Objective
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to understand the basics of circuit boards, build simple circuits, and conduct experiments to observe how they work.
Materials and Prep
You will need:
- Assorted wires
- Battery holder
- Batteries
- Light bulbs
- Switches
- Assorted resistors
- Alligator clips
- Cardboard or foam board for building circuits
Before starting the lesson, review the concepts of electricity and simple circuits with your child to provide a foundation for understanding.
Activities
- Build a simple circuit using a battery, wires, and a light bulb. Observe how the light bulb lights up when the circuit is complete.
- Add a switch to the circuit and experiment with turning the light bulb on and off.
- Create a series circuit with multiple light bulbs and observe how they all light up when the circuit is complete.
- Experiment with adding resistors to the circuit to observe how they affect the brightness of the light bulbs.
- Challenge: Build a parallel circuit with multiple light bulbs and compare its behavior to the series circuit.
Third Grade Talking Points
- Electricity is like magic that flows through wires and makes things work. It's like the power that makes your toys light up and your TV turn on.
- When we connect a battery to a light bulb with wires, it creates a path for the electricity to flow, and the light bulb lights up. It's like a little circle of power!
- If we add a switch to the circuit, we can control when the light bulb turns on and off. It's like having a magic button to make the light appear and disappear.
- When we connect more light bulbs in a row, they all light up because they share the electricity. It's like a team of light bulbs working together.
- If we add something called a resistor to the circuit, it can make the light bulbs dimmer. It's like putting sunglasses on the light bulbs!
- When we connect light bulbs side by side in a parallel circuit, they each have their own path for electricity. It's like having multiple teams of light bulbs working independently.