We use electricity everyday, but do you really know what electricity is? To understand electricity, we need to go back to basics and start with the atom. Atoms have positively charged protons, negatively charged electrons, and neutral neutrons. Together, the protons and neutrons make up the nucleus of the atom, leaving the electrons in orbit. These orbiting electrons can move between atoms. It's when they start to flow between atoms that they create an electric current. So, electricity is the flow of electrons from one atom to another. Some materials, like metals or salt water, allow electrons to flow freely between their atoms; these materials are called conductors. Other materials, like plastics or dry wood, have atoms that hold tightly onto their electrons, preventing the electricity from flowing through them; these materials are called insulators. If you have ever seen a phone charger (or any other cord) start to "fray" you probably noticed that the cords are basically a piece of metal (conductor) covered in plastic (insulator). The metal allows the electricity to pass from your outlet to your phone, while the plastic prevents you from getting an electric shock. When electricity is able to flow through the circuit completely, we call it a closed circuit. If, however, part of the circuit is disconnected, the electrons won't be able to flow through, and the circuit won't work; this is called an open circuit.
Now that you know a little more about electricity, choose an experiment below to model what you learned! Make sure you can fully explain how and why your model works! Note: You may need to do a little extra research in order to fully explain your experiment/model.
Added Challenge: If you want to challenge yourself, figure out what you need to do to make your lights brighter and/or your motors faster! Can you explain why certain things work, but others don't?
Simple Graphite Circuits
You can create a circuit using graphite (pencil lead) as the conductor! All you need is some paper to draw your design on, a pencil, an LED light, and a battery. Depending on your design and type of battery, you may need some wires. If you are savvy, you can probably cut some wires and lights from a string of old holiday lights or other electronics with lights.
Foil/Copper Tape Circuits
Aluminum foil and copper tape (if available) can also be used to build circuits. As with the graphite circuits above, you will need an LED light and a battery. The first example below uses aluminum tape, but aluminum foil will also work. The other examples provide templates to make a little LED card with copper tape. If you don't have copper tape, again, you can carefully tape down aluminum foil.
Steady Hand Circuit Game
Have you ever played the game Operation? If not, ask your parents; they might know what that game is. Anyways, both Operation and the game described/shown here use the principles of open and closed circuits to test how steady your hand is! This circuit game requires a few more materials than the circuits above, but if you have the materials, or can get them, this game is worth making! Each example below shows slightly different methods of making the game, so it might be helpful to use all three before building your own.
Bonus
Use the link below to practice building complex circuits, and measuring the current and voltage of your circuits. Start with the "Intro" section. If some of the materials are new to you, take the time to look them up!