Category: Lesson Plans

As a former teacher, I have 11 years’ worth of lesson plans that I am slowly rolling out that I want to share with you. Most of them below are free for you to use, but some are paid.

All of them are based on the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs).

I loved teaching World History and have lots of resources to share. I taught it for 4 years. I also carried a smaller class load of World Geography.

I also enjoyed teaching Civics and Economics, as well as Government, and am slowly adding my plans. One unit I was able to shoehorn into my teaching was The Stock Market Game. I taught those courses for about 6 years.

At one point, I was scheduled to teach AP Psychology, but that fell through. I ended up with some limited lesson plans.

I then transitioned to teaching general technology, Computer Science, and enjoyed teaching with Arduinos. I also created a small lesson plan on GitHub.

Finally, at one point, I taught a lesson at the end of the school year on Archaeology. 

There’s a lot to look at, and not all lesson plans are fully built out, but hopefully it helps you!

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ASCII Art and Games

ASCII Art and Games

Directions: Create 3 rabbits, Convert an Image, and play a game for at least 10. minutes. When done answer the following Exit Questions on a half-sheet of paper.

ASCII Rabbits: Follow the instructions to create ASCII Rabbits. Will need a text-file or a Google Doc
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Bunny-by-Typing-Characters-on-Your-Keyboard

Convert an Image into ASCII Art:
Find an image on the internet and upload it to the site. It will automatically convert it into ASCII
https://picascii.com/

Convert text into ASCII Art
Type a word in and adjust the settings. It will automatically convert it into ASCII art.
http://patorjk.com/software/taag/#p=display&f=Isometric3&t=Hello

ASCII Games:
Early computer games were text-based.

Try Oregon Trail
https://archive.org/details/msdos_Oregon_Trail_The_1990

Chess
https://archive.org/details/msdos_Chess_1981

Air Traffic Controller
https://archive.org/details/msdos_Air_Traffic_Controller_1985

House at the Edge of Time
https://archive.org/details/msdos_House_at_the_Edge_of_Time_The_1990

Draw in ASCII

http://asciiflow.com/

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Hour of Code

Hour of Code

You will select among several code tutorials and code (program a computer) for an hour. You may stick with one tutorial or switch out. The purpose is to code for an hour and expose you to the creativity and fun that computer science and programming can be! You will be graded based on participation and completion of reflection questions.

Objective: Code using a tutorial for one hour.

Hour of Code Tutorials

MineCraft: Use coding blocks to travel through a Minecraft world.

Star Wars: Use Javascript to program droids and create a Star Wars game

Flappy Bird: Create a clone of flappy bird using coding blocks.

PHP Language on CodeCademy: The Language for WordPress

HTML and CSS on CodeCademy: The Language for building Webpages

JavaScript on CodeCademy: The Language of the Web

JQuery on CodeCademy: The Language for building interactive websites

Python on CodeCademy: The Language for creating general applications

Ruby CodeCademy: The Language for creating web applications

APIs on CodeCademy: The interface for communicating with different web applications

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Encoding Numbers in the Real World

Encoding Numbers in the Real World
Directions: Use the handout to research the following links

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Servo Motors

Servo Motors

Setup your breadboard and Arduino using the image below:

Servo Motor Image

Once your image is setup, use the code below to control the Servo

Servo Motor Code

Stuck on Servo Motor? Try this site here: Servo Motor Tutorial

Servo Questions
1 What real-world things use a Servo Motor? Come-up with 3 examples.

2 What could you create with a Servo Motor? How about two Servo Motors?

Servo Challenges:
1 Try to make the Servo Motor go 300 degrees.

2 Try to make the Servo Motor go 90 degrees

3 Try to make the Servo Motor go x degrees (your choice)

4 What happens if you make the Servo Motor go 460 degrees?
HINT: You may need to delete a For() function.

5 Ask for another Servo Motor and try to get two Servo Motors to work at the sametime. What would you need to add? What would your code look like?

6 As a challenge try adding a Potentiometer Knob here to control the location of the Servo Motor. Use the link below.

Potentiometer Knob and Servo Motor

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Intro to Arrays

Use your Array notes in class to complete the following exercises

//Musical Notes
NOTE_B0 31
NOTE_C1 33
NOTE_CS1 35
NOTE_A3 45
NOTE_G3 67
NOTE_B3 1100
NOTE_C4 467

// Melody
int melody[] = {
};

1. What does the number next to each of the notes above mean?
2. Follow the model above and write a new note.
3. Examine the code above and explain what you would need to do in order to play three notes.
4. Look at the above code and write the code needed to place the melody into a loop

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Arduino Piezo Buzzer Project

Arduino Piezo Buzzer Project

You will need 4 wires and a Piezo buzzer.

Connect the wires as shown to complete a circuit with the Piezo buzzer.

Peiz Arduino Setup

The negative wire should go to the digital ground pin while the positive wire should go to digital pin number 8 and positive should be in ground. If that does not work, place the positive wire in the 5v power pin.
Peizo Digital Pins

To code the Piezo buzzer you will need to create a tab or file that your main Arduino code can access. You should call this new tab pitches.h

To create a new tab click on the arrow located all the way to the right and select New Tab.

New Arduino Tab

Name this tab pitches.h and insert the new code. Use the code located here to cut and paste into a pitches.h tab

Arduino Notes

Then select the your original sketch (also known as your code) and insert the following code by cutting and pasting it.

Melody for Arduino 

Code Challenges:

  1. Figure out how to place the melody on a loop
  2. Figure out how to change the melody notes
  3. Figure out how to change the kind of notes
  4. Figure out how to adjust the delay between each note.
  5. Can you play a recognizable tune? (Note: delete everything in your pitches.h file and insert all the following code into the Arduino Main sketch). You do not need any resistors and make sure your positive wire is in pin 13 and your negative wire is in pin 3.


The Code for a Recognizable Tune

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Intro to Internet Privacy

Intro to Internet Privacy
Directions:

Visit the following and link and address the questions. Be sure to navigate to each page on the link.

Internet Safety Link
Questions:
1. Why do people believe they are safer online than they actually are?
2. Explain the following internet threats
A. Malware
B. Phishing
C. Virus
D. Clickjacking
E. Browser Hijacking
F. SPAM
G. Trojan Horse
3. What are three ways your internet privacy and safety can be violated?
4. Explain the following internet safety terms
A. Meme
B. Troll
C. Sockpuppet
D. Avatar
5. Google and Bing yourself using quotes. If information appears you do not like you can request Google or Bing to remove it.
You may need to have an account with Google or Microsoft in order to request a removal.

Google Contant/Info Removal

Bing Content/Info Removal

Note: If you identify any images or information contained in the search you do not like you can ask Google and Bing to remove them. Most search engines allow for that to happen BUT it may take several weeks before they are completely removed.

6 Ask yourself, how are your privacy settings on your social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat etc? Are they open for anyone or just “Friends”?

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Arduino Functions

Directions:
Visit the following web address and complete the questions. You just need the answers.

A. Arduino DigitalWrite Function
1. What is the name of the function?
2. What does it describe (ie: What does it do?)
3. How do you write it (ie: What is it’s Syntax?)
4. What is it’s parameters (ie: What information can you put inside of it?)
5. When would you use the function?
6. Create an example digitalwrite function

B. Arduino AnalogWrite Function
1. What is the name of the function?
2. What does it describe (ie: What does it do? HINT: Read the first two sentences)
3. How do you write it (ie: What is it’s Syntax?)
4. What is it’s parameters (ie: What information can you put inside of it?)
5. When would you use the function?
6. Create an example analogwrite function.

C. Arduino PinMode Function
1. What is the name of the function?
2. What does it describe (ie: What does it do?)
3. How do you write it (ie: What is it’s Syntax?)
4. What is it’s parameters (ie: What information can you put inside of it?)
5. When would you use the function?
6. Create an example pinMode function.

D. Arduino digitalRead Function
1. What is the name of the function?
2. What does it describe (ie: What does it do?)
3. How do you write it (ie: What is it’s Syntax?)
4. What is it’s parameters (ie: What information can you put inside of it?)
5. When would you use the function?
6. Create an example digitalRead function.

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Arduino Quiz

                  Use the word-bank to match the term to the correct description

LED Transistor DC Motor Servo Motor Resistor

1___________used to restrict electrical current

2__________type of motor that angles

3__________amplifies or boosts electrical power

4__________a type of light that takes 1.5 volts of power

5__________type of motor that spins

Examine the Arduino Board and match the number with the Arduino component. Use the word bank to help. Note: You will NOT use all the words in the word bank

Digital Pins Power Pins Voltage Regulator Reset Button

Arduino Picture

6_________________________(answer for number 1 in picture)

7_________________________(answer for number 2 in picture)

Arduino and Breadboard Practical Exercise: Look at the Arduino and Breadboard and answer the following questions. Note: The lack of power in the Arduino board does not constitute a correct answer.

Picture 1: Close-up

Arduino Problem Picture


Picture 2: Far away
Arduino Problem Setup 2

8 Identify one problem of this Breadboard set-up. Be specific as possible:

9 Identify another problem of this Breadboard set-up. Be specific as possible:

10 Explain what you would need to do to correct this Breadboard set-up. Be specific as possible.