Teaching Design for Artificial Intelligence Course | How to Explain Arduino Lesson 1?

“Lighting Up the LED” is the first lesson of the “Learning Arduino with Children” course. We assume that children have no foundation, do not know Arduino, do not understand circuits or programming, so this lesson mainly aims to let children recognize the Arduino circuit board, learn some basic knowledge of circuits, and learn to build circuits with electronic components to light up the LED light, stimulating students’ interest in learning and exploring Arduino and circuits.

1. Understand what Arduino is? Understand what Arduino can do?

2. Learn the basic knowledge of circuits: the direction of electric flow, the concept of a circuit.

3. Recognize and learn to use basic electronic components: LED lights, resistors, breadboards, wires, etc..

Teaching Key Point: The wiring of the LED light, the internal principle of the breadboard

Teaching Difficulty: Circuit loop

1．Project Display, Introducing New Lesson【15 minutes】

The teacher displays multiple robots or automatic control devices made with Arduino.

Summary: The control boards used in robot works are all Arduino, leading into the topic what is Arduino?

2．Teaching New Lesson

①Arduino Definition【2 minutes】

Arduino is an open-source hardware and software platform that has a development environment similar to C language, combined with its low price, Arduino has become popular all over the world, attracting many electronic enthusiasts to develop and use it.

Features: Open-source, expandability, compatibility, economy.

②Arduino Hardware Board【2 minutes】

Arduino has released more than a dozen models of boards, introducing two boards that we will use in subsequent courses, the one we are using is the most popular and basic UNO board.

③Arduino IDE 【2 minutes】

Introduce the interface of Arduino IDE and the mixly graphical programming tool.

④Learning Basic Circuit Knowledge【15 minutes】

Before learning Arduino, it is necessary to have the essential circuit knowledge, using a real circuit diagram to explain to students makes it easier to understand.

⑤Recognizing Electronic Components One by One【15 minutes】

LED lights, resistors, breadboards, jumper wires, and power supply, where the power supply is replaced by Arduino. The goal is to let everyone quickly familiarize themselves with the Arduino board.

Key points: The wiring of the LED light, the internal principle of the breadboard.

⑥Hands-on Practice【10~15 minutes】

Use electronic components to build a circuit and light up the LED.

Before letting students do it, the teacher can demonstrate it first using drawing software, recommended drawing software: fritzing.

⑦Power On to See Experimental Effects.

⑧Problem Handling【5 minutes】

Why doesn’t the light turn on? Reason: The circuit loop is not connected

Check thought process:

a. What is the wiring order of the LED light?

b. Is the electricity flowing through the breadboard?

c. Carelessness: Are the positive and negative holes plugged in correctly?

d. Consider the problem with the components themselves, have they been damaged?

3. Expansion and Improvement【3~5 minutes】

Students experience the robot works and smart devices prepared by the teacher before class, which can stimulate children’s interest in learning.

4．Class Summary【2~3 minutes】

1）Basic knowledge of Arduino

2）Learning the basic knowledge of circuits

3）Familiar with the usage of various components

4）Learn to analyze the direction of current flow

5．Assign Homework

1）Try to build a circuit to light up two lamps at once.

2）Check online with parents what other robot projects Arduino can do.

Note: If the institution cannot arrange homework, the homework tasks can be done in class as improvement tasks, for students who have extra capacity to complete.【5 minutes】