![]() With this in mind we opted for the MI:power board which connects to the Micro:Bit and provides a simple buzzer for audio effects and also portable power using a simple CR2032 3 volt coin battery. Powering for portability enhances the possibilities for future wearable ideas and having a usb cable tethered from your dragon to your computer isn’t the greatest look and probably doesn’t form part of your computer’s manufacturer’s specifications! Unless you are using a Linux computer, in which case a tethered dragon is pretty much mandatory isnt it? □. We could have taken the modelling and design of our dragon much further but as this was a prototype we kept it simple. The box would hold the cables and Micro:Bit inside quite easily and an opening at the back provides easy access to all the components. Rather than building a design to test from scratch we started with a small box and cut it to suit, a hole for the mouth and a few cuts to fold over part of the top to make the area for eyes. It also is a readily available up-cycling material source and its very nature suggests something prototypical and “in progress” so helps to promote the tinker mindset. For ease of use and good structural integrity, it cuts well, can be glued, stuck to, painted on and stand up to a good bashing so suits this type of activity well. Prototyping it first helps to avoid this. We also prototyped the circuit designs and wired up the final circuit in its bare form, outside the model just to make sure it was all functioning correctly as it is a bit more fiddly having to pull components and cables out of the model when something does not function quite as you had intended. In true tinkering style we wrote a number of discrete code tests to try out each piece of functionality by itself and then combined them into a single code project when we were ready to build the final model and wire it all up. ![]() The first step was to play with the BBC Micro:Bit, try out a few pieces of code, and test a few simple circuits to establish what was the best way forward. Materials UsedĢ Adafruit LED sequins – whatever colour you fancy! The large set of pins on the bottom of the Micro:Bit are designed to work well with either crocodile clips or banana clips, and are less fiddly than some circuits built with traditional breadboards. The official, JavaScript based, Microsoft MakeCode editor is simple to use, has a familiar feel for students who have already started their coding journey with Scratch or Kodu. This is especially true when working with younger students. It may not be as complex or offer as many possibilities as the Raspberry Pi or Arduino platforms but this narrower scope of features makes for, in our opinion, a more responsive and agile feel to experimentation and iterative making. It means faster prototyping for simple circuits and interactions. Creates a wonderful bedtime ritual with children that they will look forward to every night.We love the immediacy of the Micro:Bit platform. The whimsical and colorful illustrations enable the dragon to jump off the page and will delight the reader with its humor and personality on every page. When the story finally comes to an end, and the gentle lullaby is repeated, the dragon (and the child!) is encouraged to drift off to sleep. What is the kingdom to do?ĭesigned to be read aloud and interacted with, parents will take pleasure in the playful text as much as children will enjoy gently rocking the book from side to side as they sing the dragon a lullaby. ![]() It isn’t until the whole kingdom settles down that the dragon wakes up. Don’t Wake the Dragon is a fantastic and interactive bedtime story featuring a sound-asleep dragon who under no circumstances is to be woken up! Children are tasked with checking in on the sleeping dragon as the castle cook drops his pots and pans and when the knights throw a loud birthday party.
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