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Circuit Quiz Kit

Circuit Quiz Game

Here is a simple project to introduce kids to circuitry. It is a quiz game, where a light bulb signals that the correct answer has been selected. The circuit itself is very simple, but with enough different sections that it's surprising and satisfying to see it work. The questions can be quickly swapped in and out and rearranged, making for fast competition, impromptu topics and ridiculing siblings.

Kit includes:

  • 3 - Spools of wire
  • 2 - 9 Volt Batteries
  • 2 - 9 Volt Battery Wire Connectors
  • 4 - Lightbulbs
  • 2 - Lightbulb Holders
  • 1 - Wire Cutter/ Stripper Tool
  • 1 - Buzzer
  • 1 - On / Off Switch

Making the circuit quiz, step by step

1. Plug in the battery

Find the battery plug and plug in the 9 volt battery.

Notice that this doesn't really DO anything -- it's just a convenient way to attach wires to the battery. You could do this just as well by just taping wires to the battery!

2. Try out the light

Screw the light bulb into a light bulb base.

Try touching the wires from the battery to the screws on the light bulb base. Can you get the bulb to light?

Try touching the wires one at a time. Notice that the bulb only lights when BOTH wires are firmly touching. That's because electricity must move in a complete circle, from one part of the battery, all the way through the wires and bulb, and back into the other part of the battery..

3. Attach the light

Now screw one of the battery wires into one of the bulb base screws.

You might have to try this a few ways to get the wire to be firmly connected. If it's loose, it won't work.

4. Add a wire

Now cut yourself a new wire, about 10 inches long.

Use the wire stripper to strip away the plastic coating from both ends of the wire. You want about 1/2 inch of wire exposed.

Screw the exposed metal part of the wire into the other screw on the bulb base.

5. Make sure it still lights up

Now touch the two wires together: the wire from the battery that's not attached to anything, and the wire from the bulb base.

Can you get it to light up? If not, try to find the problem by checking each connection along the way.

6. Write the Quiz

Create matching questions and answers about whatever you want. Vocab words. State capitals. Your favorite things. Your friends' secret code words. Go crazy.

7. Clip questions and answers to the board

Put questions on the left side of the board, and answers on the right.

Mix up the positions so it's not obvious which answer goes with which question!

Use paper clips to hold them in place.

8. Wire questions to answers, secretly

Cut and strip one wire for each question.

Make sure they are wide enough to reach across the board diagonally from one corner to the other.

In back of the board, twist wire ends onto the paper clips, so that each question is attached by wire to each answer.

9. Take the quiz!

To try the quiz, touch the loose wire from the battery to the paper clip on a question, and touch the loose wire from the light bulb base to the paper clip on an answer.

Does it work? Do any of them work? If not, try going back and touching the wires together directly to see where the problem is.

Do all of the questions and answers work? Often there's a loose connection on a few of the paper clips, or a wiring mistake somewhere. Nothing works perfectly the first time!

10. Give the quiz

Every creation seems different when shown to someone who didn't create it.

Ask friends, classmates, or acquaintances to take the quiz.

Can they figure it out without an explanation?

Which explanations work best? Do you need to show people visually, or can a verbal description work?

Are people interested in how it works? Or only in the end result of the experience?

Did people perform like you expected on the quiz? Was it too hard? Easy? Boring? Confusing? Offensive?

Find ways to change your questions and try new ones out.

What's next?

This quiz game is just the beginning.

What about questions that have multiple correct answers?

Can you wire up the buzzer instead of the light? What does this feel like to someone taking the quiz?

How can you use the on/off switch?

Can you install the battery and light in the board or in a box so that the quiz looks self-contained?

What kinds of questions and answers would work well for this type of quiz? Can you make a quiz that's outrageous? That's funny? That's impossible? That's entirely a matter of opinion?