Energy and the Environment: Division I Challenge
How to wire a house
Integration Notes:
This activity helps provide students with a greater understanding of Dr. Dave Irvine-Halliday's work as he accompanies the Everest team to Nepal in the hopes of developing alternative light sources for the people who live there. It also gives students the opportunity to apply concepts regarding conductors, circuits, and switches that were developed in Phase 3.
JUMP TO: Nepal Light Project, Phase 1
Learner outcomes
Students will:
- Apply knowledge of conductors, circuits and switches. (learned in Phase 3)
- Design, troubleshoot and evaluate a method of wiring a model house.
Materials:
- cardboard box (shoebox or slightly larger)
- copper wire
- two D-cells
- three bulbs (3 volt)
- three bulb-holders
- various materials for constructing switches
- paper fasteners
- tacks
- paper clips
- aluminum foil
- bits of sponge
- pipe cleaners (for attaching circuit elements to the box)
- masking tape
- scissors
Introduction:
This activity is divided into four sections: (a) identifying the problem, (b) designing a solution, (c) implementing and troubleshooting the solution, and (d) evaluating the results.
Activity Instructions:
1. Identify the Problem:
Explain the focus of the Nepal Light Project. Essentially, Dr. Dave Irvine-Halliday is looking for a way to provide an affordable, energy efficient and environmentally friendly source of light energy to the people of Nepal. What things will he need to consider?
For example:
How is a typical house laid out?
What are different rooms/parts of rooms used for?
In what ways might the people benefit from having more light in these rooms?
In what ways might more light be harmful? (Remind the students that although we need light for many things, this does not mean that our ways are best for other people. This is always something that we need to consider carefully before offering our "help" to others.)
2. Plan the Model: Discuss criteria for a good model house and for efficient wiring strategies.
Is bulb brightness a priority? If so, how would this influence the manner in which the bulbs should be connected to the battery? (Review series and parallel circuits as necessary.)
JUMP TO: Electricity Background File, Electric Circuits
Do certain rooms need more light than others (e.g. an area where people are likely to read vs. an eating area)?
What would be the best way to arrange the circuit components? What would be the best location(s) for switches?
How will the circuit components be attached to the box?
Have students identify three or four criteria that will be most important to keep in mind as they design, build, and troubleshoot their models.
Categories might include:
Usefulness (Are the lights and switches positioned in a useful manner? Are the switches easy to operate?)
Quality of Construction (Are the pieces securely fastened?)
Efficiency (Does the model use the least amount of material necessary to achieve the desired goal? Are the circuits arranged in a way that provides bright light where it is needed and dim light where it is not?)
Post these criteria in a prominent place as reminders throughout the planning and building of the projects. Have the students sketch initial plans for their models.
3. Test and Troubleshoot:
Once the students have constructed their plans, start building. Remind them that it is normal for problems they did not consider to come up during the building process.
Have them think of ways to solve these problems. This introduces them to the notion of "troubleshooting." If they see this as an important and expected part of the process, they will be less likely to become discouraged when things do not go exactly as planned.
4.Evaluate: Have the students identify specific criteria to describe usefulness, quality of construction, and efficiency. What would make a model excellent? Satisfactory? What features would mean that it still needed important work to be done?
Organize the student's ideas in a scoring guide. Have them use this to evaluate the projects. They may wish to make improvements on their projects after reflecting more deeply on the detailed criteria that now define the general categories they developed at the beginning of the project.
Extension Ideas:
Have students substitute bulbs with resistors and Light Emitting Diodes. Discuss the advantages of LEDs which are very bright, but use much less energy than regular bulbs. (see Electricity Background, Sources of Light)
Reconsider the idea of wiring a Nepali home when LEDs are used for lighting.
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