Embedded Files
Purpose
Purpose
Participants practice the skill of pattern recognition to identify commonalities between different types of circuits and ways to complete them.
Materials
Materials
For each participant:
🙿 3 volt battery
🙿 9 volt battery
🙿 copper tape
🙿 6+ LEDs
🙿 scissors
🙿 clear tape
🙿 colored paper
🙿 tissue paper (optional)
🙿 printed circuit diagrams
🙿 binder clips
General:
🙿 Multimeter
🙿 Whiteboard
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
Circuit
Closed Circuit
Open Circuit
Battery
Current
Voltage
Resistor
LED
Conductive material
Push Button Switch
Slider Switch
Parallel Circuit
Series Circuit
Phase 1: Algo-Rhythm Icebreaker
Phase 1: Algo-Rhythm Icebreaker
Algorithm: When we want a computer to do something, we need to give it step-by-step instructions, also known as an algorithm.
- Participants select a dance they can explain via step-by-step instructions.
- Note: If you have a media player, play the clean radio version of a song.
2. Split students into two groups. Have each group collaborate on writing the step-by-step instructions for the dance.
3. Each group will read their algorithm aloud step-by-step. Members of the other group will “act as a computer” by performing the steps exactly as described.
4. There will more than likely be steps missing or a lack of clarity. Have the students improve and re-test the algorithm using debugging and counting loops:
- Are steps missing? You need to debug. Bugs are errors in algorithms and computer code. Debugging is the process of finding and fixing these.
- Do steps repeat? You can use a counting loop to make the algorithm more efficient - a counting loop is a set of instructions telling someone to repeat a sequence of actions.
- If you were to describe how to clean your tongue step-by-step you might write: brush tongue, brush tongue, brush tongue.
- You can make it easier by writing
Repeat [3 times]
brush tongue
Where the number in the bracket is the number of times a step needs to be repeated.
For example, if my dance involves stomping my right leg three times instead of writing, "Stomp right leg, stomp right leg, stomp right leg," I could write:
Repeat [3 times]
stomp right leg
5. Have students improve and re-test their algorithms by debugging and using counting loops where necessary.
6. Review: Participants constructed an algorithm using human language (and not computer code) that provided step-by-step instructions for how to do a dance move.
7. Discuss:
- What was challenging about the process?
- What happens if I swap the steps? [It changes the dance so the order is important.]
- What happens if I skip a step? [It changes the dance so completeness is important]
Phase 1: Introducing Switches
Phase 1: Introducing Switches
Closed Circuit
A circuit must be complete (without a break) so the electrons can flow through.
Open Circuit
When there is a gap in the circuit so electrons can’t flow through
Switch
A piece of removable conductive material that changes an open circuit to a closed circuit
1. Draw the switches diagram
Placing an LED in a circuit still completes it because the electrons can flow through the conductive material of the light.
You might not always want an LED to be lit, just like you might not always want your lights on at home. We can turn off LEDs in our circuits by creating a “break” in the circuit.
Resources:
Phase 1: Push Button Circuit
Phase 1: Push Button Circuit
1. Provide participants with the template (Figure 1).
2. Demonstrate the initial placement of the copper tape
Note: When demonstrating this make sure to
- leave a gap in the path for the push button switch
- leave a gap for the LED
- align positive end of LED (longer side) with the positive end of the battery (+)
- add your power source and use a binder clip to secure it
- This is what your diagram should look like to begin with.
3. Place a piece of copper tape on the “push button switch” template located on the lower-right corner.
4. Cut the “push button switch” out of your template. Tape the switch loosely so the copper tape is face down and aligned with the path of the circuit.
5. Place the battery on the location specified on the template. Be sure the positive and negative sides match up with the template. Use the binder clip to keep the battery in place.
6. Use the “push button switch” to close and complete the circuit. Completing the circuit will cause the LED to light up!
7. Have participants complete their own push button switch with template
Phase 2: Explaining A Slider Switch
Phase 2: Explaining A Slider Switch
- Review Parallel Circuits. Draw diagram if needed.
2. Introduce participants to the template (Figure 2) to construct a parallel circuit with a slider pull tab that will function as a switch.
3. Uses the template to build parallel circuit with a gap in the path.
4. Cut a slit in the paper just to the right of your circuit.
5. Use the template to complete the slider pull tab.
6. Cut out a T-shape.
7. Add copper tape across the stem of the T-shape
8. Place the slider pull tab through the slit that you cut in your circuit paper
9. Face the copper tape on the T-shape face down and aligned with the circuit.
10. Push and pull the tab to complete the circuit
Resources:
Phase 2: Switch Abstraction
Phase 2: Switch Abstraction
Abstract the similarities between both types of switches
- Contain conductive material
- Close circuits to allow electrons to flow through
Phase 2: Expressive Electronics
Phase 2: Expressive Electronics
Participants use their knowledge of circuits and switches to create a paper lantern.
If you have battery holders with on/off switch, you can attach the leads to the copper tape.
You can also challenge participants to take what they learned from the template and use it to create a push button or slider switch that would work for their lantern.
Hint: You can also create a parallel circuit and push button switch simply by using the tape as a switch like the photos below.
Phase 2: Reflection
Phase 2: Reflection
1. Pass out notecards to participants and ask them to answer the following questions:
- What are 3 things you learned?
- What are 2 things you have a question about?
- What is 1 thing you want the facilitator to know?
- What is 1 thing that you accomplished today that you did not know how to do before?
2. Have participants share their responses with the group.
Appendix
Appendix
Figure 1: Push Button Circuit
Figure 2: Parallel Circuit Switch Template
TEMPLATES simple circuit push button .pdfTEMPLATES parallel slider switch.pdf TEMPLATES parallel slider switch pg2.pdfReport abuse