School-Age: Circuits

This week, as part of the "Build a Better World" Collaborative Summer Library Program, we built circuits!

1. Reading
We read "Weasels" by Elys Dolan. It is a hilarious book about weasels plotting world domination. Their machine to take over the world stops working buuuuut it's because it became unplugged!

2. Discussion
We talked about what circuits were. I explained that they were a complete circle that made electrical things work. Then we talked about insulators and conductors. Conductors allow energy/electricity to go through the circuit and insulators keep electricity from traveling through (or outside of) the circuit.

3. Activity
We used Steve Spangler's energy sticks to create a large circuit. We made one big circuit together with the kids to show how the energy stick worked when we were all connected, holding hands, in a circle.

Then we tested a variety of insulators and conductors. I would hold up an object and ask the kids if it was an insulator or a conductor. Then we would test their guesses by having two members of the circle hold the item between them within our circle circuit. 

Insulators we tested: Popsicle stick, puff ball, paper, Q-tip
Conductors we tested: Aluminum foil, penny, paper clip, binder clip

One of the kids made a great observation that the conductors all were made of metal!

4. Craft
For our craft we made robots out of toilet paper rolls. We set out glue sticks, glue dots, beads, paper, googly eyes, and more for the kids to use to decorate/make their robots. 

Notes:
The energy sticks were SUPER fun to use. And they were easy to use with a really large group. 

For the craft, since both of our programs this week were packed with kids, we used an assembly line for kids to get the materials to make their robots. We set up one long rectangular table with all the materials they could choose from in bowls along the table.

We gave them their toilet paper roll and a paper plate, and they could use the paper plate to put their craft materials on. Then they found a spot on the rug in our program area to make their robots. It worked perfectly with the huge crowds, especially with our large number of kindergartner's who sometimes are not always tall enough to work at our tables. 

All in all, a success!