--- title: The Gator Board Ecosystem is Here! description: The SparkFun gator:bit breaks out all of the pins on a micro:bit to alligator clip friendly pads. Explore the gator:bit and find out why the entire gator:board system from SparkFun is perfect for younger students. image: https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/hubfs/EDU/microbit/gatorbit.jpg --- [![Sparkfun](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/img/logo.png)](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/index.html) - [SparkFun Webstore](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com) - [Higher Ed](https://sparkfuneducation.com/higher-ed/index.html) - [Contact Us](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/contact-us.html) - [Follow Us](https://twitter.com/SparkFunEDU) - [Home](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com) - [Blog](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com) - [Curriculum](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/curriculum.html) - [PD/Events](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/professional-dev.html) - [KITS/Materials](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/materials.html) - [Educator Stories](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/educator-stories.html) - [Activities](https://activities.sparkfuneducation.com) [Blog Home](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/) / [micro:bit](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/microbit) / The Gator Board Ecosystem is Here! # The Gator Board Ecosystem is Here! BY [Melissa Felderman](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/melissa-felderman) 10/30/18 6:28 AM [0](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/the-gator-board-ecosystem-is-here#comments-listing) [micro:bit](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/microbit), [basic circuits](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/basic-circuits) ![](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/hubfs/EDU/BLOG%20Images/Feldi-highres.jpg) We know how much educators have been loving the [micro:bit](https://sparkfuneducation.com/maker-education/microbit.html)for classroom use, so here at SparkFun we decided to develop an ecosystem that would make the micro:bit even easier to use and safer to work with for teachers and students alike. Introducing the gator:board ecosystem - a series of four gator-clippable accessories designed specifically to interface with the micro:bit.  The diverse set of components found on the gator:boards will allow your students to explore a wide range of interactive projects and empower them to continue learning STEAM topics. These boards offer classroom longevity as they are accessible to the youngest of students, yet capable enough for more advanced middle and high school students. Today we are going to look at the [gator:bit](https://sparkfuneducation.com/products/gatorbit.html), one of our four gator:boards and definitely the bell of the ball, the gator:bit acts as a carrier case and expanded prototyping environment for the micro:bit. Almost all of the tiny pins found on the micro:bit are broken out on this board to large, kid friendly, gator-clippable pads, which are electrically protected from over current or short-circuits, making this board exceptionally safe for young students and impossibly hard to blow up! In addition to breaking out and protecting many of the micro:bit pins, the gator:bit features a buzzer for added sound and 5 addressable RGB LEDs. With all of the sensing capabilities already found on the micro:bit, the gator:bit adds a few extra actuators and expands out the pins, allowing for even more interactive ideas and expressions. Learn more about the gator:bit features and how to take advantage of this incredible classroom tool in the video below!   [![Add gator:bit to Instruction](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2224003/5b1f0fb2-0d13-4410-ad82-bb0e7d58fd47.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2224003/5b1f0fb2-0d13-4410-ad82-bb0e7d58fd47) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ### Subscribe to SparkFun Education Blog ### Topics - [helpful information (79)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/helpful-information) - [Maker Education (60)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/maker-education) - [teaching tools (55)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/teaching-tools) - [getting started (54)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/getting-started) - [Guest Post (44)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/guest-post) - [computer science (40)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/computer-science) - [micro:bit (38)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/microbit) - [student projects (37)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/student-projects) - [STEM (36)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/stem) - [programming (34)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/programming) - [STEAM (31)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/steam) - [Events (28)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/events) - [Arduino (25)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/arduino) - [robotics (20)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/robotics) - [e-textiles (18)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/e-textiles) - [Professional Development (17)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/professional-development) - [basic circuits (17)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/basic-circuits) - [What is a (16)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/what-is-a) - [announcement (16)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/announcement) - [makerspace (15)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/makerspace) - [Community Partnership Program (14)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/community-partnership-program) - [Training (13)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/training) - [raspberry pi (13)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/raspberry-pi) - [python (11)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/python) - [AVC (10)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/avc) - [paper circuits (10)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/paper-circuits) - [Makey Makey (8)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/makey-makey) - [SIK (8)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/sik) - [Adventures in Science (7)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/adventures-in-science) - [microcontroller (7)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/microcontroller) - [Internet of Things (5)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/internet-of-things) - [Processing (4)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/processing) - [Javascript (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/javascript) - [LilyPad (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/lilypad) - [funding (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/funding) - [weather (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/weather) - [Insider (1)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/insider) - [Johnny-five (1)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/johnny-five) All Tags ### Recent Authors - [Megan Hemmings (79)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/megan-hemmings) - [Maya Kleinbort (22)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/maya-kleinbort) - [Derek Runberg (21)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/derek-runberg) - [Shane Diller (16)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/shane-diller) - [Jeff Branson (15)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/jeff-branson) - [Angela Sheehan (12)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/angela-sheehan) - [Melissa Felderman (9)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/melissa-felderman) - [Megan Arnold (8)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/megan-arnold) - [Brian Huang (6)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/brian-huang) - [Shawn Hymel (6)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/shawn-hymel) - [Shelby Landsman (6)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/shelby-landsman) - [Jahnell Pereira (5)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/jahnell-pereira) - [Hailey Blessing (5)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/hailey-blessing) - [Mike Grusin (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/mike-grusin) - [Peter Hanson (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/peter-hanson) - [Andrew Milne (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/andrew-milne) - [Toni Klopfenstein (2)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/toni-klopfenstein) - [Joanna Drusin (1)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/joanna-drusin) - [Joe Romano (1)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/joe-romano) - [Mrinali P. 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