Electric Circuits by Dr. Matthew Johnson, IHMC

January 24, 2015

The first Science Saturday of 2015 took place in January. Dr. Matt Johnson, a research scientist at IHMC, led a presentation about Electric Circuits. This Science Saturday was attended by over 65 students from the Pensacola area.

  • The first Science Saturday of 2015 took place in January. Dr. Matt Johnson, a research scientist at IHMC, led a presentation about Electric Circuits. This Science Saturday was attended by over 65 students from the Pensacola area.

  • The concept of series and parallel circuits was introduced and demonstrated by making "human circuits"

  • Then children worked in groups to experiment with a battery, some wire, and various loads to figure out how to make a series circuit.

  • This boy has a working series circuit that is powering a tiny motor.

  • In addition to motors, students were able to experiment with lights, buzzers, and switches.

  • Matt was available to help everyone with their circuits, and to answer any and all questions.

  • Volunteers from Pensacola High and West Florida High assisted. Here, Volunteer Eva is helping a student to understand a parallel circuit.

  • Making parallel circuits was a little trickier.

  • In the final project, the kids made their own "Operation" game to take home. The first step was to build the game board using a cardboard box and aluminum foil.

  • Each child picked a robot for the front of their operation game.

  • Diodes were used to signal when a player accidentally touched the sides of the robot.… An electrifying Science Saturday! Thank you, Matt for such a fun morning. Thank you also to the Kugelman Foundation and the J. H. Baroco Foundation for their long term support of Science Saturdays.