This was our first project for the 2010 Spring semester. The goal of this project was to show the girls the meaning of a "complete circuit." Their first activity was to complete simple mazes on paper. As they did the mazes, they could see how similar mazes are to circuits.
We arrived soon afterward and introduced the main project. The girls were divided into four groups with one or two mentors per group. Each group was given a table top sized piece of butcher group to draw their own maze on. The groups were instructed to draw large mazes with lines that did not cross so that wire could be taped down over the pencil outline. The wires could not be fully connected at the start and finish points of the maze.
After the mazes were built, one battery was attached to a galvanized wire which was attached to a light bulb which was attached to another wire. The girls tried to move the wire along the maze without touching the wire to the maze. If they touched the maze wire, the light bulb would turn on because the circuit was complete. Each girl tried to not complete the circuit for the entire maze. After the groups had completed the maze once, the one battery was substituted for two batteries or three batteries in series. The girls immediately realized that more than one battery increased the light bulb's intensity.
Here is a simplistic pictorial representation of a wire maze circuit:
The goal of this lab was to teach the girls about the simplicity of an electrical circuit. They could clearly see the results of a light bulb, conductive wire, and a battery being in contact with each other. We talked to them about electrical circuits being one of the most common parts of daily life. They also explored the possibilities of pursuing a career in electrical engineering as they grew older.
Our first project was a success! We have attached some pictures to this post so you see how much fun the girls had.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Getting Started!
This blog is part of a project given to us by Dr. Jeff Bigelow in the Oklahoma Christian University Electronics 1 class. He challenged our class to show how our Christian spirits could be combined with our engineering knowledge. This challenge has become a full-fledged mentoring project for four girls in our class as well as other volunteers from the engineering department. Over the course of the 2010 Spring semester, we will go over to John Marshall High School several times to mentor young girls. Each time we visit, we will bring a fun engineering or science project to do with the girls. The goal is to show them that engineering and the sciences are fun, educational, and accessible to boys and girls alike. Hopefully, we can encourage them to go to college and pursue a career in engineering or the sciences.
We hope that you will keep up with our blog! Thanks for reading.
We hope that you will keep up with our blog! Thanks for reading.
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