ELECTRIC CIRCUITS

1
ELECTRIC CIRCUITS

• Featuring The
• Connect the Circiut Game

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HUMAN CURRENT EXAMPLE

• Students stand in a circle
• a student starts touch the hand of the next
• continue the transfer around the circle
• when it gets to the first the circuit is closed
• this demonstrates how electrons bump and flow in
  a closed circuit

3
WHAT IS A CIRCUIT?

• A complete path over which an electric current
  can flow
• Electrons with a negative charge, have to wait
  until there is a bridge between the negative area
  and the positive area.

4
LETS PLAY A GAME TO LEARN

• The Connect the Circuit Game
• Electricity can flow though a complete, closed
  circuit, but not an open circuit.
• Lets play a fun game that tests the steadiness
  and patience of the players and shows how a
  circuit works.

5
MATERIALS

• Bare wire or metal clothes hanger
• 1 flashlight bulb
• 1 bulb holder
• 2 batteries
• 2 battery holders
• Insulated wire
• Cardboard
• Tape
• Clay (if using the clothes hanger)
• Steel wool (if using the clothes hanger)

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WHAT TO DO...

• If using...
• bare wire cut a piece two feet long
• wrap each end around one finger to make a loose
  coil.
• Cut an 8 ½ by 11 inch piece of cardboard.
• Tape each of the coils down to opposite ends of
  the cardboard sheet.
• Bend wire into a wavy line above the cardboard.

• If using...
• wire coat hanger use steel wool to remove any
  coating from the metal.
• Untwist the hanger and bend it into a U shape.
• Stick either end of the U into a lump of modeling
  clay
• Bend the hanger so it looks like a wavy, squiggly
  line.

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MORE WHAT TO DO...

• Connect the two batteries
• Attach an alligator clip to each end of this
  battery pack.
• Attach one of the alligator clips to the wavy
  wire near the base of one side.

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MORE WHAT TO DO...

• Cut a six-inch piece of insulated wire and strip
  one end ½ inch and the other 1-½ inch.
• Connect the shorter stripped end to the other
  alligator clip.
• The longer stripped end should be loosely wrapped
  around the wavy wire to form a loop.

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LOOK WHAT YOU CAN DO!

• If the loop touches the wavy wire it completes
  the circuit and lights the bulb.
• Use the loop to trace the entire length of the
  wavy wire without touching it
• If the entire length of the wire can be traced
  without making the bulb light up then
• The game has been won!

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QUESTION 1

• Why does the light bulb light when the loop
  touches the wire?

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QUESTION 2

• Does the game still work with one battery instead
  of two? What difference would it make?

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QUESTION 3

• Can you think of any other games or toys that
  also use open and closed circuits to decide who
  wins and who loses?

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QUESTION 4

• Invent a new game that uses open and closed
  circuits. How would it work?

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QUESTION 5

• Would the game still work if the loop were made
  of insulated rather than bare wire? Why or why
  not?

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PRINT SOURCE

• "Awesome Experiments in Electricity and
  Magnetism." Michael DiSpezio, Sterling Publishing
  Co. New York, 1998, p. 94."Edison Etc." The
  Wild Goose Company Salt Lake City, 1994, p. 60.

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WEB SITE SOURCES

• http//www.ibiblio.org/obp/electricCircuits/ free
  textbook series on electric circuits
• http//www.geocities.com/thesciencefiles/steady/ha
  nd.htmlgame with pictures
• http//staff.ednet.ns.ca/util/go.php?urlhttp3A2
  F2Fwww.geocities.com2Fthesciencefiles2Fsteady2
  Fhand.htmlHordefcb9c3d8eec311b7ea28f85bd66976c4
  shows game with pictures

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MORE WEB SOURCES

• http//www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/revision/S
  cience/index.html site with interactive quiz on
  electricity.
• http//www.proteacher.com/cgi-bin/outsidesite.cgi?
  externalhttp//youth.net/cec/cecsci/cecsci.72.txt
  originalhttp//www.proteacher.com/110016.shtmlt
  itleBrown20Bag20Electricity brown bag
  electricity