Complete this domino activity to revise key definitions on how text files, pictures and sound files are stored on a computer using binary code.
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Tagged with: Binary
HTML – Styling Text using CSS
Learning Objectives
In this challenge we are learning how to format text on a web page using a range of CSS properties.
Remember the key syntax for CSS is as follows:
In this challenge we will use various CSS properties such as:
- font-family:
- font-size:
- color:
- font-weight:
- font-style:
- text-decoration:
- text-shadow:
You can learn more about all these CSS properties on w3schools.com.
Video Tutorial
Customising Page Headings
Check the code below to see how we created the following 5 headings. Tweak the code to change the style of your headings and reuse it in your own webpages or CSS stylesheets.
Styling Paragraphs
Check the code below to see how we applied CSS to the <P> tag. Tweak the code to change the style of your paragraphs and reuse it in your own webpages or CSS stylesheets.
HTML – How to add a Favicon?
Once your website is ready, you will want to design and add a favicon.
This graphic will appear in your web-browser in the tab section as well as in the favourite toolbar.
The favicon is also used by smartphone and tablets as an “App” icon when the user decides to pin your webpage on their home screen.
There are different approaches to create your favicon. One easy approach is to use a website such as favicon.cc
Create your own favicon using favicon.ccOnce your icon is ready save it as favicon.cc in the root folder of your website:
HTML code to add your favicon to your webpage
Access the code of your webpage and in the <HEAD> section add the following code:
<link rel='icon' href='favicon.ico' type='image/x-icon'/ >
So your code should now look like this:
That’s it, save your page and access it in a web-browser. The favicon should now appear in the tab, next to the page title.
HTML – Using CSS with Pictures
There are many CSS properties that can be used to change the look and feel of your web graphics. You can use CSS to:
- Position a picture (e.g. center a picture or add a margin around your picture)
- Resize your picture (width, height) or make your picture responsive (width/height adapt to the size of the screen)
- Add border to a picture
- Add a border-radius to create rounded corner to a picture
- Add a shadow effect to a picture
- Rotate a picture
- Change the opacity of a picture
Investigate the use of CSS in the examples provided below. Then reuse some of these skills to update your pictures on your own webpages.
See the Pen Using CSS with Pictures by 101 Computing (@101Computing) on CodePen.
Roll over effects and animation effects
To draw the attention to your web graphics you may want to add animated rollover effects. This is a great approach to let the web user know when a graphic such as a web button can be clicked on (e.g. hyperlink).
See the Pen Rollover animation effects on pictures by 101 Computing (@101Computing) on CodePen.
HTML – Adding Pictures
In this video tutorial you will learn:
- How to organise your picture files in your website folder
- The main three types of picture files: .png, .jpg and .gif
- How to use the <IMG> tag to add pictures to your webpage.
HTML – Website Layout
Are you ready to build up your first website? Before using this blog post let’s go through this checklist:
- Do you know your HTML tags?
- Do you understand how CSS works?
- Have you created a design for your website?
- Have you created the folder structure for your website?
- Have you gathered the assets / graphics for your website?
If the answer to all questions above is “yes!” then you are ready to implement your website using HTML and CSS.
The first task is to create the overall layout of your webpage.
Compare your design with the following layouts. Would one of these be suitable to implement your first webpage? If so you can check how it’s made by clicking on the pictures below to display the page in full view and check its source code.
Customising the Layout
Now that you have a layout you will need to customise the CSS to:
- Resize the width and height of the different sections to match your design, (See video tutorial below)
- Change the background colors or add gradients for each section, (See video tutorial below)
- Customise other CSS attributes to add shadows, borders, margin and padding for each section, (See video tutorial below)
Video Tutorial
Creating a standalone CSS file to reuse across multiple web pages
Check this blog post on how to use a cascading stylesheet across multiple web pages.
Adding Content
Once your layout/template is ready, you can start adding content to the different sections.
Check the following blog posts to help you do so:
- Adding Pictures
- Using CSS with Pictures
- Using CSS with Text
- Using Hyperlinks
- Adding a FavIcon
- Adding page transition effects
- Interactive Add-ons to use on your website
- Using Google Fonts
Responsive Website Layout
Check this block post to make your layout responsive.
BBC micro:bit – Whack-a-Mole
Whack-a-mole is a popular arcade game invented in 1976 by Aaron Fechter of Creative Engineering, Inc.. The adaptation of this game to the mirco:bit has been fully designed and implemented by one of our students during a computer science lesson!
The aim of the game is to use a mallet to strike a mole within a certain time. Moles randomly appear for a short time above a hole.
As we will be using the micro:bit, our game will consists of two holes and two moles. The player will strike a mole by pressing the A or the B button on the micro:bit depending on whether the mole appears on the left or the right hand side of the LED screen.
Look at the picture below. The ! represents a mole on the left hand side, The player has less than 1 second to whack this mole by pressing the A button.
The code
You will need to use the micro:bit website to create the code using the JavaScript Block Editor.
Code Review
Can you identify which section of code is used to:
- Randomly display a mole to either the left or the right of the screen?
- Check, if the left mole is displayed, that the user has pressed button A and if not ends the game?
- Check, if the right mole is displayed, that the user has pressed button B and if not ends the game?
- Allow a maximum of 1 second for the user to whack a mole? If the use exceeds this delay, the game should end.
Extension Task #1:
Tweak this code so that both moles can appear at the same time. In this case the player needs to press both buttons A and B simultaneously to strike both moles otherwise they lose.
When the user strike both moles simultaneously they should get a 5-point bonus added to their score.
Extension Task #2:
Tweak your code so that the time given to the user to “whack a mole” decreases when the score reaches 10 points, 20 points, 30 points etc.
To start with the delay should be set to 1000ms, it should then decrease to 900ms, then 800ms, 700ms, etc…
Tip: Use a variable to store the value of the delay. Initialise this variable to 1000ms.
Solution...
The solution for this challenge is available to full members!Find out how to become a member:
➤ Members' Area
Tagged with: BBC micro:bit
String Manipulation
String?
In computer science, a string is a piece of text or a collection of characters.
A string can be stored in a variable, can be typed in by the end-user (input) or can be displayed on the screen (output).
print("Hello World")
In the above Python instruction: “Hello World” is a string. Notice the use of speech marks when using a string in code.
A string can be stored in a variable for instance.
greeting = "Hello" print(greeting)
String Concatenation
The act of joining two strings together is called string concatenation.
In Python string concatenation is done using the + sign:
firstname = "James"
print("Hello " + firstname)
String Manipulation Techniques
In computer programs it is often necessary to manipulate strings to:
- Extract or truncate the first few characters of a string,
- Extract or truncate some characters at the end of the string,
- Find out the length (number of characters) of a string,
- Convert a string from lowercase to UPPERCASE or vice-versa,
- Check if a character has been used in a string,
- Find out if a string contains a specific substring or word,
- etc.
String Manipulation Challenges
Use our Block Programming tool to complete and test some String Manipulation challenges online.
Tagged with: String Manipulation
BBC micro:bit – Car Lighting System
For this challenge we will use the microbit and a couple of LEDs to act as the indicators lights of a car. Our aim is to use the built-in accelerometer sensor of the mincro:bit to detect if it is being tilted to the left or to the right. If so, the micro:bit will “turn the indicator” on by making one of the two yellow LEDs blink to indicate the player is turning to the left or to the right.
Electronic Circuit
First we need to build the electronic circuit using a micro:bit, two LEDs, a few wires and crocodile clips and a bread board.
BBC micro:bit Code
Then we need to code the micro-bit to take control of the LEDs. You will need to use the micro:bit website to create the code using the JavaScript Block Editor.
Extension Task
Add an extra red LED to act as the break light. Buttons A and B of the micro:bit will act as the accelerator pedal (Button A) and the break pedal (Button B). When button B is pressed the break light (red LED) should turn on.
Extra Challenge
Using a red and a blue LED create an electronic circuit for the siren of a police car or a fire truck. Code your micro:bit to create the lighting sequence/pattern of your choice for your siren. You could also add a buzzer/speaker to create the sound of the siren. Use buttons A and B of the micro:bit to turn the siren on or off.
Tagged with: BBC micro:bit
BBC micro:bit – Lightning Distance Calculator
Have you ever seen a lightning flash or heard the thunder of lightning and wondered how close you were from the lightning strike? Have you noticed that there often was a delay between the flash of light and the clap of thunder when a lightning occurs?
It is possible to calculate the distance to a lightning strike by counting the seconds between the lightning flash and the sound of thunder.
When lightning strikes, the first thing you see is the flash of light which you can see instantly. This is because light travels at a very high speed (Speed of light = 300,000 km/s). At the same time a clap of thunder is created. However, in the air a sound wave does not travel as fast as light, so it may take a few seconds for this clap of thunder to reach you. This depends on how far you are from the lightning.
Look at the following diagram and check the formula of speed. Bear in mind that the speed of a sound wave in the air is 340 m/s.
Your Challenge
Write a program for the BBC micro:bit that will allow the user to:
- Press the A button of the micro:bit when they spot a lightning flash.
- Press the B button of the micro:bit when they hear the thunderstorm.
- Display the distance (in meters) from the lightning strike using the LED screen.
Solution
We will complete this project in three main coding blocks.
First, let’s display an arrow pointing left to invite the user to press button A when they see a lightning strike.
Then we will record the exact time (in milliseconds) as to when button A was pressed and store this number in a variable called lightning. We will also display an arrow pointing towards button B.
Let’s now record the time (in milliseconds) when button B is pressed using a variable called thunder. We can then use these two timestamps to work out the time delay between the lightning strike and when the thunder was heard. Using the distance = speed x time formula, we can then workout and output the distance in meters from the lightning strike:
Solution...
The solution for this challenge is available to full members!Find out how to become a member:
➤ Members' Area
Tagged with: BBC micro:bit
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