Grade 5 card night lanterns with a micro:bit that lights up when the room goes dark.

Over three lessons, Year 6 design and make a night lantern for a Reception child, covering the KS2 design and technology requirement to program, monitor and control their products. Pairs first design the lantern's shape and cut-out pattern in card with tracing-paper windows, then write a MakeCode program that reads the micro:bit's light level and lights its LED display when the reading falls below a threshold they choose, testing it in the on-screen simulator before downloading it. The micro:bit sits inside the finished lantern on a battery pack, and each pair tests it in the stock cupboard with the light on and off, often finding that a threshold chosen in the bright classroom switches on too early or not at all. Pairs change the threshold, add a slow pattern that suits a young child, and retest until the lantern behaves as they intend. They finish by evaluating the lantern against their design criteria.

Tools: micro:bit, MakeCode Nine ideas for your own version in Generate