Paper Circuit Lesson Plan

Creative Introductions for the First Day of School

Do you want your students to make something completely from scratch? Do you want to have a discovery activity on the first day? Check out how I use paper circuits on the first day of school! Students become immediately engaged, learn to problem solve, and learn about each other.

This lesson began with a challenging question. I had asked myself, "How might I create a project for the first week of school that creates a community of risk takers, creative thinkers, and makers?" I have gone through the Design Thinking Process to help guide my thinking of this lesson to conduct it in the best way possible. The Design Thinking Process was an organized way to guide my thinking. "it inspire's you to approach challenges differently" (p. 10). Below you will find a guide to a great lesson to use in any classroom of all ages.

What is it?

This lesson is structured around “making.” Students will construct a paper circuit to show something that represents themselves. This lesson should be done near the beginning of the school year because it is done as an introduction activity to show something that represents each child. However, it could be altered at any time throughout the year to create a character representation from a book or a social studies or science model.

Goal

The goal of this lesson is to have students start to open up their creative minds and preserver through a challenge while introducing who they are to the class. I would like this to be a team building experience for all students. My hope is starting with a project like this will get my students in the “maker mindset” and set them up for positive challenges throughout the rest of the year. As Dougherty explains, "We can create a workshop or makerspace, and we can acquire tools and materials, but we will not have succeeded at creating innovative thinkers and doers unless we are able to foster a maker mindset" (p. 7). Therefore, this activity is important to do early on to get them ready to "make" the rest of the year.

What does it do for the students?

This lesson is a discovery for the children. The purpose of the lesson is not to teach them how to make paper circuits but to have them discover it for themselves. In Invent to Learn, Stager explains how the Maker Movement came to be and how we can use it with our students. He explains, "Children should engage in tinkering and making because they are powerful ways to learn (p. 3)" Children need to notice things on their own and solve problems independently. This activity will do just that. It also gives students a chance to figure out a simple design that represents them and then an opportunity to learn about each other. Students should be set up in groups so they learn the idea of teamwork and how to collaborate to solve problems. Stager states, "When the collaboration is authentic, students will gain a greater appreciation for the benefits of collaborating and the result of the experience will be richer (p. 163). Students will be able to take this lesson and apply it to other projects done in the classroom. This first lesson can be used as a reference point to remind students what the "maker mindset" is all about.

How do you make a paper circuit?

As much as I’d like to say figure it out on your own, like the students will have to, here is a step by step guide to completing a paper circuit.

Step 1: Gather your materials. You will need copper tape, tape, scissors, sturdy paper, construction paper, light bulbs, and a cr2032 micro lithium cell battery.

Step 2: Sketch your design on the back of your sturdy paper.

Step 3: Line two pieces of copper wire around where you want your light bulbs to be.

Step 4: Peel the back of the copper wire and stick the copper wire down except for one end of one of the strips (it does not matter which one)

Step 5: Place the battery down and stick the last bit of copper wire on one of them to the top. You need one piece of wire underneath the battery and one piece of wire on top of the battery.

Step 6: Cut out your design and tape it to the front. Make sure you line it up with the copper wire on the back.

Step 7: Test your light bulbs on the back. They will only work one way due to the positive and negative sides of the battery and light bulbs.

Step 8: After you figure out which way the battery goes, stick it through the front so the wires pop out the back

Step 9: Fold the wires down so they are touching the wire. The light bulb should light up at this point if you have done it correctly. If not, flip the wires around, you probably have your positive and negative backwards.

Step 10: Tape down the wires so they hold.

Step 11: Make sure your light bulbs work on the front, if not you might need better tape.

Step 12: Cut a piece of paper to slide between the copper wire and the battery to turn it off.

Step 13: Remove the paper and show off your paper circuit! You have now created an awesome paper circuit. Note you can add more light bulbs but it will get more complicated on the back. Depending on your age group, keep it simple at first, then add to it later on.

Tips:

Make sure both light bulb wires are touching the copper wire, it's easiest to have as much of the light bulb wire on the copper wire. It's bound to touch somewhere.
Sketch your design before you start and decide where the copper wire will be.
Remember your closed circuit is between the battery and the two light bulb wires; the two pieces of copper wire should not touch each other!
Start off simple, then play around with it once you feel ready
You can use the copper tape as the tape for your wires

Extensions:

After having students create this the first time and problem solve through completing a circuit you can do several other lessons involving circuits. As mentioned before you might want to have students create character representations for a specific book. They could also create a paper circuit that represents the theme of a book. Paper circuits are an engaging way to have these themes come out creatively. You could also have students represent a graph on here in a math class. There are many opportunities to use these, you may even want to ask your students what they think they could be used for, they're sure to have a creative answer!

Here is the lesson I follow when I teach it:

1. Bring students together on the floor. Ask them if they know what the word "represent" means. Have a discussion around this word focusing on what it means. Students may begin to give examples. If they don't proceed to step 2. If they already know what it is move to step 3. (younger ones tend not to understand the word as much as older ones)

2. Explain to students what represent means. You might say something like, "So something that might represent me would be a soccer ball, because I really like to play soccer; or a tennis ball because I play tennis once a week with my friend. But it also doesn’t have to be something that you do, it could be a heart because I am a loving person, or a smiley face because I like to smile a lot."

3. Turn and tell your partner something that might represent you. After turn and talk, share with the class. Make sure you are listening so you can get more ideas.

4. Explain to the students they will be making this but in a unique way.

5. Ok now I want you to keep that idea in the back of your head and I’m going to show you how we are going to make this. Show students a made up paper circuit. Explain you made a smiley face because you like to smile and have fun a lot. Have the students look at the smiley face and discuss what they notice about the smiley face and the way the wires are. Have students come to the conclusion through scaffolding that the wires don’t touch, it only works when the battery touches the wire, some wires are on top of the wire, some are on the bottom, the light touches to copper strips, etc. Make a list with the class. Have students turn and tell their partner one more time what they will be making. After this is done send students back to their seats to begin. Materials will be at their desks already.

6. Walk around helping students, but also having students help each other.

7. After the activity is done have students meet back on the carpet. Have some students show theirs. Demonstrate how to connect them together like a quilt. Have students work together to build the “quilt.”

8. When this is done ask students what they noticed about this activity. They may discuss teamwork, creativity, challenging, etc. Scaffold towards when we put them altogether it looked better than just one of them. As a class we need to work together and use each others ideas to find the best solution. Note: This lesson plan has been made to teach second graders. As I talked with other educators it became prevalent that I would need to have a discussion about the word representation before jumping right into the paper circuits. It also ends as a team work project which is what my goal is for the first week of school, if you are doing it at a different time you do not need to connect them.

Dougherty, D. A. L. E. (2013). The maker mindset. Design, make, play: Growing the next generation of STEM innovators, 7-11.

Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom. Torrance, Calif.: Constructing Modern Knowledge Press. Toolkit « Design Thinking for Educators. (n.d.).

Toolkit « Design Thinking for Educators. Retrieved July 24, 2014, from http://www.designthinkingforeducators.com