Science and Mathematics Education College of Science

Science & Engineering in the Lives of Students NSF/Award: 0802570

CONSTRUCTION SCIENCE ELECTRIC CIRCUITS ACTIVITY

#1

INTRODUCTION TO CIRCUITS [Created by Len Cerny]

______ 1. Light a plain bulb with just wires and a plain battery ______ 2. Light a bulb in a holder with a battery in a holder ______ 3. Try turning the battery the other way in the holder.





Does it still light the bulb? _____________ Make a circuit where you can do the following: ______ 4. Make a circuit with one battery, one light bulb, one light switch and some wires where the light switch can turn the bulb on and off. Check to see if the light is off when the switch reads "off". If the switch is off when the light is on and the switch is on when the light is off, disconnect your battery and talk to Len right away. ______ 5. Make a circuit with 1 battery, 2 bulbs, some wires, and no switches. (Do not have the bulb holders touching each other) Are the bulbs as bright as before? _________ **___________ 6. If your bulbs were bright, get Len to sign off this one. If they are both dimmer than before, look around and find a group that got theirs to both light bright and hook yours up like theirs and then get Len to sign this off. ______ 7. Now add a switch into your circuit from the last question so that the switch can turn on and off only one of the two bulbs while leaving the other bulb on. ______ 8. Now add a second switch into your circuit from the last question so that one switch turns on and off one bulb and the other switch turns on and off the other bulb. **___________ 9. Now take one of the switches out of the circuit so you only have one switch (but still two bulbs) and change your circuit around so that the one switch can turn on and off both lights.

Larry Flick

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NAME ______________________________ CONSTRUCTION SCIENCE ELECTRIC CIRCUITS ACTIVITY

#2

CIRCUITS WITH 3 BULBS ______ 1. Make a circuit with 1 battery, 3 bulbs, some wires, and no switches where all three bulbs light up bright ______ 2. Make a circuit with 1 battery, 3 bulbs, 1 switch, and some wires, where the switch can turn on and off one bulb while leaving the other two on. ______ 3. Now change your circuit so the one switch can turn on and off two bulbs while leaving the other one on. ______ 4. Now change your circuit so the one switch can turn on and off all 3 bulbs. **___________ 5. Now change your circuit and add another switch so that one switch turns off one bulb, the other switch turns off a different bulb and one bulb is always on no matter what you do with the switches. ______ 6. Now change your circuit so the one switch turns on an off one bulb and the other switch can turn on and off two bulbs. **___________ 7. Your circuit should still have 1 battery, 3 bulbs , 2 switches, and some wire. Now change your circuit so that one switch can turn on and off all 3 bulbs, but if that switch is ON, then the other switch can turn on and off one of the 3 bulbs. ______ 8. Make a circuit with 1 battery, 3 bulbs, no switches, and some wire where one bulb is bright and the other two are dim. **___________ 9. Now add 2 switches to the circuit above so that one switch turns off the bright bulb and one switch turns off the two dim ones.

Created by Len Cerny, Oregon State University

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NAME ______________________________ CONSTRUCTION SCIENCE ELECTRIC CIRCUITS ACTIVITY

#3

SERIES AND PARALLEL CIRCUITS ______ 1. Using 1 battery, 2 bulbs, and some wires (no switches), light 2 bulbs bright ______ 2. Using the same 2 bulbs and battery, change the circuit so the two bulbs are both dim **____________ 3. Now get a piece of paper and draw out how to have two bulbs bright and how to have two bulbs dim ______ 4. Now, like you did on worksheet #2, try hooking up 3 bulbs bright ______ 5. Now use the same 3 bulbs, but change your circuit so 1 bulb is bright and 2 bulbs are dim **____________ 6. Now add a switch to the circuit so that the two dim bulbs can be turned on and off, but the 1 bright bulb always stays on ______ 7. Now add another switch so that you can also turn the bright bulb on and off **____________ 8. Now take all the switches out, and change the bulbs around so all 3 bulbs light super dim (they may be so dim that you can't even see them light, check with Len to see if they are set up right) CHALLENGE QUESTION **____________ 9. Draw a picture of a circuit with 4 bulbs where 2 bulbs would be bright and 2 bulbs would be dim ______ 10. Get together with another group that got to this question already and give them one of your bulbs and build the circuit you drew in question #9

Created by Len Cerny, Oregon State University

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NAME ______________________________

CONSTRUCTION SCIENCE - ELECTRIC CIRCUITS ACTIVITY

#4 Advanced Questions You need 2 batteries, 3 switches, and 4 bulbs for this Lab *________ *1. Design a circuit where the switch can be used to create a short

circuit that turns off the light. (The light switch is on when the bulb is off)

Do not leave the battery shorted for more than one second! _______ 2. Use two batteries to light a single bulb brighter than before. *________* 3. Use 1 bulb and 2 batteries to make a circuit that can be lit normal



brightness. We call this "batteries in parallel." (Do not make a



short and only hook the batteries black to black and red to red) _______ 4. Light 3 bulbs brightly with two batteries. Don't leave it on long! (it



drains the batteries fast) _______ 5. With two batteries, light one bulb bright and two bulbs normal _______ 6. With two batteries, light 3 bulbs dim *________* 7. With two batteries, light 3 bulbs very dim (it may be so dim you



can't see it with the room lights on, but you should understand the



idea). _______ 8a. Put two batteries in parallel and design a circuit with three bulbs

where all bulbs are normal brightness and one bulb is lit all the time and

two other bulbs can be turned on and off individually with switches. *________*8b. Now add a third master switch to your circuit that can turn all the



lights off. (When the master switch is on the other two switches still



turn on and off single bulbs, but when the master switch is off, all



the lights are off) *________ * 9. MEGA - CHALLENGE PROBLEM #1 Build a circuit with ONE battery, two bulbs, and three switches that can make the bulbs normal or dim. *________* 10. MEGA - CHALLENGE PROBLEM #2 - Build a circuit with two batteries, ONE bulb, and two switches that can make the bulb bright or normal brightness. (Be careful not to short the batteries)

Created by Len Cerny, Oregon State University

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*________ * 11. MEGA - CHALLENGE PROBLEM #3 - Build a circuit that can make one bulb go to 4 different brightnesses (You can use one or two batteries, up to four bulbs (1, 2, 3, or 4 bulbs) and up to 4 switches)

Created by Len Cerny, Oregon State University

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Form 1

Name_____________ Construction Science ELECTRIC CIRCUITS TEST For an "A" Build a circuit with two batteries, 3 bulbs, 2 switches and some wires where there are 2 lights normal and one bright, and one switch will turn off all 3 lights, but when that one switch is on, another switch can turn on and off the two normal lights

For a "B" Build a circuit with 1 battery, 3 bulbs, 2 switches some wires where all 3 bulbs are normal and one switch turns on and off one bulb, while the other switch can turn on and off the other two lights

For a "C" Build a circuit with 1 battery, 3 bulbs, and some wires where all 3 bulbs are normal brightness

For a "D" Build a circuit with 1 battery, 1 bulb, 1 switch, and some wire where the bulb is on when the switch is on and the bulb is off when the switch is off

Created by Len Cerny, Oregon State University

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Form 3

Name_____________ Construction Science ELECTRIC CIRCUITS TEST For an "A" Build a circuit with one battery, 2 bulbs, 2 switches and some wires where there are 2 lights bright with with either switch on (or both switches on), but if both switches are off the both bulbs are off

For a "B" Build a circuit with 1 battery, 3 bulbs, 1 switch and some wires where 1 bulb is bright and two bulbs are dim, and the switch turns off all the lights

For a "C" Build a circuit with 1 battery, 2 bulbs, 1 switch, and some wires where both bulbs are bright and the switch can turn on and off only one light

For a "D" Build a circuit with 1 battery, 1 bulb, 1 switch, and some wire where the bulb is on when the switch is on and the bulb is off when the switch is off

Created by Len Cerny, Oregon State University

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Form 7

Name_____________ Construction Science ELECTRIC CIRCUITS TEST For an "A" Build a circuit with 1 battery, 3 bulbs , 1 switch, and some wires where all bulbs are on when the switch is off, but only two bulbs are on when the switch is on

For a "B" Build a circuit with 1 battery, 3 bulbs, 1 switch and some wires where 1 bulb is bright and two bulbs are dim, and the switch turns off the two dim bulbs

For a "C" Build a circuit with 1 battery, 2 bulbs, 1 switch, and some wires where both bulbs are dim and the switch can turn on and off both lights

For a "D" Build a circuit with 1 battery, 1 bulb, 1 switch, and some wire where the bulb is on when the switch is on and the bulb is off when the switch is off

Created by Len Cerny, Oregon State University

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Form 8

Name_____________ Construction Science ELECTRIC CIRCUITS TEST For an "A" Build a circuit with two batteries, 3 bulbs, 1 switch and some wires where if the switch is off, all 3 lights are dim, and if the switch is on, two bulbs are off and the other one is bright

For a "B" Build a circuit with 1 battery, 3 bulbs, 1 switch and some wires where 1 bulb is normal brightness and two bulbs are dim, and the switch turns off the normal bulb

For a "C" Build a circuit with 1 battery, 2 bulbs, 1 switch, and some wires where both bulbs are normal brightness and the switch can turn on and off both lights

For a "D" Build a circuit with 1 battery, 1 bulb, 1 switch, and some wire where the bulb is on when the switch is on and the bulb is off when the switch is off

Created by Len Cerny, Oregon State University

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Name ______________________ Construction Science - Electric Circuits - Review Sheet To Pass you must at least be able to..... _________1) Build a circuit with 1 battery, 1 bulb, 1 switch, and some wires where the light switch turns on and off the bulb without making a short circuit _________2) Light two bulbs bright with one battery

For a "C" or better you should be able to build circuits like these... _________1) Light two bulbs bright and have a switch that turns on and off both lights. _________2) Light two bulbs dim and have a switch that turns on and off both lights. _________3) Light 3 bulbs bright. _________4) Light 3 bulbs super-dim.

For a "B" or better you should be able to build circuits like these... _________1) With one battery, light two bulbs bright and two bulbs dim _________2) Light 3 bulbs bright and have one switch be able to turn off two bulbs _________3) Light 3 bulbs bright and have 3 switches where each bulb can be turned on an off by a different switch _________4) Light two bulbs bright where one switch turns on and off one bulb and the other switch turns off both bulbs

For an "A" you should be able to build circuits like these... _________1) Use two batteries and six bulbs to make a circuit that has one bulb extrabright, two bulbs normal brightness, and three bulbs dim. _________2) Have a battery, two bulbs, and one switch. When the switch is off both bulbs are dim, when the switch is on, one bulb is bright and the other is off. _________3) With two batteries, light 1 bulb extra-bright and 4 bulbs dim and have one switch that turns off only the bright bulb and another switch that turns off all the bulbs. _________4) Make a bulb be off, dim, or bright by throwing different switches.

Created by Len Cerny, Oregon State University

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