Week 1 — Welcome & Micro:bit Basics

Focus Concept: Events & Sequencing
Mini-Project: Digital Name Badge

Objectives

Get to know the club and how we work together.
Understand what a microcontroller is and what the BBC micro:bit can do.
Explore MakeCode (logging in, creating, simulating, downloading, uploading).
Write and test a first program (scrolling name badge).

Microcontroller — a tiny computer on a single chip that controls devices.
Input — something the micro:bit senses (e.g., button press, light, shake).
Output — what the micro:bit does in response (e.g., show LEDs, play sound).
Event — something that happens and triggers code (e.g., “on start”, “on button A pressed”).
Sequence — a set of steps the computer follows in order.
Algorithm — a step-by-step set of instructions to solve a problem or complete a task.
Program — an algorithm that has been written in a way a computer or micro:bit can follow.
Programming Language — the special way we write instructions so computers understand them. MakeCode uses blocks, but it’s also a programming language.
IDE (Integrated Development Environment) — the software we use to write and test programs. For micro:bit we use MakeCode IDE in the web browser.
Simulator — a tool inside MakeCode that lets you test your program on a “virtual micro:bit” before sending it to the real one.
Debug — finding and fixing mistakes in a program.