Light Up, Spin!

The first project this semester is called Light Up, Spin! This project is designed to give students experience in designing and building a very simple circuit. Students start by getting some hands-on practice using pre-built circuit blocks.  We discuss the concepts of power and load, battery blocks serve as “power”, while an LED block or a motor block serves as a “load”. We then introduce other blocks, like switches, which are considered “control” blocks because they can determine if power is turned on or off, or switched in one direction or another. We spend one class period experimenting by connecting various blocks together to predict and see what happens. 

Students then begin to think about their own circuit block, using the following criteria:

PROJECT MUST:

• ​fit on a 3.5” square wood block
• be no taller than 10"
• include ONE of the following elements (called loads):
  • up to 3 LEDs
  • an  incandescent bulb
  • a motor
• be powered by a battery source (including a switch)
• represent something in real life

During the Design phase students share their ideas about what they would like to build, and start their preliminary “rough” sketches. Students share their idea in small group, then have a bit more time to polish these initial sketches. During the next class, students spend time looking for materials in PIRL and PIRL Terrace, and begin to finalize their sketch with measurements and a true materials list.

By this time, students are ready to move into the Build phase, starting with cardboard, foam, spare pieces of acrylic and anything they can find that would serve well as part of their project.  They are asked to build out the parts excluding the wiring first, just to see what the object looks like. During this session, I also cover how to use specific tools like cardboard cutting scissors, safety blades, triangles and glue guns. 

The next session is spent learning how to wire a circuit and use the soldering iron. There’s no better way to learn than while you are right in the middle of your project and you need this skill to complete your work. I find students incredibly helpful with each other in this stage. Some take to soldering much easier than others so it’s an opportunity for them to work together, and for some students to serve as mentors for others.

At this point, for those who include LEDs into their circuit blocks, I post a helper graphic on the wall for how to wire the circuit, including an appropriately rated resistor. We use ledcalc to see what wiring diagram and resistor size fits their model.

The final day is spent finishing up any last minute design changes (Iterate phase), taking pictures and video for their blog post, and sharing out final work. If time allows, students can follow up the initial materials with wood or acrylic. The projects are not taken home, as they will serve as showcase pieces until the end of the semester when parents come in for exhibit time.