Lift-Off with CodeX is a four-unit digital textbook that teaches Python through physical computing. Students write code in CodeSpace, Firia's browser-based Python IDE, then wire real servos, relays, pumps, switches, sensors, and LEDs to the CodeX handheld and program them to work together.

The curriculum follows a Mission to Mars narrative. Each project builds a system a Mars habitat would actually need: launch controls, hatch locks, alert systems, life support, solar tracking, an automated greenhouse, and surface exploration. Students do not just learn to code, they learn to build systems that interact with the physical world.

Each unit breaks down into short, guided missions. Every mission ships with a complete teaching package: learning targets, classroom-ready lesson plans, key concepts, vocabulary, success criteria, assessment opportunities, and standards alignment. Pacing is yours: teach the missions in sequence over a semester, or pull them individually to fit a CS, engineering, STEM, or science elective.

This unit gets students out of the simulator and onto the breadboard. Across three guided missions plus a remix project and unit assessment, students meet the Lift-Off Peripherals Kit, learn to wire a component to CodeX safely, and write their first Python programs that control real hardware, from a single red LED to a full launch countdown and a motion-triggered lighting system.

• ▸ Mission 1: Welcome to Lift-Off with CodeX: Students tour the peripherals kit, learn how components connect to CodeX, wire up their first red LED, and write meaningful, well-commented code to control it.
• ▸ Mission 2: Lift-Off! Students add switches and buttons to the circuit, compare momentary and latching inputs, and program a working launch countdown sequence.
• ▸ Mission 3: Conserve Energy! Students build a habitat lighting system using PWM for brightness, a potentiometer for analog input, and a motion sensor with a delayed shutdown timer.
• ▸ Unit 1 Remix & Assessment: Students apply skills from Missions 1-3 in an original Lift-Off remix project, and demonstrate mastery through the Unit 1 Assessment (review questions and rubrics).

This unit builds the systems a Mars habitat cannot run without. Across three guided missions plus a remix project and unit assessment, students program addressable NeoPixel lighting, a microswitch-driven hatch lock, a temperature and sound alert system, and their first servo-driven life support hardware, learning state machines, sensor thresholds, and event detection along the way.

• ▸ Mission 4: Hatch Lock! Students program NeoPixel color and animation, then use a microswitch to build a hatch lock that detects and responds to a button press.
• ▸ Mission 5: Alert System! Students read raw temperature and sound sensor values, set alarm thresholds, and combine blinking lights and audio into a complete habitat alert system.
• ▸ Mission 6: Life Support! Students learn how servos work, generate an analog control signal, and use software states to run a life support system that can be taken down for maintenance.
• ▸ Unit 2 Remix & Assessment: Students apply skills from Missions 4-6 in an original Lift-Off remix project, and demonstrate mastery through the Unit 2 Assessment (review questions and rubrics).

This unit puts students in charge of the hardware that keeps a crew alive on the surface. Across three guided missions plus a remix project and unit assessment, students build an automatic solar tracker, prepare a lander with an object sensor and landing gear, and automate a greenhouse that waters itself based on soil moisture feedback.

• ▸ Mission 7: Solar Tracking! Students pair a 180 servo with a light sensor, debounce noisy readings, and build a solar panel that tracks a simulated sun automatically.
• ▸ Mission 8: Prepare Lander! Students plan a multi-part system, build a crew display, read an object sensor to detect touchdown, and deploy the landing gear at the right moment.
• ▸ Mission 9: Automatic Garden! Students wire a water pump and soil moisture sensor, then tune a feedback loop that waters a Mars greenhouse only when it needs it.
• ▸ Unit 3 Remix & Assessment: Students apply skills from Missions 7-9 in an original Lift-Off remix project, and demonstrate mastery through the Unit 3 Assessment (review questions and rubrics).

This unit sends the crew out onto the surface and then asks students to build something of their own. Mission 10 combines an accelerometer, a distance sensor, resistors, lights, and sound into a rover exploration system with obstacle warnings and a controlled power-down. The Final Project then hands the peripherals kit back to students to design, build, and present an original Mars habitat system.

• ▸ Mission 10: Exploring the Surface! Students detect hard knocks with the accelerometer, measure distance and convert it to centimeters, add timeouts and resistance, and build a full exploration rig with danger warnings, color, sound, and a clean power-down.
• ▸ Final Project: Students design and build an original Mars habitat system of their own using the Lift-Off Peripherals Kit, then document and present the build. Includes project planning guidance, rubrics, and presentation criteria.