Code It! Programming and Keyboards You Can Create Yourself
4 What's a MAKERSPACER Imagine a room buzzing with activity All around you programmers and crafters are working on super cool projects Welcome to a makerspace Makerspaces are areas where people come together to create They are the perfect places to make amazing projects using keyboards and coding Makerspaces are full of all kinds of supplies and tools But a maker's most important tool is his or her imagination Makers think of brand new coding and keyboard projects They also find ways to tweak existing projects Makers are great problem solvers Are you ready to become a maker
5 BEFORE YOU GET STARTED GET PERMISSION MAKE A PLAN Ask an adult for permission to use the Read through the instructions and gather makerspace and materials before starting all your supplies ahead of time Keep any project supplies organized as you create BE RESPECTFUL ASK FOR HELP Share tools and supplies with other Working with computers and keyboards makers When you're done with a tool put can be difficult Ask an adult for help it back so others can use it when you need it
6 WHAT IS CODING Coding is creating instructions that tell a computer what to do This process is also called programming Computers control phones video games cars and more Coding is what makes these technologies work The computers in these devices receive instructions in special coded languages One is called binary It uses only 1s and Os Other coding languages include Java JavaScript C Perl and more Learning to code is like learning a new language There are many software programs and building materials you can use to create computer codes
7 SCRATCH Scratch is an online coding program With Scratch you can code your own music games characters and more The characters in Scratch are called Sprites You can tell Sprites what to do by choosing different Scripts Scripts are Scratch's coding language Many of the projects in this book use Scratch The program can be found online at scratch mit edu MAKEY MAKEY Makey Makey is a tool you can use to make your own keyboards and more You can connect the Makey Makey board to a computer with a USB cable Then use wires to connect objects to the Makey Makey board When you touch a connected object Makey Makey sends a keyboard message to the computer Your object has become a keyboard Many projects in this book use Makey Makey
