Close menu

Resources


PIPER COMPUTER

Everything you need to teach STEAM effectivly using the Piper Computer Kit.

Educator Guides StoryMode Project Guides PiperCode Project Guides
PIPER MAKE

Teach fundamental STEM skills while providing a bridge to career connected learning.

Educator Guides
Best Practices Standards Glossary FAQ Educator Forum

EDUCATOR PORTAL

Close menu

ALL GUIDES


  1. What is a Computer?
  2. Executing a Plan
  3. Practicing Flexibility
  4. Completing a System

  1. Buttons & Breadboards
  2. Basic Inputs & Outputs
  3. Polarity & Audio Output
  4. Parallel Circuits

  1. Intro to Computational Thinking
  2. Loops & Sequences
  3. Events
  4. Programming with Lights & Sounds
  5. Completing Additional PiperCode Projects

  1. Extend in Storymode
  2. Design a Bot & Make Music
  3. Redesign a Stoplight
  4. Engineering Design with Piper

  1. Take Apart and Reflection
  2. Computers in Everyday Life
  3. The Environmental Impact of Computers
  4. Final Design Challenge

  1. What is Color?
  2. How Do We See Color?
  3. How Does the Color Sensor Detect Color?
  4. RGB in Computing

  1. The Water Cycle
  2. What is Temperature?
  3. What Are the States of Matter?
  4. Phase Changes

  1. Motion Introduction
  2. How Do Waves Help Us Understand Patterns?
  3. Creating Devices That Use Data
  4. Graphing Motion

  1. What is Energy?
  2. The Energy Behind Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

PIPER COMPUTER

EDUCATOR GUIDES

All Guides
YOU ARE HERE

Distance Sensor

Lesson 1

Distance Sensor Lesson 1

Motion Introduction


45 - 60 mins

Grades 3 - 8
INTRODUCTION

Sensors connected to the Piper Computer Kit provide students with educational hands-on experience that integrates environmental sensory data with unparalleled coding and story adventures.

The Sensor Explorer projects and lessons feature three sensors that you wire up to the Piper Computer. Students will then be guided through character-driven story narratives while using game-like StoryMode to learn how decisions impact final outcomes within three unique StoryMode world puzzles and problems. Coupled with the game experience in StoryMode, students will have fun extending their coding skills using PiperCode while collecting real-world data using the 3 sensors.

This lesson will make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion. Students will learn to set up and use a motion sensor with the Piper Computer. Students will complete the lesson by playing StoryMode: Starlab Mission; Post No. 34 1/2 and use units of distance, time, speed, and frequency to solve puzzles.

  Print Educator Guide   Lesson Slides    Assessments    Support
GETTING STARTED Lesson Materials Learning Objectives Lesson Preperation
5E INSTRUCTIONS Engage Explore Explain Elaborate Evaluate
Phase Resources Career Connections Graphic Organizer Term Glossary Standards Alignment
Back to Top
GETTING STARTED

Lesson Materials


Piper Computer Kit
Sensor Explorer Kit

Learning Objectives

This will introduce the motion sensor and how to use this device with the Piper Computer. Students will complete the lesson by playing StoryMode to solve puzzles related to distance, time, and speed.
Students will:
  1. Understand how waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials
  2. Develop an understanding of how the Distance Sensor works
  3. Solve puzzles and unit rate problems including those involving unit motion and constant speed
  4. Use the Piper computer and Sensor for motion and solve puzzles for rate, distance, and time in the StoryMode: StarLab Mission game

Lesson Preperation

  • Review lesson resources and components for 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate) and student grouping.
  • ​Read the resources yourself, and make sure you understand the basics motion, distance, rate, and wavelengths change with distance and time.
  • ​Review grade-level standards in science and math they relate to waveforms, measuring object motion, prediction, and solving word problems involving speed and time.
  • Review PiperCode Starlab Post No 34 1/2. Note: You may need to go to settings and unlock this level if students are completing lessons in a different order than designed.
  • Make sure Piper battery packs are charged before using them.
PIPER 5E INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL

Engage

Teacher-led Discussion (5 minutes)

Use slide #2 in the Lesson 1 Slide Deck to guide students through this warmup. Students will be watching a clip from Jumanji. After they watch, have them complete these discussion questions (this can be a Think-Pair-Share activity):

Describe the drumbeat.
  • How did it change throughout the scene?
  • What did the change in beat tell us?
  • What’s another word you would use to describe the beat?

(OPTIONAL): Interactive activity: Have students mimic the beat by clapping.

Discussion questions:
  • What do they notice about the speed of their claps?
    Answer: Clapping gets faster and louder.
  • What happens to their hands when the beat quickens?
    Answer: Their hands get closer and closer as the beat gets faster.

Explore

Explore: Play StoryMode Level: Post No. 34½ (30-40 minutes)

Students will need their Piper Computer Kit and Piper Sensor Explorer Kit to complete the StoryMode level: Post No. 34½. Have them go to story mode and enter the StarLab Mission. Then choose the Post No. 341/2 level.

Note: You may need to go to the settings and unlock this level if students are completing the lessons in a different order then designed.

As students play the level, have them fill in the graphic organizer. This will help guide students through wiring the sensor, describing the sensor, and delegating roles within the group. Students will describe the puzzles they need to solve within the game and describe the rate related to each puzzle.

Explain

Explain (10-15 Minutes)
Guiding questions:
  • What happened to the initial bouncing “ball” block when you hover your hand over the Distance Sensor?
  • How did you solve each of the puzzles?
  • What was the Distance Sensor measuring?
  • What units did it measure in? Hint: Should have been visible in the top right of the screen
  • What questions do you have?
Students can use their graphic organizer to record their responses. Use slides 3-6 to review.

Elaborate

Apply: The different uses for Distance Sensors.

Slide 7 provides students with other applications for Distance Sensor. If students don’t know where else they’ve seen Distance Sensors, have them do some research and share out what they found!

Evaluate

Closing/Reflection Activity (10-15 Minutes)
Have students respond to these writing prompts:
  • What are other techniques you use when trying to solve puzzles?
  • What would you do the same or differently the next time you have to solve this type of puzzle?

At the end of this lesson, have student take the Assessment on the Distance Sensor.

PHASE RESOURCES

Career Connections

Security/Fire System Installers: Salary $50,130/yr
Civil Engineer: Salary $88,050/yr
Construction Manager: Salary $101,480/yr
Avionics Technicians: Salary $75,450/yr

Graphic Organizer

Lesson 1 DOWNLOAD

Term Glossary


Motion The change in an object's position over time. It can be described by its speed, direction, and distance traveled.

Distance How far an object has traveled from one point to another. It’s the total length of the path taken, no matter the direction.

Prediction An educated guess about what might happen in the future based on what you know or have observed. In science, predictions are often made before conducting experiments to see if the results match what was expected.

View Full Glossary

Standards Alignment


We are excited to be aligned with the following standards.


Concept Standard

Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

3-5-PS1-1

Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.

3-PS2-2

Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move.

4-PS4-1

Develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eye allows objects to be seen.

4-PS4-2

Generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns to transfer information.

4-PS4-3

Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways.

4-LS1-2

Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

MS-LS2-3

Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.

MS-PS1-4

Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.

MS-PS3-4

Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.

MS-PS3-5

Develop a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

MS-PS4-2

Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.

MS-ESS2-4

Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

MS-ESS3-5

Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.

3-ESS2-2



TEACH
Computer Kit Guides
Piper Make Guides
Piper Make Mission Control
Glossary
SUPPORT
Product Support
Contact Us
FAQ
COMPANY
playpiper.com
About Us
Educator Forum