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Course Description

Course Title: Building Clocks and Watches with MicroPython
Duration: 14 Weeks
Target Audience: High School Students Learning Computational Thinking

Course Description: In this 14-week, hands-on course, high school students will learn to design and program functional timekeeping devices---from simple LED clocks to sophisticated stopwatches and web-connected displays---using MicroPython on the Raspberry Pi Pico W. Throughout the course, students will be guided by hands on labs, moving from foundational knowledge to creative invention.

  1. Remember: Students begin by identifying essential electronic components---breadboards, microcontrollers, buttons, knobs, and displays---and recalling the fundamental concepts of MicroPython programming.
  2. Understand: Through teacher-led demonstrations, students explore how timing functions, input/output operations, and hardware connections work together to create a basic LED clock. They deepen their grasp of computational thinking by examining concepts like abstraction (focusing on relevant details) and decomposition (breaking large problems into smaller parts).
  3. Apply: As their skills grow, students practice wiring and programming a 128×64 OLED display, interfacing with web services to fetch real-time data. They also implement stopwatches and timers, applying algorithms and pattern-matching techniques to manage user inputs and display outputs accurately.
  4. Analyze: Learners diagnose and troubleshoot various clock behaviors, studying how code efficiency and hardware choices influence device performance. They dissect timing errors, lag issues, and integration problems, refining both their programming and problem-solving skills.
  5. Evaluate: Working in teams, students test multiple clock designs to compare accuracy, power consumption, and user experience. They assess trade-offs---such as display readability vs. complexity---and refine solutions based on feedback, cost, and practicality.
  6. Create: Ultimately, students design and assemble their own custom timekeeping projects, combining LEDs, OLED displays, push buttons, and encoders. This final challenge showcases their ability to unify hardware and code into a polished, functioning prototype.

By the end of the course, students will have built a diverse collection of digital clocks, stopwatches, and timers while gaining a rich understanding of electronics, computational thinking, and MicroPython. They will leave empowered to continue exploring the world of embedded systems and creative hardware projects.