Imagine you are a streetlight engineer. Work in a group to design, build & code your own motion-activated streetlight using the Climate Action Kit!

Street Light Engineer
What does a streetlight engineer do? Check out their Career Profile!

As you go through the steps below, you may wish to use our Design Journal Template to keep track of your work.

Journal Template

Follow these steps:

An icon of a magnifying glass, a paper with notes, and a brain.

Step 1

Look up real-world motion-activated and energy saving streetlights. How do they work? What makes them “smart”?

Icons of a light bulb, a thought bubble, and a pencil.

Step 2

Plan what features your streetlight will have and decide what building blocks, sensors, smart components, and craft materials you will need for building.

icons of 3 building blocks (cube, corner connector, and short frame)

Step 3

Build your prototype, then connect it to Microsoft MakeCode to add code.

Icons of code blocks.

Step 4

Test and debug until the streetlight works.

SUCCESS CRITERIA

I can build a smart streetlight with the Climate Action Kit that can save energy by using a:

  • sonar sensor to detect when people and cars are nearby
  • conditional statement to control when the LED ring turns on
  • display block to share information with pedestrians

Get creative! Add extra features, decorations, or special event lighting—just like cities do in real life!

Let’s Build!