Instructor directions are listed below:
- Tell and show students what materials are available to use in the building of their projects and remind them of any class rules when it comes to building.
- Review safety precautions when using the hot-glue guns.
- Emphasize that only teachers (or other adult) will use the utility knife. We ask students to draw what they want on the board before asking teachers to cut the board.
- Remind students that balance is important when building their project as a poorly balanced design will not work properly for long.
- Emphasize that the goal of this activity is to have a project with a moving feature, controlled by an app. A moving creation that is poorly decorated is preferred over a beautifully decorated craft with no movement.
- Remind students this is a team project and all members should have the opportunity to participate in the design and build.
- Remind students they need to test their project and change it as needed. • Encourage students to rely on each other to solve the problem. Remind them that sometimes the fastest way to fix a problem is to ask for help from one of their peers. • Encourage students to think like a scientist. Ask students to fix the problem by changing one thing at a time until they figure out the source of the problem.
- Allow students 4 - 6 hours to build their projects, see implementation for suggestions on breaking up the build process into multiple days.
- Make regular check-ins with each group to ensure they are on track to finish the project in the allotted time.
- If the team plans to use a battery pack to present the project, ask each team to test their project using the battery pack because Servo speed may vary with different power sources.
- If the team plans to showcase the project, ask them to download the final app to their mobile device. To do this in App Inventor, students need to go to Build and select “App (provide QR code for .apk)”. A QR reader app on the Android device can be used to scan the QR code and download the app. Please alert students that they might need to change the device settings to allow the app to download from an unverified source. Once the app has downloaded, it is recommended to move the app to the home screen of the mobile device for ease of use.
- Allow students 5-10 minutes for cleaning up the space, returning unused materials and following instructor directions for cleaning. Remind students not to break and take apart their projects as they will be presenting and sharing their project.
At the Thinkabit Lab, we found the Bluetooth connection can become a stumbling block for many teams when building their projects. We recommend that students write code to control their LEDs and Servos without Bluetooth to determine the actions they want for their project. Once these actions are finalized, then the team can add them in the Bluetooth connection and create the app to control the Arduino. It is a good idea to have students save their code to the computer so they can return to it throughout the activity, especially if they are completing the project over multiple days.
Similar to other projects, students can hot glue their Servos anywhere on the project. Placement of the Arduino board is especially important with respect to how it will be powered. Ideally, the Arduinos should be powered with a battery pack for presentations so that students are not connected to a computer with a USB cable. It is very important to ensure easy access to the Arduino power ports.
If the Tech for Good Build takes place over multiple days, be sure to check-in with each team at the end of each day, taking notes on what they need to complete the project. Ask the team what they finished that day and what needs to be done the next day. If it appears that a team may not finish on time, consider playing the part of a robot fairy and working on their project overnight to ensure they will finish. Some teams may need extra help with code while others may need more help with building.
When many students are asking for support, it can be difficult to circulate the room evenly. Consider having a white board or paper at the front of the room where students can sign up for technical support. We have found that a sign-up sheet helped students feel they were getting help in a fair and timely manner. We also strongly recommend having extra adult help during build times. If there is extra time, suggest to students to add more functionality to their projects, like additional LEDs or Servos (as long as they are still within the guidelines). Also, the Arduino activities in the Learning Center can be used for more ideas and guidance.
If the Servo is not working/won’t move
- Check the wires. Are they plugged to both the Servo and the Arduino board?
- Check that the Arduino board is connected to the computer
- Check that the code was uploaded to the
Arduino Other technical issues
- Revisit previous activities and refer to the Troubleshooting tab to help solve issues.
- Download the Troubleshooting Guide to help with common coding errors.