Level 1Reference

What this year is

Thirty-four sessions and two projects. By the end you will have built a game people can play and a machine that senses something in the real world and does something about it.

You will start with the computer itself, because everything else runs on one. Then you will learn to tell a computer what to do, using coloured blocks you drag. Then you will build real circuits, with real wires, that do real things. Then you will look at what AI actually is. And then you will build one thing of your own and show it to people.

The five parts

  • Using a computer — four sessions. What the parts do, where your work goes, and how to stay safe.
  • Telling a computer what to do — five sessions. Blocks, loops, choices, and a small game.
  • Circuits and sensing — eight sessions. LEDs, buttons, sound, light, distance, movement.
  • AI and chatbots — three sessions. What they are, how to use them, where they get it wrong.
  • Your project — five sessions. One build, and an exhibition at the end of the year.
💡 Tip
You do not need to be good at any of this already. Nobody in the room is. That is why there is a book.

How this book works

Every session looks the same, so you always know where you are.

  1. What we are making — the thing you will have at the end of the hour.
  2. The idea — the new thing, explained before you do it.
  3. Do it — numbered steps. Follow them in order.
  4. Try it — what should happen, and what to do if it does not.
  5. What you learned — a short list, to check yourself against.

The boxes, and what they mean

💡 Tip
A tip is something that will save you time. Green.
⚠ Careful
A careful is something that can break equipment, or lose your work. Read these ones properly. Orange.
🔮 Try this
A try this is extra, for when you finish early. Purple. Nobody has to do them.
🔧 If it goes wrong
A fix is what to do when the thing in front of you is not working. Yellow.

The rules of this room

  • Nothing goes in the bin until it is checked against the card. One missing wire costs somebody a whole session next week.
  • Never plug anything in while the power is on. Build it, then power it.
  • Ask before you take from another team's bin. Always.
  • Write in your notebook every session, with the date. A project that failed with a good notebook scores higher than one that worked without.
  • If you break something, say so. Nobody is in trouble for a broken part. People are in trouble for a broken part that turns up next week in somebody else's hands.