Hour of Code 2016

Throughout the week most students have had the opportunity to participate in the Hour of Code. We also opened up the lunchtime ICT club to anyone who wanted to code. Of course we crashed the wifi. But once we got it working again it was fun.

Using our M-Bots

Our Mbots are ready to be programmed.  Here is a link to the getting started guide, this might help you when you get a bit stuck.

If you are really interested in getting to grips with our MBots you can download the free software here to practice at home.

Unmaking space

So for an interesting twist on the ICT club we thought we would unmake some old technology that we have lying around school.

What's inside?

Memory - Something that ‘remembers’
Fan, Motor - Something that spins
Processor - Something that ‘thinks’
Copper/Metals/Crystals - Something shiny
Circuit boards - Something pretty
Wires - Something that connects
Magnets - Something that attracts
Mechanical Parts:, e.g. disc hub, tray - Something that moves
LEDs or Lasers - Something that flashes and shines
Ports - Something you can plug into
Keys or Buttons - Something you can press
Gears - Something that turns

So why? 

• To have fun
• To see what is inside- to let ourselves inquire 
• To develop fine motor skills - some of the parts are trick to take apart
• To  develop an appreciation of how technology is the sum of many parts
• To see how all the components work together and how they can be interchangeable
• To develop oral language skills - we need to communicate with each other to help and discuss. 
• To develop problem solving strategies, and to be able to de-bug just like we do when we are programming. 

Some safety tips

Never plug anything in
Be aware of sharp edges
Wash your hands thoroughly afterwards
Keep your work space tidy
Focus on what you are doing
Be aware of what is happening around you
Keep all the bits in a contained area

Loops and instruments in Garageband

We have been having some fun exploring the loops and instruments in Garageband.

Exploring Garageband

We will share some of our creations once they are completed. 

Block coding

Frustrating, painful, challenging, annoying, possible, hard, difficult, messing, debugging, coding, blocks, jump, turn, right, left...

These were some of the words used during our Lightbot challenge during ICT club today.



Oh and did we mention FUN!

Taking better photos

• Take a few seconds to plan your photo.
• Experiment angles - birds eye, worms eye, wide, medium, close up, llooking up.
• Check your background
• Hold the camera straight
• Take many - keep only the best
• Focus on the pint of interest
• Use the rule of thirds.

Today we went out and took some photos around the school

Brooke adn Bella have put soome photos together using Comiclife. 

Samuel likes this because it has the cross.

I like this one because it has my bag and they look like they are getting smaller.

it looks like a big spikey ball going to hit earth.

Taking better photos

• Take a few seconds to plan your photo.
• Experiment angles - birds eye, worms eye, wide, medium, close up, llooking up.
• Check your background
• Hold the camera straight
• Take many - keep only the best
• Focus on the pint of interest
• Use the rule of thirds.

Today we went out and took some photos around the school

Brooke adn Bella have put soome photos together using Comiclife. 

Samuel likes this because it has the cross.

I like this one because it has my bag and they look like they are getting smaller.

it looks like a big spikey ball going to hit earth.

Taking better photos

• Take a few seconds to plan your photo.
• Experiment angles - birds eye, worms eye, wide, medium, close up, llooking up.
• Check your background
• Hold the camera straight
• Take many - keep only the best
• Focus on the pint of interest
• Use the rule of thirds.

Today we went out and took some photos around the school

Brooke adn Bella have put soome photos together using Comiclife. 

Samuel likes this because it has the cross.

I like this one because it has my bag and they look like they are getting smaller.

it looks like a big spikey ball going to hit earth.

Taking better photos

• Take a few seconds to plan your photo.
• Experiment angles - birds eye, worms eye, wide, medium, close up, llooking up.
• Check your background
• Hold the camera straight
• Take many - keep only the best
• Focus on the pint of interest
• Use the rule of thirds.

Today we went out and took some photos.

Samuel likes this because it has the cross.

I like this one because it has my bag and they look like they are getting smaller.

it looks like a big spikey ball going to hit earth.

Taking better photos

• Take a few seconds to plan your photo.
• Experiment angles - birds eye, worms eye, wide, medium, close up, llooking up.
• Check your background
• Hold the camera straight
• Take many - keep only the best
• Focus on the pint of interest
• Use the rule of thirds.

Makey Makey

Exploring the apps on the Makey Makey website

A Makey Makey is a tool tor controlling a digital device via simple electronic circuits.  All you need is the Makey Makey kit, a computer and some knowledge of how an electronic circuit works.

Here is  link to the official Makey Makey website where there are tutorials, apps and even an ordering option.

Lego competition

Mrs O'Leary is holding two lego competitions.

We will look at two apps to help us prepare for the stop motion animation competition. The apps are Stop motion studio and Lego

Tips for making a good stop motion project

1. Have a plan
2. Keep it simple
3. Small movements
4. Check what is in the shot (e.g is your foot accidentally in the shot, clear the background)
5. Lots of frames (photos)
6. Work together - communicate e.g. clear - shooting - move - clear....

• What is a frame?
• What are good camera angles?
• What roles do team members have?
• What is onion skin?

Here are some more tips if you want more. 

Conditional Formatting

Conditional Formatting on a spreadsheet can be useful for finding or  highlighting data an for organising data. There are many uses but we are using it to create some pixel art.

We used conditional formatting to create an Minecraft avatar of ourselves.

Made by Patrick

Update:

Here is Patrick's completed avatar. Notice how the letters have gone. Together the group figured out that by making the text and cells the same colour you can't see the letters. 

Mackenzie

Joshua

James