Electric Circuits


A Concept-Builder is an interactive questioning module that presents learners with carefully crafted questions that target various aspects of a concept. Each Concept Builder focuses the learner's attention upon a discrete learning outcome. Questions target that outcome from a variety of angles using multiple difficulty levels or varying activities. The following Concept Builders target concepts in Electric Circuits.


Light Bulb Anatomy
 
Learning Goal: To identify the pathway that charge takes through a light bulb and to use that information to make specific bulbs in a circuit light.




Current
 
Learning Goal: To identify the direction of the current, to compare its value at various locations in a circuit, and to predict the effect of varying number of cells and bulbs upon the current.




Resistance Ranking Tasks
 
Learning Goal: To rank the relative resistance of various wires based on information about the wire length and cross-sectional area.




Know Your Potential
 
Learning Goal: To understand the concept of electric potential and to use the concept to predict which bulbs light in a complex circuit and to identify the electric potential value at various locations in a circuit.




I = ∆V/R Equations as a Guide to Thinking
 
Learning Goal: To use voltage-current-resistance relationship to predict the effect of varying voltage and varying resistance upon the current in a circuit.





Case Studies: Electric Power
 
Learning Goal: To use the relationship between electric power and the variables that affect it (current, resistance, and voltage) in order to compare the power of two simple circuits from given I, R, and ∆V information.




Series vs. Parallel Circuits
 
Learning Goal: To distinguish between the characteristics of series and parallel circuits.




Which One Doesn't Belong? - Equivalent Resistance 
 
Learning Goal: To analyze series and parallel circuits to determine their equivalent resistance and to compare its value to that of other circuits.




Series Circuits - ∆V = I•R Calculations
 
Learning Goal: To use the ∆V = I•R equation to analyze a simple or a series circuit and mathematically relate a battery voltage, a current value, a resistance value, or a potential value.



Parallel Circuits - ∆V = I•R Calculations
 
Learning Goal: To use the ∆V = I•R equation to analyze a parallel circuit and determine voltage and current values at specific locations.