Electricity: Designing Circuits for 6 th Grade

1. Activity Under Development We value your input! Electricity: Designing Circuitsfor 6th Grade

2. Activity Guide • Challenge: Discuss (5-10 minutes) • Generate Ideas and Multiple Perspectives (instructor choice) • Research and Revise (and Test Your Mettle) • Activity 1: Review Simple Circuits (5 minutes) • Activity 2: Introduce Schematics (5-10 minutes) • Activity 3: Build and Test Series and Parallel Circuits (15-20 minutes) • Activity 4: Test your mettle (10 minutes) • Go Public – Revisit Challenge (5-10 minutes)

3. Teacher Tips • This activity has many components/options. • You may not get to all of them during the allotted time. • Feel free to do the activities that you wish to do. • Please return the materials to the drawers as you found them. It is VERY helpful to bundle the jumper cables in groups of 7. • The most common reasons that buzzers and lights bulbs not working: • The clips on the jumper cables are not connected fully. • The red and black wires on the buzzer are connected opposite the way they need to be. • The bulb is not screwed in all the way.

4. Teacher Prep • Assemble materials from following page. • Set up 6 bins of materials at each of the tables for 3-4 students per table/station. Each bin will contain: • 2 D-cell batteries • 2 D-cell battery holders • 2 light bulb holders • 2 light bulbs • 1 buzzer • 3 knife switches • 7 jumper cables • 4 Pens or pencils • 4 copies of “Electric Schematic Symbols” – stored in the lower left filing drawer in the mechanical room

5. Materials for Circuits Materials : • 12 D-cell batteries • 12 D-cell battery holders • 12 light bulbs • 12 light bulb holders • 18 knife switches • 6 buzzers • 42 jumper cables (wires with alligator clips on each end) • Pens/pencils or marker • 6 copies “Schematics for Electric Circuits”

6. Location of all materials Drawer 3a1: • 10 buzzers • 28 mechanical pencils • 30 light bulb holders • 40 light bulbs Drawer 3a3: • 36 D cell batteries • 20 D cell battery holders • 42 jumper cables • 20 knife switches

7. Worksheet

8. Challenge • Design and build a “doorbell” with two switches. The doorbell will buzz if one switch is closed. It will make a bulb light up when the other switch is closed. • This is for a family with a hearing impaired grandparent and a sight-impaired daughter. • You can use ONLY the following materials to design your doorbell. • 7 jumper cables • 2 D-cell batteries • 2 D-cell battery holders • 1 light bulb • 1 light bulb holder • 1 buzzer • Draw your schematic first, then build the circuit. Label this schematic “Doorbell.”

9. Guiding Question • How can we design electric circuits and draw them with schematics? • What is a parallel circuit? • What is a series circuit? • What is a schematic? • What is electricity? • What is a closed circuit? • What is an open circuit?

10. Activity 1 – Review Simple Circuits (5 minutes)

11. Simple Circuit 1 – step 1 • Insert 1 battery into 1 battery holder • Make sure – ends are together and + ends are together.

12. Simple Circuit 1 – step 2 • Insert 1 light bulb into 1 light bulb holder • Make sure that metal base plate of light bulb holder touches the end of the light bulb. • Do not force the light bulb in-it is fragile!

13. Simple Circuit 1 – step 3a • Clip one jumper cable onto one end of battery holder on the metal tab.

14. Simple Circuit 1 – step 3b • Clip other end of same jumper cable onto light bulb holder at the round clip.

15. Simple Circuit 1 – step 4 Clip second jumper cable onto other end of battery holder on the metal tab.

16. Simple Circuit 1 – step 5 • Create a closed circuit by clipping remaining end of 2nd jumper cable onto light bulb holder • Does your light bulb light? • If it does, disconnect everything.

17. Trouble shoot (if light bulb does not light) • Is battery charged? • Is light bulb in place (touching base plate of light bulb holder)? • Is light bulb burnt out? • Are jumper cables attached to metal parts of light bulb holder and battery holder? • Are jumper cables working correctly? • Is your circuit closed?

18. Activity 2: Electrical Schematic Symbols(5-10 minutes)

19. Symbol for a light bulb

20. Symbol for battery

21. Symbol for switch - closed

22. Symbol for switch - open

23. Symbol for a buzzer • The red wire gets connected to positive battery terminal; black wire to negative battery terminal. black red

24. Symbol for wire

25. Activity 3 – Series and Parallel Circuits(15-20 minutes) • Series and parallel circuits • Series circuit – open and closed • Parallel circuit – open and closed • Series circuit with a switch • Series circuit with a buzzer • Series circuit with a buzzer and light bulb

26. Following this schematic, create a series circuit

27. This is the circuit – 1 switch open

28. This is the circuit – closed

29. Following this schematic, create a parallel circuit

30. What happens when you open one switch?

31. Use the schematic below to create a series circuit with a switch

32. This is what it looks like when the circuit is closed

33. This is what it looks like when the circuit is open

34. Build this circuit with a buzzer • Make sure the red wire is connected to positive and the black wire is connected to the negative battery terminal.

35. This is what it should look like

36. Draw a schematic for this circuit with a buzzer and lightbulb.Label it Schematic 1 on your worksheet

37. This is the schematic:

38. Activity 4 – Test your mettle(10 minutes) • Schematics – Will the bulb light or not? • Schematic of a parallel circuit • Three switches in this circuit • Trace circuits to determine if light bulb is lit with alternate switches open

39. Will the light bulb light? Why or why not? 1 2 3 4

40. Look at this schematic-trace the circuits

41. Predict what would happen when you open switch 1 - which light(s) are lit?

42. Predict what would happen when you open switch 2 - which light(s) are lit?

43. Predict what would happen when you open switch 3 - which light(s) are lit?

44. Build the circuit and test your predictions. • If time permits.

45. Go Public – Revisit Challenge (5-10 minutes) • Design and build a “doorbell” with two switches. The doorbell will buzz if one switch is closed. It will make a bulb light up when the other switch is closed. • This is for a family with a hearing impaired grandparent and a sight-impaired daughter. • You can use ONLY the following materials to design your doorbell. • 7 jumper cables • 2 D-cell batteries • 2 D-cell battery holders • 1 light bulb • 1 light bulb holder • 1 buzzer • Draw your schematic first, then build the circuit. Label this schematic “Doorbell.”

46. Possible Schematic for Solution

47. One possible solution for challenge + _

48. Vocabulary • Electricity – the flow of electrons • Electron – negatively charged particles in an atom. • Circuit – a path along which electricity can pass. Usually includes a battery or some source of power and wire to transmit the electricity. • Closed circuit – a circuit that allows the flow of electricity • Open circuit – a circuit that does NOT allow the flow of electricity • Schematic – a drawing of an electric circuit or circuits that uses symbols to represent components of the circuit. • Symbol – simple drawing of an electrical component. • Battery – a device that produces electricity from a chemical reaction