This week, we will learn how electrical circuits work.
To showcase our circuits, we will embed them in a craft project.
I used bugs as a focus, but we are not confined to that. Feel free to make anything you want with the materials I brought so long as parts of it light up with the circuit(s) you made.
We will stop at 9:45 so that you can write a reflection about what you learned.
What you will need:
Step 1:
Start by setting out your LED lights. You will notice one leg is longer than the other. The longer one is the positive pin. Before going any further test your LEDs by inserting the battery between the legs. If it doesn’t work, try turning the battery around. If it still doesn’t work try a different LED or battery. You want to make sure you have working parts right from the beginning because the chance of circuits being interrupted is quite high as you work through this project.
Step 2:
Cut your wire. I recommend cutting it a bit long and trimming it later to the final length. We started by measuring the length of the clothespin twice (or in the case of our dragonfly we went really long and doubled his length which included a clothespin plus popsicle sticks). Strip both ends of your wire, about 2-3 cm in length. You want enough for a good connection but not too much that you raise your risk of circuit interruption. My wire was quite thin so I did this with a pair of scissors by scraping the wire along the scissors. If you have a thicker wire you can use wire strippers if you have them.
Step 3:
Now wrap the wire around the positive pin of each LED, then take the loose ends and twist them together. Repeat the process with the negative pin on both LEDs.
Step 4:
Take your two sets of twisted wires and test them on the battery. Throughout the construction I recommend you keep testing the circuits. It is very easy to interrupt the circuit. At times I even secured the wires to the battery with a clothespin so I could ensure the work I was doing wasn’t interrupting the circuit.
Note: This project will require some patience and trial and error.
Step 5:
The next step can be done a few ways. You want to attach the LED’s to the legs of the clothespin or onto popsicle sticks by having each leg on either side of the wood. This will help prevent the wires touching and causing a short. You can simply set the LED’s there and snug them on but if you want them more secure I recommend wrapping the pins onto the wood with electrical tape. If you are going to get shorts in your circuit this is where they are most likely going to happen.