Micro:bits detecting moisture levels

Starter: Detect if a sponge is wet or dry:

• measure the conductivity of damp and dry sponges
• display a bar graph of the results
• press button A to display the numerical value
• The code can be found here but let students experiment to write their own code. 
  NB for some reason some V2 micro:bits perform in reverse with this code have students problem-solve how to overcome this.

Next steps: Detect moisture levels in soil.

• ​Place the sensors into a plant to detect soil  moisture levels.
• Display the graph.
• Display the moisture level when button A is pressed.
• ​Display symbols to indicate whether plant needs watering  after the moisture level display or on pressing button B.

Advanced

• Add an alarm that sounds when the moisture drops too low. V2 mico:bits include the ability for sound.
• Include a water pump to create a self-watering system where water will be added when the moisture level drops below a certain threshold.

Soil Moisture project

2023
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