Code

Learn to program by predicting, running, investigating, modifying and making. Three pathways share the same big ideas; start with whichever fits your class.

Python

From drawing with a turtle to apps, games and machine learning.

Start here to type real code: drawing first, then apps, games and data.

Open the Python trail →

Web

Build pages, then make them draw, move and react.

Start here to build your own web pages, then make them draw, move and react.

Open the Web trail →

MakeCode

Blocks first, then Python, with real devices and games.

Start here if you're new to code, or want to program a micro:bit, a robot or a game with blocks.

Open the MakeCode trail →

Python

From drawing with a turtle to apps, games and machine learning.

Foundations

Python Foundations with TurtleDraw with code: commands, loops, values, choices and lists.Learn Python by drawing with a turtle.Python functions and eventsBuild with code: functions, modules, events, then your own catch-the-turtle game.Write your own functions, then use them to make a button and a game.After: Python Foundations with Turtle Console bridge: text in, text outMake programs that ask questions and answer back.input(), print() and a text menu: the same logic as the turtle courses, as text in and text out. Every Python extension starts here.After: Python functions and events

Extensions

Objects with turtlesBuild a falling-stars game with lots of turtles.Build a falling-stars game with many turtles, and tidy it step by step: from separate variables to lists, dictionaries and classes.After: Console bridge: text in, text out Data detectiveFind the story hiding in a real data set.A real data set in Python: read a CSV, count, average and find the biggest, draw a bar chart, clean messy data and check it with test cases, then build a dashboard.After: Console bridge: text in, text out Deeper Python in the consoleText, lists and errors, then a text adventure that saves.One idea at a time, in the console: text, lists, dictionaries and errors, then a text adventure built from all of them, saved to a file.After: Console bridge: text in, text out Apps with GradioTurn your Python into apps people can click.Turn Python functions into apps with inputs and outputs: a greeter, a calculator with several inputs, and a quiz built from a list of questions, in an in-browser stand-in for Gradio that runs the same code as the real thing.After: Console bridge: text in, text out Machine learning with GradioTeach a computer to recognise penguins, then put it in an app.How a computer learns from examples: rules by hand, a nearest-neighbour model written yourself, fair testing, then scikit-learn and a model behind a Gradio app, with what models get wrong.After: Data detective Games with microStudioMake a real game in a real game engine.Make a real game in Python on microStudio, a free game engine in the browser: a game loop, keys, stars as objects, catching and scoring, then sprites, sound and sharing.After: Objects with turtles Web apps with FlaskPut Python behind your own web pages.Your own HTML pages with Python behind them: routes, pages built from data, forms, saving to a file and JSON, ending with the same API in FastAPI.After: Console bridge: text in, text out and Structure and style a page

Web

Build pages, then make them draw, move and react.

Foundations

Structure and style a pageBuild your own web pages and watch them change as you type.Build web pages by typing HTML and CSS and watching the page change.Layout and componentsLay out a page like a real website, on a laptop and on a phone.Control how a page is laid out, with boxes, Flexbox, Grid and components that repeat.After: Structure and style a page

Extensions

Pages with BootstrapMake a page look polished in minutes with ready-made parts.Rebuild the club page with Bootstrap's ready-made parts: buttons, a navbar, cards, a grid and a form, styled by class names instead of your own CSS. Then compare it with the hand-built page and make Bootstrap look like yours.After: Layout and components Drawing and animation with p5.jsDraw and animate with JavaScript.Draw and animate with JavaScript and p5.js: shapes, movement, decisions, lists, objects and functions, ending in a small game you build yourself.After: Structure and style a page The DOM and the browser consoleMake a web page react when people click and type.Make a real web page react with JavaScript: find elements, change them, listen for clicks and typing, and keep a list and a score, ending in a quiz page you build.After: Drawing and animation with p5.js and Layout and components Apps with VueBuild apps where the page keeps up with your data by itself.Build pages that keep up with their data by themselves: data shown with {{ }}, lists with v-for, choices with v-if, events and inputs, computed values and components, ending in a to-do app. An optional last lesson builds the same app in Vue, Preact and Svelte.After: The DOM and the browser console Your site, for realMake your page work for everyone, then put it online.Bring any page you have made (hand-built, Bootstrap or Vue) and get it ready for real people: check it works for everyone, then put it online. No new framework: it works the same on every page.After: Layout and components Web apps with FlaskPut Python behind your own web pages.Your own HTML pages with Python behind them: routes, pages built from data, forms, saving to a file and JSON, ending with the same API in FastAPI.After: Structure and style a page and Console bridge: text in, text out

MakeCode

Blocks first, then Python, with real devices and games.

Foundations

micro:bit FoundationsMake a micro:bit show pictures, sense the world and look after a pocket pet.Program a micro:bit with blocks in the simulator. Pictures, loops, buttons, variables, sensors, decisions and lists, ending in a pocket pet you build yourself.micro:bit: talk and playConnect micro:bits by radio and build a reaction game to race a friend.Name jobs as functions, send messages by radio and measure time, ending in a reaction game and a two-player radio duel.After: micro:bit Foundations Arcade FoundationsMake your own games with sprites, scores and lives.Make games with blocks in the Arcade simulator. Sprites, movement, speed, overlaps, score and lives, timers, decisions and projectiles, ending in Space dodger, a game built in milestones.Arcade advanced skillsPlatformers, levels and power-ups: the skills behind bigger games.Go further with Arcade. Every sprite of a kind, functions and parameters, gravity and jumping, levels from lists, and power-ups that run out, ending in a power-ups challenge and a game of your own. Each unit points to a MakeCode skillmap that practises it.After: Arcade Foundations

Extensions

Robotics challengesProgram a robot to drive, sense and decide.Drive, sense and decide with a two-wheeled micro:bit robot. Each idea runs in the robot simulator first, then on a real robot.After: micro:bit: talk and play micro:bit and the computerConnect a micro:bit to the computer, then build an AI sorter.A web page and a micro:bit talk over USB and radio. Graph a micro:bit's sensors, send it commands, relay messages by radio, train models on photos and on movements, and finish with an AI sorter of your own.After: micro:bit: talk and play AI robotsDrive a robot with an AI model you trained.Drive a robot with a model you trained, on the computer or on your wrist. Turn labels into moves, keep the robot safe when the model is unsure or goes quiet, and make it more careful where a mistake costs more.After: Robotics challenges and micro:bit and the computer Secret messagesSend secret radio messages, then defend a lock in a capture-the-flag.Radio is a shared space, so how do you keep a message private, know it was not changed, and know who sent it? Build ciphers, a checksum and a challenge–response lock with micro:bits, then defend a radio door lock in a capture-the-flag finale.After: micro:bit: talk and play

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