The Five Core Bricks
45-60 min
Ages 8+
What Will You Learn?
The teaching and learning of invention literacy is often locked behind many pre-requisite skills and expensive STEM toys.
Scrappy Circuits is an innovative and scrappy way to learn about electrical circuits for less than $1 per person.
Scrappy Circuits breaks down these barriers to learning to invent through using a modular system of bricks built by the learner and sourced for commonly found objects.
The 5 Core Bricks are the foundation for all further Scrappy Circuit projects and endless possibilities.
We will learn how to make a set of 5 core Scrappy Circuits bricks:
- one battery brick,
- one LED brick,
- three different switches.
These bricks can be connected to build your own circuits to better understand electricity and invention literacy.
LED Tealight Take Apart
Step 1
Open the battery compartment. You might need a small screwdriver to remove a screw. Remove the battery. Set it aside for later.
Step 2
Use a small screwdriver to pry apart the cylinder housing from the battery holder bottom. In most tea lights, you can insert the screwdriver into a hole in the battery compartment and use the screwdriver as a lever to pop the battery holder bottom away from the cylinder body. Try not to crack the plastic body of the tea light.
Step 3
Oftentimes the LED is loose inside the tea light, but sometimes you might need scissors or wire cutters to cut the legs free. Cut so that you save as much of the LED legs as you can.
Step 4
Carefully remove the LED, do not bend the legs more than necessary. To test your LED, take your LED and your 3V battery. Have the legs straddle the 3V battery. Remember: the longer LED leg needs to touch the positive (+) side of the battery. Set the LED aside for later use.
Build Your Brick
Step 5
Cut a cardboard rectangle with each side measuring about 2-3 inches.
Step 6
Clip a binder clip to each side of the cardboard brick toward the top. Flip one binder clip arm down.
Step 7
Place the battery on top of the binder clip arm. It works better with the positive (+) side down.
Step 8
Flip the other binder clip arm down on top of the battery.
Step 9
Use a third binder clip to hold the top arm firmly to the battery and brick.
Step 10
Label each binder clip as positive (+) or negative (–) based on which side of the battery the arm touches. This will make it easier to build a working Scrappy Circuit.
Add Your LED
Step 11
Carefully stretch the legs of the LED apart. Mark or remember which leg is longer.
Step 12
Cut a piece of cardboard that is slightly longer than the stretched out legs of the LED.
Step 13
Rip and crumple some aluminum foil around each LED leg.
Step 14
Clip a binder clip around the legs of the LED and cardboard, one on either side.
Step 15
Label with “LED Brick” and write a plus sign near the clip for the longer LED leg and a minus sign near the other clip.
Important Note:
LEDs have polarity, which means electricity can only flow in one direction. The longer leg is positive (+) and shorter leg is negative (-). If your LED isn’t lighting, reconnect each Scrappy Clip to the other binder clip.
Build the Clip Switch
This one is pretty simple. The binder clip switch operates just like the light switches in our walls. These types of switches are called toggle switches. They stay on or off until the switch is flipped.
Step 16
Clip two binder clips to opposite sides of a cardboard brick.
Step 17
Flip one arm flat against the brick. If it touches the other binder clip’s base, cut a larger brick. Leave one arm down.
Step 18
When you flip the opposite arm down, it should touch the other binder clip’s arm and complete the circuit (turn on). When you lift the arm, it turns the circuit off.
Step 19
Label with “Binder Clip Switch.”
Build the Push Switch
Another name for this switch is momentary switch. It only completes or turns on when the paper clip is pressed. When released, the circuit will open and turn off.
Step 20
Clip one binder clip to a cardboard brick. Lower one arm.
Step 21
Lay a paper clip perpendicular (at a right angle) over the binder clip arm. Use your second binder clip to hold the paper clip in place.
Step 22
To close the switch and turn the circuit on, push the paper clip down.
Step 23
Label with “Push Switch.”
Build the Dial Switch
This switch is a creative use of the cylinder body to the LED tea light. It works because the aluminum foil on the cylinder can be spun so it connects each side or only touches one side. When it connects both sides, the switch is closed and the LED will emit light.
Step 24
Cut a strip of aluminum foil that is the width of your cardboard brick. Cut in half.
Step 25
Use a glue stick to attach the aluminum foil to each side of the cardboard. Be sure the two pieces do not touch in the center.
Step 26
Add binder clips to each aluminum-foil-covered-end.
Step 27
Add some glue from a glue stick to about 50 – 75% of the inside, outside, and lower edge of the white cylinder enclosure.
Step 28
Cut a piece of aluminum foil to cover the glued section. Make sure it wraps around the outside and tucks into the inside. The bottom edge of the cylinder enclosure needs to be 50 – 75% covered in aluminum foil.
Step 29
Poke a hole through the cardboard using a thumbtack or small screwdriver. Straighten enough of a paper clip so it is taller than the cylinder.
Step 30
Thread the paper clip through the cylinder enclosure. On the bottom of the brick, bend the paper clip and tape it down. Spin the cylinder to turn on or off.
Step 31
Label with “Dial Switch.”
What's Next?
The 5 Core Bricks is just the start of Scrappy Circuits. Connect these bricks together with some Scrappy Clips and make something light up.
Every Scrappy Circuit needs to include at least two things: A Battery Brick (or alternate Power Brick) and an Action Brick. The Battery Brick and LED Brick are part of the five Core Bricks because each circuit needs a power source and a load or Action Brick to perform a task.
Need ideas? See the Five Starter Projects with the Core Bricks in the Scrappy Circuits Zine.
And don’t forget! The Scrappy Circuits Book by Mike Carroll is available now as well. Raid your junk drawer for simple office supplies, add a little cardboard, pay a visit to a local dollar store, and you are on your way to countless fun projects for learning about electronics. No soldering or expensive equipment required.
Materials/Equipment
- Glue stick
- Sandpaper
- Pliers
- Scissors
- Small phillips-head screwdriver
- 1 LED Tealight
- 11 small binder clips
- 2 paper clips
- Aluminum foil
- Cardboard
Take It Further with Scrappy Circuits
More project ideas in the Scrappy Circuits Zine
