Recycled Circuits

In this lesson students will construct circuits using multiple platforms. In the engage students will use lemons to build a circuit to explore the configuration and requirements for a bulb to light up. The explore requires students to use a simulation to build specific circuits. The Engineering Design Project is based on using electricity to design a functioning electronic greeting card. During the Explain students will write an explanation using one of five scenarios to communicate their understanding of circuit components. Students will extend their knowledge of circuits by constructing a working electric circuit to review and follow this up by doing some basic Ohm Law calculations. Students will use the Eco STEM Energy Kit to construct a circuit using either the snap circuit alternative energy or using recycled parts to build a working circuit. The focus of the environmental stewardship project should be alternative energy and/or energy efficiency. Students will be formatively evaluated using a Kahoot! quiz. The summative evaluation requires students to draw a schematic of a working simple circuit and write complete explanation with evidence to support why their schematic works. If reteaching is necessary, students will work individually and, in a group, to determine if different pictorial models represent a complete simple circuit. This lesson is the second in a series of three about electricity. The first lesson analyzes human harnessed and naturally occurring electricity. This conceptual foundation helps students understand first how people utilize different energy sources for societal needs. This lesson is an extension of this thinking. The next lesson evaluates materials that are used to either conductor or inhibit the flow of electricity.