Source: https://mokxi.com/teachers/plans/maker-capstone Updated: 2026-11-12 Lesson plan # Maker capstone: your own invention lesson plan Invent a gadget of your own and take it from a blank page to a shared demo: find an idea, plan it, prototype, iterate, make it robust, document it and share it, each milestone practiced on real gallery builds first. 3 chapters, 7 lessons, about 7 hours, on the Arduino Uno R3. Every lesson runs in the browser, with nothing to install. Start a class from this course The unit ## Objectives and materials ### By the end, students can - What makes a build worth sharing, ten ideas of your own, and a plan you could hand to a friend. - The smallest thing that works end to end, then field tests that change one thing at a time. - Survive real life, write it down so others can trust it, and put your demo out into the world. ### Materials for the whole unit - Arduino Uno R3 - Battery: AA, coin cell, LiPo - Character LCD with I2C backpack - DC motor - Four-digit display, TM1637 - Half breadboard - Piezo speaker - Pushbutton - Relay module - Soil moisture sensor, capacitive - Traffic light module - Ultrasonic ranger - Water level sensor Every part is already on the simulator’s bench, so there is nothing to buy or hand out. The counts are the most any one lesson uses, if you build it on real breadboards too. Chapter 1. About 2 h ## Spark: find an idea and plan it What makes a build worth sharing, ten ideas of your own, and a plan you could hand to a friend. Lesson | Time | What students do Find an idea What makes a build worth showing off: a real problem, a clear input and output, and one moment that makes people grin. Studied on a zombie tripwire, then applied to ten ideas of your own. | 60 min - Meet the zombie tripwire - Input, brain, output - The hook - Make it loud - Ten ideas in ten minutes - Pick one and pitch it Sketch and plan Turn a pitch into a plan you can build: a block diagram, a pin map, a parts and power list, and the numbers each block passes along. Read off the tripwire, then drawn for your own idea. | 60 min - Every sensor is a number - The brain keeps time - Map every output - Parts and power - Your block diagram and pin map - Chapter quiz: predict the light ### Materials - Arduino Uno R3 - Four-digit display, TM1637 - Piezo speaker - Traffic light module - Ultrasonic ranger ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "Sketch and plan" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Chapter quiz: predict the light". Chapter 2. About 2 h ## Build: prototype and iterate The smallest thing that works end to end, then field tests that change one thing at a time. Lesson | Time | What students do Prototype Build the smallest thing that works end to end: smoke test one block at a time, then join them. Practiced on the tripwire's sensor, display and siren, then done for your own invention. | 60 min - Smoke test the sensor - Smoke test the display - Smoke test the siren - End to end - Your first block - Your end to end loop Iterate Test like a skeptic, change one thing at a time, and write down what happened. Field bugs on the tripwire (a ghost at power-up, a wobbling beam, a hot attic and a cold garage), then a test log for your own build. | 60 min - Field bug: the power-up ghost - Wobble test - The hot attic - The cold garage - Your test log - Chapter quiz: predict the siren ### Materials - Arduino Uno R3 - Four-digit display, TM1637 - Piezo speaker - Traffic light module - Ultrasonic ranger ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "Iterate" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Chapter quiz: predict the siren". Chapter 3. About 3 h 10 min ## Ship: robust, documented, shared Survive real life, write it down so others can trust it, and put your demo out into the world. Lesson | Time | What students do Make it robust A gadget that works on your desk is not done until it survives real life: defaults that fail safe, bouncing buttons, sagging batteries and sensors that lie. Practiced on an automatic plant waterer. | 70 min - A machine that can hurt itself - Fail safe: the tank comes first - See the bounce - One press, one watering - Battery sag - A sensor that lies - Your failure table Document Write it down so someone else can build, fix or trust it: evidence from a full run, measured numbers, a wiring table and a README. Practiced on the plant waterer, then written for your own invention. | 60 min - Evidence from a full cycle - Numbers for the spec sheet - Timing belongs in the docs - The wiring table - Write the README - Comments that explain why Share it Script a short demo, share the project with a Mokxi link, credit everyone you built on, and ship your write-up. Rehearsed on the tripwire, then done for your own invention. | 60 min - Script a 30 second demo - Make the number readable - The share link - Credit everyone - Chapter quiz: predict the last frame - Ship it: your demo and write-up ### Materials - Arduino Uno R3 - Battery: AA, coin cell, LiPo - Character LCD with I2C backpack - DC motor - Four-digit display, TM1637 - Half breadboard - Piezo speaker - Pushbutton - Relay module - Soil moisture sensor, capacitive - Traffic light module - Ultrasonic ranger - Water level sensor ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "Share it" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Ship it: your demo and write-up". Your class ## Teach this unit as a class Start a class from this course and its 7 lessons are assigned in one go, in order. Students join with a six-character code or printed login cards, and each one’s work comes back to you. The class tools are free for 30 days for one class of up to 20 students, with no card. The lessons themselves are free either way. Start a class from this course See the demo class More units ## Other lesson plans Electronics basics 20 lessons, about 10 h. Embedded on the Arduino Uno 16 lessons, about 12 h. Embedded on the ESP32-C3 13 lessons, about 11 h. Embedded on the Raspberry Pi Pico 7 lessons, about 6 h. Build your own fight stick 5 lessons, about 4 h. Embedded on the STM32F411 6 lessons, about 6 h. C++ on a board 13 lessons, about 10 h. Digital logic and memory 4 lessons, about 4 h. Interactive devices on the Uno 9 lessons, about 8 h. From gates to a computer 23 lessons, about 16 h. Build a claw machine 8 lessons, about 6 h. Every unit All the courses as ready-made units, on the teachers page.