New
New
Year 10
OCR

Programming project - Sense HAT I

I can use a Sense HAT to display text and pixel animations.

New
New
Year 10
OCR

Programming project - Sense HAT I

I can use a Sense HAT to display text and pixel animations.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The Sense HAT is an add-on board for the Raspberry Pi computer.
  2. HAT stands for Hardware Attached on Top.
  3. The Sense HAT allows you to write programs that interact with the sensors and the LED matrix.
  4. The SenseHAT emulator can be used if you do not have the physical equipment.
  5. You can use lists to set all of the pixels on the matrix in one structure.

Keywords

  • Sense HAT - hardware that attaches to the top of a Raspberry Pi computer and allows you to write programs that collect data from sensors — it also has an LED matrix for displaying output

  • Sense HAT emulator - a digital representation of the physical Sense HAT device

Common misconception

You must have the physical Sense HAT device to practice coding with the Sense HAT.

You do not have to have the physical Sense HAT to try this out. The Sense HAT emulator provides a digital representation of the device.


To help you plan your year 10 computer science lesson on: Programming project - Sense HAT I, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

File needed for this lesson

  • pixel-art 7.1 KB (XLSX)

Download this file to use in the lesson.

If pupils have access to the physical devices of the Raspberry Pi computer and Sense HAT for this lesson, instructions on how to set up this hardware is included as an additional resource for this lesson.
Teacher tip

Equipment

All pupils require access to the Raspberry Pi Code Editor. Pupils could use the physical components of a Raspberry Pi computer and a Sense HAT for this lesson, but they are not essential.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is a two-dimensional list?

a list with only one row
a list with only one column
Correct answer: a list with rows and columns
a list of random numbers

Q2.
Which keyword describes a set of instructions with a name?

Correct Answer: subroutine

Q3.
What might you use a 2D list for in programming?

to draw a picture
Correct answer: to make a game board
to play music
to write an essay

Q4.
In a 2D list, what does each row contain?

Correct answer: a list of values
only one value
a colour
a name

Q5.
Put these steps in order to create a 2D list for a game board:

1 - create an empty list
2 - add lists for each row
3 - fill each row with values

Q6.
Match each keyword to its meaning:

Correct Answer:two-dimensional,a list with rows and columns

a list with rows and columns

Correct Answer:subroutine,a named set of instructions

a named set of instructions

Correct Answer:row,values arranged side by side

values arranged side by side

Correct Answer:column,values arranged up and down

values arranged up and down

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is the Sense HAT?

a type of keyboard
Correct answer: hardware that attaches to a Raspberry Pi
a web browser
a programming language

Q2.
What does HAT stand for?

Correct Answer: Hardware Attached on Top

Q3.
What is the Sense HAT emulator?

Correct answer: a digital version of the Sense HAT
a new type of sensor
a paper worksheet
a power supply

Q4.
What can you use lists for with the Sense HAT?

to print documents
to play sounds
to browse the internet
Correct answer: to set all pixels on the matrix

Q5.
Put these steps in order to display text on the Sense HAT:

1 - attach Sense HAT to Raspberry Pi
2 - write code to display text
3 - run the code
4 - see the text on the LED matrix

Q6.
Match each keyword to its meaning:

Correct Answer:Sense HAT,hardware that attaches to a Raspberry Pi

hardware that attaches to a Raspberry Pi

Correct Answer:emulator,digital version of a device

digital version of a device

Correct Answer:LED matrix,lights for displaying output

lights for displaying output

Correct Answer:list,structure to hold pixel data

structure to hold pixel data

Additional material

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