The Electric House Project

Objective

• Following the guidelines of the project, students will construct a light-weight two-story electric house in which they will construct separate series, parallel, and complex circuits.

Requirements for The Electric House

• The house must have at least one series circuit consisting of a switch and at least two Christmas tree lights powered by a nine volt battery.
• The house must have at least one parallel circuit consisting of a switch and at least two Christmas tree lights powered by a second nine volt battery.
• The house must have at least one complex circuit consisting of a switch, at least two Christmas tree lights, and one "doorbell" (or buzzer) powered by a third nine volt battery.

Description of The Electric House

The house will consist of two stories. Each story will contain at least two rooms. Each individual room will be illuminated by its own light. There should be a front door, a porch, and a porch light. Your house circuits should be able to light the first floor lights and the porch light separately from the second floor lights and the doorbell.

Materials for The Electric House

• At least six Christmas tree light bulbs
• Three nine volt batteries.
• Three switches. (or some combination)
• Two average size rolls of insulated wire (it is helpful to have one red and one black roll). Suggestion: if you are using a strand of Christmas tree lights (the samll ones), there is enough extra wire! It works perfectly.
• Doorbell or buzzer. Suggestion: use a Piezo buzzer available at electronics stores. They cost approximately $3.00.
• Foam-core paper sided project board. Suggestion: Recycle your science fair tripanel.
• XACTO knife or single-edge razor blade.

Scoring Rubric

• Group Project = 60 points
  1. Meeting minimum construction requirements of two stories, four rooms, and a porch = 15 pts
  2. Successfully meeting series circuit minimum requirements = 10 pts
  3. Successfully meeting parallel circuit minimum requirements = 15 pts
  4. Successfully meeting complex circuit minimum requirements = 20 pts
  5. Bonus for creativity and/or ingenuity = 5 pts

• Individual Project = 40 points

  Each student will answer the following questions. You may submit your answers using the following form.

  Form to submit responses to questions

  Each question is worth eight points. Four points will be awarded for a correct response. Four points will be awarded for the appropriate supporting statements. In each of the questions, assume that the light bulbs have the same resistance. In each of your responses, describe what percentage of the current each light bulb originally carries. In each of your responses, describe how the described action will affect the intensities of the remaining lit light bulbs.

  All answers must be in complete sentences.

  1. You have three light bulbs. All have the same intensity when lit. Explain how you can determine that they are connected in series by unscrewing one light bulb. Support your answer.
  2. You have three light bulbs. All have the same intensity when lit. Explain how you can determine that they are connected in parallel by unscrewing one light bulb. In your response, state the relationship between the current and resistors in parallel.
  3. You have three light bulbs. Two are connected in parallel. This parallel combination is connected in series with the third light bulb. Describe the relative intensity of each bulb. Support your answer.
  4. In question number three, describe the relative intensities of the two remaining lit bulbs if one of the bulbs in parallel was unscrewed. Support your answer.
  5. You have four light bulbs, light bulbs one, two, three, and four. All have the same intensity. Bulb one is unscrewed causing only bulb one to go out. Now, bulb two's intensity is 30% greater than it was originally. Bulbs three and four each have 2/3 of their original intensity. Based upon this information, how are the four bulbs wired? Support your answer.

This lesson is based upon a project designed by Cathy Ezrailson, Oak Ridge High School and Montgomery County College.