Are you interested in learning electric circuit basics, specifically parallel circuits!?! This is the Instructable to start with! This Instructable is written to aid high school students and beyond in understanding a parallel circuit.

Key terms you will need to know before starting:

Parallel Circuit- a circuit where there are several paths for electricity to flow

Series Circuit- a circuit with only one path of electrical flow

Voltage- is the pressure from an electrical circuit's power source that pushes charged electrons through a conducting loop

What is a Parallel Circuit?

A parallel circuit is a circuit in which there is more than one path for electricity to flow. A great comparison of electricity is a river. A river that flows and then branches off into smaller streams that all come back to the same point forming the river again is the same concept as a parallel circuit.

How is a Parallel Circuit different than a Series Circuit?

A Parallel Circuit is different from a series circuit in the way that if a component such as a light bulb, LED, or resistor fails the circuit is still active. The electricity flows around the break in the circuit and branches to the parallels. Another characteristic of a parallel circuit is that voltage of the circuit is the same across any point of the circuit where it is measured.

Supplies

9 Volt Battery
9 Volt Battery Connector
Toggle Switch
2x 3 Conductor WAGO
1x 2 Conductor WAGO
2x LED with leads

Step 1: What Students Will Be Able to Learn and Take From This Experience

The core disciplinary standard that I will be addressing is Design in Technology and Engineering Education. This core standard is the most crucial to understand while you are building your circuit and learning what a parallel circuit does and how it behaves. Circuits can a have so many functions and features and creating a circuit all trickles down to how creative you can be. The design aspect of technology and engineering education can be seen in the applying grip tape step, and when gathering parts for your circuit as there are many different types of electrical components you can choose from and incorporate into the circuit. The practice that is essential in this process is system thinking, as the end product will need every component collected in order to function properly and in order for you to be successful. This process also relies heavily on creativity and making and doing. This practice can be seen throughout the entire process as you are assembling the circuit, reading the instructions, and scanning the pictures. The only limit when it comes to circuits is your imagination, circuits can be simple, complicated, and are for the most part inexpensive fun. Lastly, the context that follows along with this process is energy and power. Electricity is a type of energy that we rely heavily on whether you realize it or not and is generally a good idea to understand how it works.

OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this tutorial a high school student and beyond student should be able to understand the basics of a parallel circuit and how to assemble a simple circuit.

Students will be able to implement the idea of system thinking throughout the process.
Students will be able to express themselves through future projects if they enjoy this project.
Students will be able to build a parallel circuit.

Step 2: Gathering Your Parts

Materials Needed for this Instructable:

9 Volt Battery
9 Volt Battery Connector
Toggle Switch
2x 3 Conductor WAGO (grey with three orange levers)
1x 2 Conductor WAGO (grey with two orange levers)
2x LED with leads

Price of Items:

Battery ($5)
Battery Connector ($1)
Toggle Switch ($1)
2x 3 Conductor WAGO (grey with three orange levers) ($.06)
1x 2 Conductor WAGO (grey with two orange levers) ($.02)
2x LED with leads ($6)

Total Cost of Project: ~$14.00 depending on where you are able to source your supplies.

Step 3: Assembling

In this step we will begin the assembly of our parallel circuit. This is the most difficult part of the procedure, so if you are not successful reread the instructions and compare your circuit to the ones in the pictures. None of the components can be damaged if you put a wire in the wrong spot so do not worry. If something happens just breathe and reassess.

Step 1:

Gather the 9V battery connector and two 3 conductor WAGO connectors, after gathering insert each wire of the connector into a separate WAGO. Secure the wire by pushing the wire into one of the three ports as far as you can (which is 10mm) and while inserted push the corresponding ornate lever down to hold the wire.

Step 2:

Now, with the connector in front of you grab the toggle switch and insert the red lead into one of the open ports along with the negative lead of the 9V battery connector.

Step 3:

Now we are going to add our first of two LED lights. Gather one of the LEDS and the 2 conductor WAGO connector. For the LEDs the positive lead is red and the negative lead is yellow. With the setup from Step 3 we will take the negative lead and put it into the 2 conductor WAGO connector along with the negative lead of the toggle switch. After securing the WAGO, take the positive lead of the LED and push it into the 3 conductor WAGO that is connected to the positive side of the battery connector.

Step 4:

Now source the second LED and plug the positive side of the LED into the WAGO with the positive side of the battery connector and the negative lead of the LED into the WAGO with the positive lead (red) of the toggle switch.

Step 4: Testing Your Circuit

Now that the parallel circuit is assembled it is now time to test it!

Take the 9V battery and align the negative and positive terminals of the battery with the battery connector and firmly push the battery into the connector until fully seated.

At this point your LEDs should be on. If they are not then take a look back through the assembly steps and try again.

If you have power to your LEDs you can now flip the toggle switch on and off and see how a parallel circuit is so special.

With the switch flipped you will be able to witness that without the second LED the circuit is still energized by the 9V battery and does not turn off like a series circuit would.

Step 5: Reflection

Before we conclude this Instructable lets reflect on what you did today.

I was successfully able to assemble and test a parallel circuit!
I know how a parallel circuit is different from a series circuit!
I had fun!

Introduction: How to Make a Simple Parallel Circuit