Following up on Day 1 of the Holiday House Project, teachers returned this week to create their LED circuit and construct the house. Each person sent in their personalized home design for laser cutting during the days between the two sessions, so the pieces were ready for assembly. To enhance the look of their houses, many added a chimney, a sign over the door, new windows, and more. Three people even chose to cut out the octagonal window on the front.
We began the session with a very brief introduction to the electrical circuit, the concept of current flow from negative to positive, and the use of that current for powering the LED. We discussed the role of the switch to close and open that circuit. Technically speaking, I should have included a resistor, as calculated through this LED resistor calculator and dictated by Ohm's Law. However, I didn't have ready access to 56 ohm resistors, and I'm not sure how vital they are for a project of this scale. I would love feedback on this from any informed reader.
Here are the materials we used to make the circuit:
The maker approach to learning fits like a glove with teacher professional development. The hands-on aspect of making, along with the personalized nature of the projects, generates a high degree of motivation from participants. My hope is that this level of excitement and energy will lead to further use of the new learning spaces by these teachers and their students. And speaking of motivation, I now eagerly look forward to planning the next maker teacher professional development session.
We began the session with a very brief introduction to the electrical circuit, the concept of current flow from negative to positive, and the use of that current for powering the LED. We discussed the role of the switch to close and open that circuit. Technically speaking, I should have included a resistor, as calculated through this LED resistor calculator and dictated by Ohm's Law. However, I didn't have ready access to 56 ohm resistors, and I'm not sure how vital they are for a project of this scale. I would love feedback on this from any informed reader.
Here are the materials we used to make the circuit:
- One LED, from a various of colors, mostly 5mm
- One tactile switch from Adafruit
- One CR2032 watch battery and battery holder
- 22 gauge wire
- Soldering iron and glue gun
The maker approach to learning fits like a glove with teacher professional development. The hands-on aspect of making, along with the personalized nature of the projects, generates a high degree of motivation from participants. My hope is that this level of excitement and energy will lead to further use of the new learning spaces by these teachers and their students. And speaking of motivation, I now eagerly look forward to planning the next maker teacher professional development session.
