In lesson packs Programming Concepts 1 & Programming Concepts 2, students learned about the basic concepts of programming. This knowledge will be put into practice in this lesson pack as they undertake multiple mini projects using Marty and his sensors to create programs that allow him to respond to his environment. Consisting of four new lessons, the Responding to Our Environment lesson pack will introduce students to using sensors and switches as a way to interact with the world whilst drawing comparisons between this and how we interact with the world, usually using sight and touch. All four lessons utilize either Scratch 2 or 3 to complete the tasks and challenges.

Students will get the opportunity to explore three different types of sensors/switches that come with Marty including: bump switches so when Marty walks into something we can react, motor current sensors that can be used to measure when pressure is being placed on a joint and finally, accelerometers that can detect different movements.

Using bump switches combined with logic, students will be able to program Marty to go around an obstacle course and respond to the different obstacles in his path instead of measuring out the exact number of steps like we did in lesson 1.14. They will then get to create a secret handshake with Marty using the motor current sensors that can measure the amount of force on a joint before creating a small game where Marty’s movements will control a sprite on the screen.

Like with all of our lesson packs, you get all of the resources that you need to immediately get started with using Marty and his sensors in the classroom. Included in this lesson pack, you will find: lesson plans, links to the curriculum, teacher guides, student workbooks, Powerpoint slides, sample solutions and any additional materials like worksheets. Our links to the curriculum include outlining which benchmarks and outcomes the lesson meets in both the Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland and the National Curriculum in England.