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Total Duration:
91 to 120 Minutes
Materials and Resources:
Greeting cards with lights and sound (They are about $8 each at Walmart so as many as you can afford/have donated--ideally students would work with partners but groups are okay too. A blow sensor or press here button is ideal but not required.)
1 greeting card that has a spinning/vibrating/other motorized components
Copy of greeting card dissection instructions per group
Copy of student dissection log per group
Technology Resources Needed:
Projecting images for students to be able to do research, take pictures, and for type their writing is preferred but not required.
Student devices are preferred but not required.
Background/Preparation:
Students should already be familiar with circuits and switches.
1. Put students in as many groups as possible, depending on the number of cards available.
2. Refer to the attached guide for detailed steps for the "dissection." Have students investigate their cards and figure out what they do (lights, sound) and how to make the card start and stop. Then have students list all of the components that they can and cannot see but can reason must be there. Help guide students to make logical connections and do claims/evidence reasoning.
Example: Claim: There is a speaker hidden in the card. Evidence: The card is making sound when activated. Reasoning: A plain card does not make sound. Music often comes out of speakers. If I can hear music or a sound coming from my card there must be a speaker producing the sound. You can do the same for batteries and possibly a switch if students have a strong enough understanding of switches.
3. After they have made reasoned predictions, they can open up the card or you can do it for them. Safety considerations need to be taken into account with thick paper and potential for cuts on that paper or possibly components of the card.
4. Next students will look for and identify components. They will conduct research to figure out unknown components. You may give them new vocabulary to help or suggest terms to search for like "common circuit board" or "small battery".
5. Students will identify as much as they possibly can about the circuit and draw or photograph what they see.
6. Writing: Students should write an explanation of how the card works, a procedure for completing the circuit by activating the switch (including the transfer of energy through the card), a procedure for dissecting a greeting card, etc.
Assessment Strategies
Claim evidence reasoning can be assessed for appropriate evidence and reasoning.
Logs can be assessed for identification and explanation of components.
Writing can be assessed for incorporation of research and a clear explanation of how the card works/how it was examined.
Acceleration:
A. Design a card: Using these or other circuits, students design their own greeting card. They could draw their own pictures or, if you have access to a color printer, some companies like Cannon and American Greetings offer printable cards so they could modify a non-electronic card.
B. Make predictions about a slightly different card with a motorized component. Can they reason out what must be inside of the card without dissecting it?
Intervention:
If students are struggling they may need help thinking through the hidden components like if a light is lighting up, to what must it be connected? It may be helpful to have batteries, wires, and LEDs available for students to use to help them test their ideas or make connections. Sheets with pictures of familiar circuit components and vocabulary may be helpful, as well as pre-teaching some terms like dissection and component.
View the Special Education resources for
instructional guidance in providing modifications and adaptations
for students with significant cognitive disabilities who qualify for the Alabama Alternate Assessment.