Circuits & Switches

Recently the machines group have been investigating electricity in their pursuit of making a robot museum.  We have been experimenting and playing with batteries, lights, motors and alligator clips

We have been exploring how electricity and motors work for some weeks, and the children have been experimenting to find out how to put together their circuits, and what things they need to include and to check in order to make their motors work.  The main issues that they have discovered are making a "whole loop" and connecting the "metal to metal", which is tricky with alligator clips and requires some practice.  

Many children raised the issue of safety, particularly around water, which "can be really dangerous and you can get a shock".  We therefore had a conversation about conductivity, and just why we always have to make sure that the metal is clipped to wire and not to the plastic casing.

We used these principles of circuits to make some simple switches using cardboard and aluminum foil - when the cardboard is squeezed together the foil covered ends touch each other and connect the circuit, turning the motor on.

Soon we will start construction of our robots!  We will let you know when they are ready for display.