What's inside the BBC micro:bit box?

Maddie: Once you’ve registered to receive a free set of 30 micro:bits for your school, you’ll receive a package like this. So, let’s take a look inside one of the boxes.

You’re going to find a safety guide as well as a get started booklet, with a link to a website with all the information you need to set up your micro:bit. And you’ll also find a poster like this that you can put up in your school!

But now for the fun bit. This here is a micro:bit. It’s a programmable device that will help pupils understand how computers work and learn how to code. It’s 4cm x 5cm and it has a 25-bulb LED display grid that doubles as a light sensor.

There are three button inputs on this side. We have A, B, and A & B together. And there’s a touch sensor built into the gold logo.

The micro:bit also detects motion, movement, light, temperature, sound and magnetism. There are pins that allow your micro:bit to be wired into a circuit or connected to other devices. There’s a microphone just here and a speaker on the other side. And it also has radio communication, so you can send data and messages between micro:bits.

The micro:bit is also a data logging tool. You can use it to measure and count things using the different sensors, so you can collect data in your environment and download it to use for science, maths and geography lessons. You can also use it creatively for art or music.

Lastly, there’s a reset button that also turns your micro:bit on and off. Right, let me show you how to get the micro:bit up and running.

Inside your pack, you’re going to find triple A batteries and a battery pack. If we put the batteries inside here, just like so, we can then use this small wire and plug it into the socket at the back of the micro:bit. And it gives you a little welcome greeting.

An important thing to remember is that the micro:bit is a piece of hardware. It can only do something if you tell it to, by writing a computer program in code, which is called software. When you’re using micro:bits in your classroom, a good place to start is by accessing Microsoft’s MakeCode. It’s free to use and beginner friendly.

To show you just how simple it is, I’m going to programme the micro:bit to show me a smiley face.

So, on button A when it’s pressed those LED lights will show up. Now that’s finished, I need to download this piece of code to the laptop. That’s downloading. All I need to do is connect the micro:bit to the laptop, and I’m doing that using a micro USB cable that you get inside the pack. So we’ll just plug that into the micro:bit and connect it to the laptop.

I can now transfer that piece of code to the micro:bit just by dragging and dropping. That’s all finished, so if I’ve coded it correctly, I can now unplug this, press button A, and you should see a smiley face. Yay, it worked!

The micro:bit does also have Bluetooth connectivity, so you can link it up to a tablet using the free micro:bit app which works with both Android and IOS devices.

There are loads of projects and lesson plans on the micro:bit website, to give you everything you need to get the most out of your micro:bit.

And there you go – it’s as simple as that!

UK primary school teachers, if you haven’t already, register to get your free pack of 30 micro:bits. And if you have registered, then check out the training available online and across the UK using the links below.