Introduction: This course will teach students how microcontrollers can sense the world around us and respond in various ways. Many areas will be taught simultaneously including electronics, programming, sensors, motors, and displays. While this may sound daunting the course will proceed step-by-step so the concepts can be grasped by those who do not have a background in these areas. This is a hand-on course which requires the student to purchase some materials that cost approximately $50 USD. There is also an online simulation option for those who cannot afford to buy the materials. It is expected that this hands-on, multi-topic approach will engage the student and thereby be an effective teaching method in comparison to other approaches. This course will require that the Arduino software be download from the internet and installed on the computer.

Targeted Grade Level: The ideal grade level for this course is middle school and higher.

Prerequisites: It is recommended that the student have some knowledge of basic electronics. The microcontroller course will involve programming in the C programming language so it is also recommended that that the student have some previous exposure to computer programming languages such as JavaScript or Python. For students who lack this background, an overview of electronics and programming will be presented in the beginning of the course as well as throughout the course lessons. It is therefore possible for the engaged student to overcome any deficiencies using this teaching approach.