Episode 34: Bonus: Holiday Buying Guide

In celebration of the great retail holiday of Black Friday, Kelly and Sean share their holiday buying guide for computer science teachers, including 3d printers, #PythonHardware, and books.

Also this week, Bob and Julian from the PyBites website are making their Newbie Bites 40% off, with half of the proceeds going to the Teaching Python podcast! Check it out on their latest newsletter post

Support Teaching Python

Links:

• PocketLab — PocketLab Voyager, PocketLab Weather, and PocketLab One connect with a single button to a smart phone, tablet, Chromebook, or computer and instantly stream data that you can see and record. PocketLab has the same features as lab equipment that costs thousands of dollars but is low cost and intuitive to use.
• Circuit Playground Bluefruit - Bluetooth Low Energy ID: 4333 - $24.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits — Circuit Playground Bluefruit is our third board in the Circuit Playground series, another step towards a perfect introduction to electronics and programming. We've taken the popular Circuit Playground Express and made it even better! Now the main chip is an nRF52840 microcontroller which is not only more powerful, but also comes with Bluetooth Low Energy support for wireless connectivity.
• Amazon.com: Monk Makes Electronic Starter Kit for Micro:bit: Camera & Photo — Learn electronics and coding with the micro:bit. Includes a 30-page instruction booklet with 7 projects. Control a light bulb and motor from your micro:bit and play sounds. Measure sound, temperature and light using your micro:bit Please note a micro:bit is NOT included
• Original Prusa MINI - Prusa3d.com - Open-source 3D printers by Josef Prusa — Introducing our new compact 3D printer with all the bells and whistles you would expect from the creators of the award-winning original Prusa i3 MK2 and MK3S! The mini is a big printer in a compact body. We did our best to squeeze as many features into 349 USD / 379 EUR as possible. The Mini is great for beginners, companies looking to build a printing farm and 3D printing enthusiasts worldwide.
• Monoprice Voxel 3D Printer - Black/Gray with Removable Heated Build Plate (150 x 150 x 150 mm) Fully Enclosed, Touch Screen, 8Gb and Wi-Fi: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific — The Voxel is a unique, easy to use, beginner-friendly 3D printer that brings 3D printing to the masses with its simple menu system displayed on a 2.8" color IPS touch screen. The assisted leveling system reduces calibration to a single tap on the touch screen and the print nozzle can be swapped out in seconds, without the need for tools of any kind. It features 8GB of internal memory, a USB port, a Wi-Fi radio with a hotspot, and a built-in camera for monitoring print operations.
• Amazon.com: 5 Set STEM Kit,DC Motors Electronic Assembly Kit for Kids DIY STEM Toys Intro to Engineering, Mini Cars, Circuit Building DIY Science Experiments Projects for Boys and Girls: Toys & Games — This 5 model kit inspires young inventors to build their own cars and models. Children are happiest with their hands and minds are working together – they're having fun and they can showcase their creations.
• LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime Set by LEGO Education — The LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime Set is the go-to STEAM learning tool for grade 6-8 students. Combining colorful LEGO building elements, easy-to-use hardware, and an intuitive drag-and-drop coding language based on Scratch, SPIKE Prime continuously engages students through playful learning activities to think critically and solve complex problems, regardless of their learning level.
• Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, 2nd Edition: Practical Programming for Total Beginners: Al Sweigart: 9781593279929: Amazon.com: Books — The second edition of this best-selling Python book (100,000+ copies sold in print alone) uses Python 3 to teach even the technically uninclined how to write programs that do in minutes what would take hours to do by hand. There is no prior programming experience required and the book is loved by liberal arts majors and geeks alike.
• Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming: Eric Matthes: 9781593279288: Amazon.com: Books — This is the second edition of the best selling Python book in the world. Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition is a straightforward introduction to the core of Python programming. Author Eric Matthes dispenses with the sort of tedious, unnecessary information that can get in the way of learning how to program, choosing instead to provide a foundation in general programming concepts, Python fundamentals, and problem solving.
• Pandas for Everyone: Python Data Analysis: Python Data Analysis (Addison-Wesley Data & Analytics Series): 9780134546933: Computer Science Books @ Amazon.com — Pandas for Everyone brings together practical knowledge and insight for solving real problems with Pandas, even if you’re new to Python data analysis. Daniel Y. Chen introduces key concepts through simple but practical examples, incrementally building on them to solve more difficult, real-world problems.
• House of Robots: James Patterson, Chris Grabenstein, Juliana Neufeld: 9780316346795: Amazon.com: Books — In this highly-illustrated series from James Patterson, an extraordinary robot signs up for an ordinary fifth grade class . . . and elementary school will never be the same!
• Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor (Frank Einstein series #1): Book One: Jon Scieszka, Brian Biggs: 9781419724923: Amazon.com: Books — Clever science experiments, funny jokes, and robot hijinks await readers in the first of six books in the New York Times bestselling Frank Einstein chapter book series from the mad scientist team of Jon Scieszka and Brian Biggs. The perfect combination to engage and entertain readers, the series features real science facts with adventure and humor, making these books ideal for STEM education. This first installment examines the science of “matter.”