Squash Power

By Amy Cowen on December 1, 2014 4:00 PM

How do your favorite veggies compare when it comes to generating power? Find out with a hands-on veggie power electronics project!

Photo collage of a circuit made from a copper strip, zinc strip, LED, alligator clips and a squash

Veggie Power isn't just for potatoes! How do other veggies (and fruits) compare?

The Veggie Power Battery Kit is popularly used to explore the way simple potatoes can be used to generate a small amount of power and light up an LED light or activate a little buzzer. But potatoes are not the only veggies that can be used in a circuit!

With the plethora of pumpkins, gourds, and squash varieties in the produce section at the grocery, there are a number of vegetables kids might test as they explore alternative energy, electronics, and the basics of setting up a circuit. How do your favorite veggies compare when it comes to generating power? What about fruits?

We put a pair of butternut squash to the test recently using the step-by-step directions in the How to Turn a Potato Into a Battery project. This is a simple electronics experiment for kids to set up, and the results are fast, fun, and easy to see!

Try this experiment with pumpkins, too.