Minecraft Education Edition:

Welcome to Machines, Circuitry, and LogicThe purpose of these sessions is to demonstrate using Minecraft advanced concepts and the Standards-based connection to Computational Thinking.

Click this link to access the Computer Science teaching standards mapped to the Common Core.

Additionally, you will see ISTE Technology Standards align with this application.

The videos associated with our school include: Block 1: Redstone Circuits Block 2: Logic Gates 101 Block 3: Machines 101 Block 4: Redstone Circuits 201 Block 5: Logic Gates Block 6: Machines 201 Block 7: Logic Gates 301 Block 8: Machines 30

A great way to introduce yourself to education.minecraft.net is to download the world from the Resources page, and then import it into Minecraft and run through the tutorial. In this same way, you would download the school world and import this into Minecraft. The videos are designed to give you contextual examples of using some advanced applications in Redstone within Minecraft Education Edition.

Below is a working definition of some terms and links to further research.

Glossary:Redstone: A collection of blocks and resources that use a unique energy pattern in Minecraft. People use Redstone for powering minecarts, turning on lights, powering machines, and water dispensers, for example.

Lever: A lever is often used like a light switch. Put the lever on a block that is connected to Redstone and add a light to it like a Redstone torch. You can use the lever to turn the Redstone on and off.

Button: A button works the same way as the lever. Add a button on a block connected to Redstone and you can send short power pulses to the Redstone. Your button can be used to power something like a door or push your cart.

Pressure Plate: A pressure plate powered by Redstone is used to open doors. The character needs to stand on the pressure plat to open the door. Required materials to operate the door: a door and a pressure plate.

Redstone Torch: A torch is an enduring source of power for up to fifteen spaces of Redstone dust.

Redstone Block: Like the torch, a block is an enduring source of power for up to fifteen spaces of Redstone dust.

Redstone Ore: a block can work like the Redstone torch as long as you provide it a mechanism for turning on like a lever or a switch.

Redstone Lamp: a lamp powered with Redstone which will glow indefinitely like the torch.

Pistons: Pistons have been used within Redstone to power machines. At the time of publication, Minecraft Education Edition is not using pistons.

Redstone Dust: is the powergrid of Redstone. You lay it down and it conducts Redstone.

Logic Gates: Minecraft allows for inventive uses of deploying computational thinking, like an on and off switch. Logic gates will determine things like is there power circulating through Redstone or is it turned off?

AND: Are both levers required to power this light?

OR: Could you turn on the light with one lever OR another?

NOT: (also referred to as an inverter) An example might be when you have power going to an object, you might use a lever or button to turn off the power.

Machines: Machines are an important extension of Redstone. You can power machines through using Redstone Dust and a lever, switch or torch.

Day Light Sensor: a daylight sensor can be used as a machine with Redstone to power it.

Inverted Day Light Sensor: an inverted Day Light Sensor can work like a Day Light Sensor; right clicking on the Day Light Sensor activates the inverted capabilities.

Repeater: A Repeater is used for an extended power supply within Minecraft. In our example for the school, we are using a set of Repeaters to constantly power a light house

Comparator: A Comparator would be used to compare the power equivalency of a series of power equations. At the rear are two mini Redstone torches. When you are comparing the power coming from two different streams, the Comparator can turn off the weaker stream.

Dispenser: A dispenser works like a chest as you can add items to the dispenser and a user can right click to have them dispensed.

Dropper: Like a dispenser, a dropper with items inside, will drop them out when a character right clicks on the dropper.

There is an interesting distinction between these two machines: a dropper will drop out a bucket of water in its original state whereas a dispenser will input a bucket of water and output flowing water.

Chest: A chest is used in Minecraft to store items for later. Many times a chest will store a journal that a character has left behind. A player can right click on the chest to open the chest.

HeYou can learn more through this Visual Glossary for Circuitry with Minecraft and Redstone