A Light Sensing Circuit

The Plan

Our goal is to review material from last week, and introduce this weeks concept: building the light sensing circuit. The students will first learn the basic properties, e.g., direction of electrical flow, components, etc., while building a paper mock up of the circuit. Finally the Students will build their own photo sensing circuit using the diagram as a guide.

The Tech Monsters Light Sensing Circuit.

What Went Well

Students used the vocabulary from last class and were able to name the components of the circuit successfully . They grasped the new circuit concepts quickly and were able to apply them effectively.  Our concerns that the breadboards would be difficult to understand were unwarranted for this group of students. We were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the class went.

Another viewing angle of our Photoresistor circuit.

What Went Wrong
 

While we have developed better student materials, we still do not have a complete toolset for relating the abstract concepts of electricity and circuits to students. Our lack of a concrete set of teaching materials forced us to come up with metaphors on the spot that could have been more effective.