High School Cooler Communities: Leveraging Micro:bits for Science Learning

by Hannah Nakamoto and Yenny Sanchez Sarmiento

“I always knew that this was a thing but I never thought about why before.” 

-10th grade high school student at Kearny High

This past summer we attended the Climate Champions Design Summit, an opportunity where local teachers could gather at the University of California, San Diego, and learn about ways in which we could include more environmental literacy into our teaching practice. We experience a high school chemistry unit that leverages the Understanding Global Change framework and modeling practices. It was here that we came across the “cooler communities” lesson plans and micro:bits for the first time.

An example of how Hannah Nakamoto, a 10th grade chemistry teacher, uses the “Understanding Global Change” poster in her classroom. Nakamoto painted her cabinets using chalkboard paint, which means she can record the essential question above the poster and connect the essential question to the poster every day. Related vocabulary words are also written on the side as students move through the unit.

Why Micro:bits? 

Micro:bits are pocket sized mini computers that are perfect for science classrooms because of their ease of access and wide range of features. 

A quick glance at micro:bit’s list of pre-made projects will reveal just how extensive and useful this mini computer is. Chemistry teachers can utilize micro:bit’s thermometer, conductivity meter, and weather bit add ons. Physics teachers can utilize the accelerometer, compass, magnetometer, and light sensor. And biology teachers can take advantage of the fun ready made projects such as the animal tracker and the species counter. 

Using Micro:bits to Analyze Our Local Climate

The cooler communities unit focuses on urban heat and the ways in which we can combat this issue using plants. In this particular lesson, we ask the question, “Is the temperature of the air the same as the temperature of the land?”

Integration of Micro:bits

In this lesson students perform a lab in which they have to record the temperature of various locations across campus. They first make predictions about how different surfaces will absorb and reflect heat, then collect data to confirm or refute their hypotheses. As an easy and fun addition to this lab, I simply asked students to program their micro:bit computers to record temperature data instead of having the students use thermometer guns. 

The wonderful thing about the micro:bits is that they can record multiple variables at the same time. For example, instead of simply recording temperature using a thermometer, suddenly students can record how temperature changes over time and produce a table and graph in the micro:bit system. They can also export this data and use google sheets to perform further data analysis. It should be noted that districts who do not allow their students to use javascript will have a difficult time collecting data on more than one variable at a time, but the micro:bits can always collect at least data for one variable at a time. 

Pictured above: a screenshot that exemplifies the type of data that can be acquired using micro:bit’s MadeCode system.

Reflection

This experience has reminded us how easy it can be to take lessons that already exist within our curriculum and spruce them up using modern day technology. We strongly encourage anyone who is interested in updating their lesson plans to consider these micro:bits!

Here is a video that walks you through the lesson and resources.

Links to Resources:

Lesson Outline

Storyline

Teacher Handout

Student Handout

Computer Science Standards