In this blog, we will showcase the job experience for sixth grade elementary school students that was held at the Musashi site in Japan in November 2023.
Background of the Event
The Musashi site has held a company tour for second grade elementary school students and job experience for sixth grade students as part of the “city explore” curriculum for nearby elementary schools. We had postponed the job experience event since 2019, but this year we held the event for the first time in four years.
Details of Job Experience
Two elementary students came to the site. This year, the theme of the job experience was “Programming training using Renesas MCU”. We used Scratch as a programming language and used GR-ADZUKI, in which the low power and high function RL78/G13 is implemented.
We explained the basics of programming before the training, but the students already understood. Recent elementary students own a laptop provided by their school, and they had already had experience with programming in the past. We were surprised to hear that.
As training, students used a light sensor and made a program that would make a dog walk when they held their hand to a GR-ADZUKI board. Without the employees’ help, students completed the program by themselves.
After making the dog program, we let the students make their own program. They made the program by adding backgrounds, changing animals, size, angle and color. At one point, the students got stuck in programming, but they talked to each other and solved the problem.
In the end, the students made the following programs.
- Buffalo chasing ant
- Cat drifting on the moon
The training lasted only two hours, but this job experience was rewarding for both students and employees. The students understood not only the difficulties but also the joy of programming. We gave them GR-ADZUKI as a gift, and sent their program files to them via their school. We hope they will resume programming at home, and enjoy it even more.
You can also enjoy Scratch programming using GR-ADZUKI. If you are interested, please check GR-ADZUKI Special Project. We are also making games using RL78. Please check the “Let's Create *** Using a Microcontroller” series under related blogs.
Renesas Electronics will continue to actively hold education events and offer the opportunity of education for kids who will lead the future.
