Light up sparklers explores electronic engineering in activities designed to develop skills and knowledge of circuits. Pupils will gain competence in using batteries and LEDs and will be supported to create their own simple circuit. They will use jamboard (a digital interactive whiteboard) to play with ideas and plan their designs. Tinker time will provide pupils with the opportunity to bring their designs to life, test them and make adjustments. Pupils are asked to keep a digital record of their making process and finished sparkler to share with others.

3. Explore LEDs

Can you draw an LED? What shapes is it made up of? Look closely. One leg is longer than the other. (See example drawing). Can you mark + and - on your diagram? (+ on the long leg, - on the shorter leg). Use the interactive Jamboard to make an LED diagram and label it.

Learning points:

• An LED is a small light bulb

• When it is connected in a circuit it lights up

• LEDs come in different sizes and colours

• LEDs can be found in car headlights, traffic light, kitchen cupboard lighting, TV remote control, light-up toys

Suggested resources

Discovery table containing things that use batteries

Remote controls, flashing toys, fairy lights containing LEDs

Make a light-up sparkler / wand

Tinker time activities are child lead activities aimed to deepen thinking, skills and knowledge gained through the exploration and skill builder activities (together with existing knowledge and skills). The idea is to give children little or no instruction, but let them make their own decisions to create their own design solutions. The learning objective focuses on effectively using the iterative Maker{Cycle} process rather than on the finished product. Children should aim to create several iterations by rapid prototyping their ideas in draft form and test early on in the process. This allows lots of time to see what works and what doesn't. Children will need reminding to test their prototypes along the way.

Project starting point:

"Help! I really love sparklers but my friend is a bit scared of them because they can get hot and they are also frightened of fireworks! Can you use what you have learned about circuits to make a safe sparkler?"

Use the Design a Sparkler Jamboard digital resource to play with ideas before making your sparkler. What materials will you use? Does your sparkler have a theme? How do you plan to decorate your sparkler?

Don't forget to make a video showing your designs, making and finished sparklers to share!

This activity could be done individually or in pairs depending on the amount of time and resources available.

Project Resources in Kit Box (per sparkler):

• 1x Battery pack (2xAA)

• 2x AA Batteries

• 1x Wire connector

• 1x 10mm LED

• Washi tape or masking tape

• Decorations - pipe cleaners, feathers, coloured wool, craft sticks

• Double sided sticky pads (approx 10)

Resources to be Provided by School:

• Sticks (these can be collected from the school grounds, local park or woodland, as from Exploration Activity. Alternatively, tightly rolled newspaper could be used)

• Additional craft materials (leaves, tissue paper, etc)

• Light up Sparkler Jamboard - Use this on the interactive whiteboard, computer or iPads to let children design their sparkler virtually before making it.