Hi Everyone!

I created a device to take the daily lunch count in my classroom. It uses a Makey Makey and a coded program using Scratch.

Supplies

~Makey Makey

~Copper Tape

~Items to make boxes/labels for "buttons" (box, black Sharpie, glue, card stock) You may use anything of your choice to create yours.

~Scratch Program

~computer or Chromebook

Step 1: Creating the Button Boxes

I used three small boxes to created my three choices we have for lunch daily. I used card stock to label each box. I made a circle "button" with a black Sharpie so the children knew where to push. The copper tape was applied to each box top. The copper tape was close but not touching in the circle. The children's finger would make the connection between the two. The copper tape ran to the edge of the box so I could clip the alligator clip from the Makey Makey to each side. One side was Earth and other side went to the space bar, up arrow or down arrow on the Makey Makey for each one.

Step 2: Connecting the Makey Makey to the Button Boxes

I used six alligator clip cords from the Makey Makey. The Lunch from Home box had one connection to Earth and one to the space bar on the Makey Makey. The 1st Choice Hot Lunch box had one connection to Earth and one to the up arrow on the Makey Makey. The 2nd Choice Hot Lunch box had one connection to Earth and one to the down arrow on the Makey Makey. You then plug the Makey Makey into the USB port on the computer.

Step 3: Programming the Makey Makey

My program can be found at: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/389132020 You can remix my program by changing it to fit your needs.

You start the Program with Start when flag clicked command.

Then you create 4 Variables: Home Count, First Choice, Second Choice, Class Size in the Variables Tab on the left side of the screen.

The you use the set <Variable> command to initialize the variables, or the values you want at the start of the program. This is where you can change the class size to fit your room.

Then you will use a while loop or as Scratch calls it, a repeat until loop. The Condition you are checking for is to see if all the Students have made their selection for lunch. You Add up all of the Choices that have been made and compare the value to the Class count Variable using an equals operator.

Now it time to program the button presses.

You check to see if any of the buttons have been pressed. If they have been pressed, you increment the variable that is associated with the button. You play a sound to let the Student know that their lunch choice has been recorded. You then use another While loop to make sure the user lets go of the button so they don't get counted multiple times.

When all of the Students have made a selection, the First While loop will end and a sounds with play, letting you know that everyone is done.

If you need more buttons, simply add another If then statement to the big While loop.

Step 4: Putting It All Together

The final step is to make sure everything is connected. Plug in the Makey Makey, attach alligator clips to boxes and open the Scratch program on computer. Click on the green flag and you are ready to start tallying your lunch count!