The Simplest Circuit
10-30 min
Ages 8+
What Will You Learn?
It is important to think about Shape, Texture, Line and Color when we use LEDs (lights) in our runway pieces. Lights can help tell the story or they can overtake the story, it is all in the design.
Let’s explore circuits using only a coin cell battery (CR2032) and LEDs.
See if you can make the LED light up. If you can, you have just made a circuit! How many LEDs can you light?
Use the Tell Your Story with Color activity sheet and use the LEDs to match some of the words.
A hint about the LED: the longer leg, the technical term is lead – is the positive side (+) technically called the anode and the shorter lead is the negative side (-) or the cathode.
Give campers time to figure out how to light up the LED, before you tell them about the positive/negative leads. When they have made the circuit, then ask what they notice and why it works one way and not the other. Let them explain in their own words before you give them the technical terms or talk about electrons flowing etc.
About This Adventure
Today, fashion designers are not limited to fabrics in their designs. Technology has become part of our story and is much more accessible. Young designers can use tech such as lights, sensors, and microcontrollers to tell their stories.
In this adventure, you will experience and experiment as we go through the MakeFashion Edu process to support campers as they:
learn – about the elements of fashion and circuits
design – a story and the wearable
construct – a fashion tech piece using recyclable materials and lights
exhibit – be seen! Our favorite medium is the runway.
You will be able to support your designers as they find their voices and tell their own stories through fashion pieces they create and share.
This adventure is divided into several sections, each with its own projects. The bolded project denotes the page you are on. The arrows mark the section you are in.
Making an Impact
Check out this outfit made with just the simple LED and Coin Battery circuit!
On the fashion piece, we have a symbol that shows a gun with a circle and a cross through it. This means that our group is against guns. The lights on the back of the jacket represent the 109 people that died each day in 2017. The red lights at the bottom of the shoes represent school shootings. In 2019, 51 people died or were injured because of school shootings. For these reasons, we are activists for stricter gun laws and we hope you agree with us.
Stricter Gun Laws
MakeFashion Edu. 2019. San Marcos, CA.
LEDs and Coin Batteries
Aiden B, Christian & Jo’el
About MakeFashion
MakeFashion Edu is an international non-profit working to promote learning through fashion and tech. Through hosting workshops, reach-out and push-in activities, and larger events, MakeFashion Edu sees providing access for young designers to go to industry and project-based learning as one way to pull local communities together.
SteamHead makerspace is a network of people, spaces, and events who collaborate to improve equity in education as the path forward. We believe that by embracing design thinking and a maker-mindset, education can be more engaging and meaningful, and with that more effective in preparing students for success. Check their website for their courses.
Materials:
- LED
coin cell battery (CR2032)
