Kitronik Lesson in a Box - Simple Robotics for the BBC micro:bit

Designed by teachers and tested by pupils to save you precious time when teaching Simple Robotics, covering Computing, Physics and STEM, to pupils ranging from 8+, 11+ and 14+.

Description:

The Lesson in a Box® Simple Robotics is a complete set of electronics and teaching resources to enable successful cross-curricular lessons with minimal teacher effort. The kit and teaching resources have been tried and tested by real pupils and developed by real teachers to save you precious time.

In developing this box, we wanted it to be affordable, useful and robust enough for teachers to use time and time again. The resources are aligned with UK and US curricula, and encourage personal development skills, whilst demonstrating the value of STEAM activities in their curriculum.

All of the teaching resources are set out in a teacher, user-friendly way, including technicians’ notes, lesson plans, and workbooks or worksheets where applicable. These are supplied in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and PDF formats, which can be copied, modified, and printed to suit your own teaching style. There is also a quick start guide to the Lesson in a Box® kit that gives an overview of the whole box including a summary of your new lessons, how to set up your kit, how to use the microbit, code examples and more!

The robots utilise the BBC microbit and our Klip Motor Driver board designed specifically for this type of activity! It requires no soldering and is connected by crocodile clips. The advantages of the microbit are that, while being easy to use, it can be coded with languages that suit every ability level.

This cross-curricular kit has been designed for STEM, Computing, and Physics, with a strong emphasis on STEM. The provided material is segregated into targeted pupil age groups: 8+, 11+, and 14+. Also included are documents detailing alignment with US and UK curricula.

• STEM– Your lessons are all about the design process.
• Computing– Your lessons are all about the robot’s code. 
• Physics – Your lessons are all about speed and velocity. 
• Enrichments & Open Days – It’s all about experimentation and fun.

Improvements:

We have made some improvements to the kit, to make it easier to build and more robust post-build. For every step of the process, we have carried out testing in schools to ensure that we’ve addressed the needs of the teachers and pupils. These improvements are listed below:

• The motors:
  • Now come with clip wires pre-attached (permanently).
  • Are mounted on the chassis in a more robust way that also improves the aesthetics.
• The Cardboard Chassis:
  • Redesigned to make it much easier to assemble.
  • Locating points added for the elastic band.
  • Motors are now securely mounted on the chassis, it looks and performs better.
  • Holes were added for clip wires, allowing for easier connection.
  • Now provides a more robust way of holding the ping pong ball.
• The Resources:
  • Revamped, updated and improved the existing resources based on feedback and our experience over the years.
  • Now contain US curriculum alignment, alongside UK curriculum alignment.
  • Contain newly added additional 6 lessons aimed at 8+ to widen the relevance of the kit.

Features:

• A complete set of electronics and teaching resources to enable successful cross-curricular lessons with minimal teacher effort.
• No soldering is required.
• It’s fun to teach and learn.
• Extensive testing by real pupils and developed by real teachers.
• Lesson plans, presentations, workbooks or worksheets and technicians’ notes.
• Reusability: all component parts were chosen and designed with this in mind.
• Packaged in a sturdy reusable Gratnells tray that will keep the kits together and safe in between uses.
• New and improved chassis.
• US & UK curriculum alignment documents.
• 6 new lessons aimed at 8+ to widen the relevance of the pack.
• We’ve added additional 6 new lessons aimed at 8+ to widen the relevance of the kit.

Contents:

There are 11 sets of electronics, designed as 10 for student groups and 1 as the teacher model, supplied in a large, reusable Gratnells tray. The box includes:

• 11 x Kitronik Klip Motor Driver Board for BBC micro:bit.
• 22 x Geared Hobby motors. (With wires permanently pre-soldered in place)
• 22 x 5 Spoke Injection Moulded Wheels for TT Motors.
• 6 x packs of Clip leads.
• 11 x ping pong ball for robot castor.
• 11 x cardboard chassis, plus a DXF file template to cut extra.
• Rubber bands to secure the chassis.
• Printed posters for enrichment activities.
• A printed Teachers & Technicians guide.
• A unique password to access the digital resources in our new online portal.

Requires:

• 1 x microbit per robot.
• 3 x AA batteries per robot.

Resources:

• What is Lesson in a box and who is it for.
• Video: Overview of Lesson in a box.
• Tech Talk Livestream playback – Lesson in a box – The concept – Join Caroline Keep, Alasdair Trench & Kevin Spurr.