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  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
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  1. Intro to Computational Thinking
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  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

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Distance Sensor

Lesson 3

Distance Sensor Lesson 3

Creating Devices That Use Data


45 - 60 mins

Grades 3 - 8
INTRODUCTION
This lesson will deepen students’ knowledge of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion. Students will consider other uses of the Distance Sensors. Students will use PiperCode: Security Zone to create their own sensor alarm, practice making graphs, and converting units of distance and time to solve problems.

  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
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GETTING STARTED

Lesson Materials


Piper Computer Kit
Sensor Explorer Kit

Learning Objectives

In this lesson, students will explore other uses of motion sensors and use the Distance Sensor in combination with PiperCode: Security Zone to create their own sensor alarm and learn to graph results.
Students will:
  1. Understand how waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials
  2. Develop programs with sequences and simple loops to express ideas or address a problem
  3. Graph, compare, and predict proportional relationships while interpreting the unit rate as the slope of graphs
  4. Explore how to make and read graphs by creating their own story in PiperCode

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 of motion, distance, rate, and how wavelengths change with distance and time
  • Review grade-level standards in science and math as they relate to waveforms, measuring object motion, prediction, and solving word problems involving speed and time
  • Review PiperCode Security Alarm
  • Make sure Piper battery packs are charged before use
PIPER 5E INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL

Engage

Teacher-led Discussion (5 minutes)

Use slides 1-4 in the Lesson 3 Slide Deck to help students investigate current sensor alarms available on Amazon.

Provide students with samples of sensor alarms or have them look for them in a reliable search engine. Have them consider why and when this type of alarm would be useful. Students can think-pair-share or have an open class discussion.

Have students revisit the StoryMode level but now focusing on the questions below.

Guiding Questions:
  • How do you think this alarm works?
  • What are some advantages of using this type of alarm?
  • What are some limitations when using this type of alarm?
  • When would this alarm be useful?

Explore

Explore: PiperCode Project: Security Zone (30-40 minutes)

Have students complete the PiperCode project Security Zone. During this PiperCode Project, students will code their own sensor alarm using the Distance Sensor and the Piper Computer Kit. Before they begin, show students slides 3 and 4 in the Lesson 3 Slide Deck to remind students about wiring troubleshooting.

Have students record their responses to the Discussion Questions found in the tutorial as they complete the project on this graphic organizer.

Discussion Questions from the Tutorial for teacher reference:
  • Step 3: What would be different if we used inches? (Have rulers available to help students visualize the difference between the units and estimate distance.)
  • Step 6: How does setting the Distance Sensor value to 20 affect the output? What would be different if the value were 5?
  • Step 11: How would the alarm change if you used the unit inches?

Explain

Explain (10-15 Minutes)

Have students use the graphs they created on their graphic organizers for the explanation.

Use slide 5 to review the different graphs created by each group. Through this explanation, students should touch on their responses to the discussion questions.

Elaborate

Apply: The different uses for Distance Sensors

Students learned of echolocation in Lesson 2. Lesson 3 is the technological application of this concept.

Sonar is one application that helps submarines “see” when below the water. Students can learn more about this by reading this article. Have them write a reflection in their journals.

Evaluate

Closing/Reflection Activity (10-15 Minutes)
Have students respond to these writing prompts:
  • How would you use your sensor alarm at home?
  • What distance would you set your alarm to detect? Explain why you would use that distance. Pay attention to units!

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

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 3 DOWNLOAD

Term Glossary


Pattern Something that repeats in a predictable way. In color sensors, a pattern is something like stripes or spots that the sensor looks for to recognize and understand what it's seeing. It helps the sensor tell different colors or shapes apart by noticing these repeating designs.

Transmittance How much light passes through a material. In color sensors, it measures how much light goes through an object or material without being absorbed or reflected.

Alarm A device that warns or signals, as by a bell, buzzer or whistle .

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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



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