Stop for a minute and try to imagine your world without electrical power and electronic gadgets. No convenient appliances in the kitchen, no electric lights. No computers, MP3 players, television, or video games. Your life would be completely different, wouldn't it? Electricity and electronics are so central to modern life that, paradoxically, they're easy to overlook. Stop overlooking them now and try a hand at one of our projects to explore the science of how electricity works or build a cool electronics gadget.
Have you tried our first and second play dough circuits projects? Are you a master circuit artist, ready to try something even bigger and better? Try this project to see if you can build a three-dimensional light-up sculpture.
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Elec_p075
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Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
This project requires understanding the Introduction material in the first projects in this series:
[# ProjectIdea Name="Elec_p073" Value="HtmlAnchor" HtmlText="Light Up Your Play Dough!" #] and
[# ProjectIdea Name="Elec_p074" Value="HtmlAnchor" HtmlText="Add Even More Lights" #]
Material Availability
Kit available for purchase from our partner
.
See Materials tab for details.
Cost
Low ($20 - $50)
Safety
Never connect the battery pack's terminals directly to each other; this is called a short circuit and can make the batteries and wires get very hot. Do not connect the LEDs directly to the battery pack without using play dough; this will burn out the LEDs.
You may be familiar with permanent magnets—the kind that hang on a refrigerator. But did you know that other magnets, called electromagnets, can be turned on and off? When turned on, electromagnets act just like permanent magnets, but if you turn them off, their magnetic properties disappear. Electromagnets are an important part of many electronic devices, like motors, loudspeakers, and hard drives. You can create an electromagnet with a simple coil of wire and a battery. In this project,…
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Elec_p035
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Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
This project requires specialty items, available from our partner
.
Cost
Low ($20 - $50)
Safety
The electromagnet can become hot during periods of extended use.
When your parents were kids, they probably wore polyester. Static cling was a major household issue! Now everybody wears cotton, which does not get static cling nearly as much. Why are some materials more susceptible to static cling than others? Investigate how well different materials produce static electricity by making a homemade electroscope and testing it out in this science project.
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Elec_p023
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Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Readily available
Cost
Very Low (under $20)
Safety
When working with electricity, take precautions and beware of electric shock.
"Paper circuits" are a fun way to mix electronics and art by adding lights directly to a painting or drawing. These lights need a battery to power them, and typically you would use wires to connect them. In paper circuits, though, many materials can be substituted as "wire," including special types of paint, ink, and even aluminum foil. There are also different options for what type of battery you can use. Which materials do you think will work best? Try this project to find out!
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Elec_p085
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Time Required
Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
This project requires special circuit materials. See the Materials and Equipment list for details. Estimated project time includes time for shipping specialty materials.
Solar cells are devices that can be used as a source of power when there is light shining on them, but they stop producing energy when they are not in the light. One way to store the solar energy for later use is to use a solar cell to charge something called a capacitor. The capacitor stores the energy as an electric field, which can be tapped into at any time, in or out of light. In this electronics science project, you will use parts of a solar car to experiment with the energy storage…
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Elec_p063
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Time Required
Long (2-4 weeks)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
You will need to order the supercapacitor car online. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.
When you think of a motor, you may immediately think of a car, but you actually encounter other motors in your home every day. That's right, if you put on clean clothes from the washing machine, ate food from the fridge, or used a fan, you used an electric motor. In this electronics science project, you will make a simple electric motor with two magnets that "talk" to each other. As they interact, they will alternate between "liking" each other (pulling together), and "disliking" each other…
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Elec_p051
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Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
You should be able to coil wire neatly (or find someone who can show you how) in order to make your electric motor work.
Material Availability
A kit containing all the specialty items needed for this project is available from our partner
.
Cost
Low ($20 - $50)
Safety
Never try to use a wall socket as power source for your motor.
Neodymium magnets are very strong. Follow the safety guidelines in the Procedure for working with these magnets.
Have you ever wondered how a radio can grab signals that are transmitted through the air and convert them into sound? In this science project, you will build your own AM radio receiver from scratch and use it to listen to AM radio broadcasts. With your crystal radio you will be able to experiment with the circuit and the antenna to get the best reception.
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Elec_p014
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Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
To do this science project, you must live in an area where you can receive at least one strong AM radio station. You can check for this with a car or portable radio.
Material Availability
Specific circuit items are required. A kit from our partner is available for your convenience. See the Materials and Equipment list for details
Cost
Average ($40 - $80)
Safety
Never operate your crystal radio during a thunderstorm. When not in use, always disconnect your antenna from the radio circuit, and connect it directly to the ground rod. Be sure to wear safety goggles when installing the ground rod, especially if you are using a metal hammer. An adult's help might be necessary for some steps in the Procedure.
Water is a valuable resource, and water shortages are a serious problem in many parts of the world. The problem can be made worse by people who waste water; for example, by watering a garden or using sprinklers on their lawn (or a farmer taking care of an entire field) when it has rained recently or the soil is already moist. How can you help conserve water and prevent such waste? One way is to build an electronic soil moisture sensor. This project will show you how to build a circuit that…
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Elec_p066
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Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
Familiarity with using a solderless breadboard, or willingness to learn.
Material Availability
Specialty electronics items are required. A kit is available from our partner
.
Cost
Average ($50 - $100)
Safety
Short circuits can get very hot. Double-check all of your wiring before you connect the 9 V battery.
A nice hot cup of tea sure can wake and warm you up in the morning. In this project, you will investigate the chemistry of tea. The longer you steep a tea bag in hot water, the stronger the tea will be. But how does the strength of the tea change with longer brewing time? In this project you will make a very simple electronic device to measure the strength of tea. The device will determine how strong the tea is by measuring the amount of light the tea absorbs.
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FoodSci_p058
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Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Specialty electronics items are required. A kit is available from our partner
.
You have probably read all about forms of alternative energy like solar and wind power. But what about human power? With the aid of a coil of wire and some magnets, you can generate electricity with nothing more than a flick of your wrist. In this project, you will build a small hand-powered electrical generator that can power a series of tiny lights. Get ready to save the planet and get some exercise at the same time!
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Energy_p009
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Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
This science project requires some specialty electronic components. These specialty items are available in a kit from our partner
.
Cost
Average ($40 - $80)
Safety
Neodymium magnets are very strong and can pinch your fingers when they come together. You should keep them away from pets and small children because they can cause serious harm if ingested. As with any magnet, you should keep them away from computers, cell phones, and credit cards.
Adult supervision is required when using a hobby knife.
