RESISTOR PIANO
PIPER MAKE EDUCATOR RESOURCES SERIES
STARTER EXPEDITION KIT
ROCK OUT ON YOUR OWN PIANO MADE OF RESISTORS
Advanced
1 hr
Ages 8+
You will need a Starter Kit to do this mission. Get yours here:
CHECK OUT THE BUILD:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- create a panel of resistors and use a jumper wire to “play notes” and create their own musical creations.
- Understand how to use lists and mapping in code to map a voltage to a sound
- Understand how voltage drops are associated wtih the number of resistors set up in series as shown in the circuitry.
EDUCATOR RESOURCES
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You can share the mission directly to your Google Classroom after logging into your Google educator account in the top right corner of Piper Make.
Check out our easy assignment template that you can use to ask students to share their work by including pictures of their final circuits and code.
Check out our Python-focused assessment that you can copy and share directly to your Google Classroom.
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Useful vocabulary terms to use in classroom: voltage, resistor, current, loops, mapping
TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS
Different notes not playing when you touch the jumper wire to the resistors?
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Make sure you are touching the jumper wire to the metal part of the resistor instead of the plastic.
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Ensure that you have set up the resistors correctly with the metal leads lined up along the rails so they complete the circuit. Check the wiring diagram if you're not sure!
Why do you have to be careful with the top portion of the Pico?
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Touching the green wire to the areas marked with the yellow triangles ⚠️ will cause a short circuit and could damage your Pico module. Be careful!
FINAL HARDWARE
In this lesson, students will set up a panel of resistors and use a jumper wire to complete circuits with different voltages to play the piano.
FINAL CODE
This is the final code that is created. Download the embedded PNG and use the CREATIVE mode to import it to a new workspace: