Includes objectives, materials, procedures, troubleshooting tips, and extensions.
Holiday Lights: Play-Doh Circuits
Summary
Students investigate how series and parallel circuits work by building their own holiday light strands using Play-Doh, LED diodes, and a 9-volt battery. This middle school lab packet includes a teacher guide, student handout, and answer key covering LED polarity, circuit construction, voltage and current distribution, and a CER analysis. A hands-on connection to real-world electrical engineering makes it a strong fit for a physical science energy or electricity unit.
Activities
Student Guide
A handout to guide students through building and testing real circuits with simple materials.
Answer Key
Includes expected sketch labels for LED polarity and battery terminals, sample hypotheses, and clear explanation-based answers.
Downloadables