Thread by @Dharlette

Let's talk about #PaperCircuits and how my students actually go about making them. In total, we spent twelve days of class time on this project, (two intro days of lessons and ten days of project time), but there are easy ways to scale it back and make less of a project of it.

My goals for this #projectbasedlearning are as follows:

* Learn how electricity moves through a circuit
* Learn how loose connections & short circuits can cause circuitry to fail
* Learn to solder
* Practice Prototyping
* Practice troubleshooting problems
* Meld art & science

One of the downsides to #projectbasedlearning is that it's a lot of time for a relatively small amount of content covered. That's only true if you discount the other skills students learn along the way: designing, prototyping, and troubleshooting are all valuable skills!

We start with a basic introduction to circuits, how electricity moves through them, and how buttons & switches work. Students practice working with the materials to get a pair of LEDs to light up using #prototyping tools (scotch taping them down instead of soldering).

Then, each student gets a soldering lesson. This is the hardest part for me; I teach them in groups of four at a time, and students are working on the design stage as they wait for their turn. That means I'm not very available to help students design their first drafts.

Meanwhile, students begin diagraming their circuit. Each kid draws out a first draft in red & black of their circuit. I'll usually make some suggestions/corrections to this draft, and then they do a second draft to scale on the actual paper they're planning to use.

Once they've drawn out the second draft, they'll cover their lines up with copper tape, this becomes the final project in time. They'll first use prototyping tools (scotch tape) to make sure the different parts of the circuit work. They learn how to troubleshoot.

It's key that they know that their circuit not working is an expected part of the process. The troubleshooting steps are on their very first handout, and written out on the board throughout the entire project. Teaching them to troubleshoot is also key to managing *my* time.

Once they're sure their design makes sense, they begin soldering on lights and doing their artwork. The first few lights test their manual dexterity, but it's always amazing to watch them go from nervous, shaky-handed solderers during this stage to confident adepts.

One of my favorite things about this project is how it reaches a different set of kids than often thrive in a traditional science classroom. Oftentimes the most confident kids in this unit are the ones with learning disabilities, art-lovers, EF challenges. There's no homework.

So let's look at how some of these designs play out from concept to reality! Here you can see some examples of how a concept translates from a diagram to the actual circuitry to a piece of art.

And last but not least, because teaching is the best way to solidify what you've learned, my 7th graders visit their buddies in the 4th grade, give them their cards, and teach the 4th graders to make their own simple circuits using a single LED and scotch tape.

One last thought about #projectbasedlearning: this is one of the few areas where differentiation is easy. For example, one of these cards has six LEDs, the other has nearly 100...but go back and look at those learning objectives: both kids have succeeded!

Both kids understand how electricity runs through a circuit. Each designed & prototyped their card. They both learned to solder, and had to deal w/problems in their circuitry & troubleshoot. Both integrate their circuitry with art. Most important, both are proud of what they did.

One took on an extension and learned to use a slide button to create an animation. They also used color-filters to create the multi-hued effect. This kid needed the extra challenge, and was able to create that for themself. I didn't have to tailor the extension for them.

In general, my rule for #differentiation during #projectbasedlearning is to keep your eye on your learning objectives. Never forget what your goals are for the students, and make sure there is a way of reaching those goals that is accessible to EVERY SINGLE STUDENT.

The baseline for this project is extremely doable: 5 LEDs in a parallel circuit as part of a piece of art. Every kid will hit that goalpost. Most will vastly exceed it and seek ways to extend it: adding buttons, switches, origami, pop-up art, arduino microcontrollers, and more.

If you're a new follower and just recently found this thread, you can find an excellent resource by @eilatann with a lot of info to get you started here:

docs.google.com/document/d/1yA…