Sensors, tiny computers and keeping devices healthy
الأسبوع 23 · المحور الرابع «مشروعات برمجية»، الدرسان ١ و٢ «المستكشف النشط» و«كيف تعمل الأجهزة الرقمية» · 3 دروس
2
A tiny computer and school problems
ICT P5 Term 2, Theme 4: pp. 44–53
GoalExplain what a tiny low-cost computer can do and suggest technology ideas for school problems.
New words
tiny computer · a very small, low-cost computer board that can fit in your handprogram · a list of instructions that a computer followsproblem · something that is hard or wrong and needs a fixsolution · a way to fix a problem
Explanation
Not every computer is big. Some are tiny, cheap boards that fit in your hand. You can plug in a keyboard, a screen and a mouse. They can read sensors, switch lights on and off and record data. With some basic coding, you can make them do useful things. For example, pupils could connect a tiny computer to a sensor in the school garden: when the soil is dry, the computer switches on the watering. Now think about problems at school and ideas that technology offers: a library that is too small, a canteen that is too crowded at break, and no money for trips. Each problem can have a technology idea. A good idea is useful, affordable and safe.
School problem
Technology idea
The library is too small for more books
a digital library of e-books to read on screens
The canteen is crowded at break
a timetable, so each class goes at its own time
No money for trips
a virtual trip by video or an online museum
Worked examples
The school garden’s soil is dry on hot days and the gardener cannot come every hour. A sensor tells a tiny computer when the soil is dry, and the computer starts the water. The plants are watered at the right time.
Mariam’s class has only 40 books on the shelf, but 120 pupils. A digital library lets many pupils read the same book on a screen at the same time. The idea solves the problem of space.
Seif thinks: ‘A virtual trip to a museum costs nothing, but it is not the same as going there.’ He decides it is a good first step, and a real trip later is better. Ideas have good and weak points.
Class activity
Problem and idea table. Draw a table on paper with two columns and add three more school problems of your own (for example: lost homework, a dark corridor, or too much paper waste). For each, write a technology idea and answer: Who would benefit? How? Choose the idea you like most and explain why it is useful, affordable and safe. Share it with a partner.
Practice
1
Name two things a tiny low-cost computer can do.
For example: read sensors, switch lights on and off, or record data.
2
What does a tiny computer need so that it can switch on watering when the soil is dry?
A sensor to measure dryness and a program with instructions.
3
Give one technology idea for a crowded canteen.
A timetable so each class goes at its own time.
4
A class has 3 shelves of 12 books each. How many books?
