3
Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer Connection to the Nature of Science: Science knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence and explanations.	(MS-PS4-1)
Integrate qualitative scientific and technical information to support the claim that digitized signals are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information than analog signals.	(MS-PS4-3)
Digitized signals (sent as wave pulses) are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information (inputs and outputs).	(MS-PS4-3)
Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.	MS-ETS1-2
Optimizing the Design Solution Different solutions need to be tested in order to determine which of them best solves the problem, given the criteria and the constraints.	MS-ETS1.C.