This was a slideshow for a class we did at the Pasadena Public Library for children ages 8-12 to teach them about electricity and help them to construct paper circuits. You can view photos and videos from this class in our google drive folder: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2kplpFq1AeucGZWbHZqRWlCNTQ

1. AnnMarie Hurtado and Leela Perea
Pasadena Public Library

2. Trumbauer, Lisa. What is electricity? New York: Children’s
Press, 2004.

3. Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

4. Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

5. Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

6. Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

7. Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

8. Okay, but what is all this “positive” and “negative” stuff?
Why is everything (like magnets and electrical batteries)
always “positive” or “negative”? Why the “charged”
language?

9.  Electricity, like magnetism, is
really a matter of directionality
and polarity. Electrical current
flows from one pole of the
battery to the other pole. We
call the first pole “positive” and
the other “negative.” We mark
one end with a plus sign to help
distinguish which side is
which.
 The electric current always
flows from the positive end to
the negative end. The
electrons themselves flow in
the opposite direction.
http://www.physicsclassroom.
com/class/circuits/Lesson-
2/Electric-Current

10. Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

11. Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

12. Berger, Melvin. Switch on, switch off. Illustrated by Carolyn Croll. New
York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1989.

13.  We are going to make circuits that can light up LEDs
attached to paper!
 Take a look at these examples for inspiration and
ideas:

14. There are not two
batteries—only
one. The paper is
folded over it so
that one piece of
tape is touching the
positive side of the
battery and the
other piece of tape
is touching the
negative side.

15. Open

16. Closed

18.  Think of the electric current as
similar to a stream of water
moving through the ground to
reach the roots of trees. If there
are a lot of trees planted close to
each other, they will all be
competing for access to the same
stream of water. And the more
trees you add, the less water there
is to go around.
 What if we have a whole orchard of
trees? Will one stream be
enough?
http://www.geograph.
org.uk/photo/3171380

19.  We can water ALL the trees at the same time, if we
create many streams of water all connected to the
original stream, and each mini-stream has enough
water for one row of trees. This is called irrigation. It’s
also the same concept involved in making a complex
circuit.
https://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/AntiquePlum/7164124/an_irrigated_apple_orchard_spoka
ne_washington_wa_vintagecard/vintage/ephemera/postcards
http://www.istockphoto.com/photos/circuit-
board?excludenudity=true&sort=best&mediatype=photography&phrase=circuit%20board

24. Glue the sheet onto one of
the pages of your notebook.
Try to choose a page right
BEHIND where your
intended picture will be.
The circuit and LED
stickers won’t be seen
through the paper. Only
the lights themselves when
they are lit will be seen.

25.  Try to follow the gray lines
with your copper tape, laying
it on top of the gray lines and
folding it gently back and
over itself when you reach a
corner, like this:

26.  Never let two pieces
of tape touch! The
pieces of tape must
ALWAYS run
parallel to each
other. One copper
tape will be
“negatively
charged” from the
negative side of the
battery. Another
copper tape will be
“positively charged”
from the positive
side of the battery.

27.  Also, be sure to
leave a gap for the
LED. The two
stickers on either
end of the LED
should each lie on
top of two different
pieces of copper
tape.

28.  When your circuit is all
laid out with copper tape,
you can attach your
LEDs. Always put the
small, pointy end of the
LED on the tape that will
be “negatively” charged,
or touching the negative
side of the battery.
Always put the large, flat
side of the LED on the
tape that will be
“positively” charged by
the positive side of the
battery.

29.  Attach the battery
either with a clip or
with Scotch tape. If
you use Scotch tape to
attach it, you will need
to be careful to keep
the Scotch tape away
from any areas of the
battery that will be
touching the copper
conductive tape!

30.  You can use one of the
pieces of pressure-
sensitive conductive
film from your bag to
insulate the battery just
enough that it requires
pressure from your
finger in order to turn
on the light. You can
also place this
conductive film over a
switch in your circuit.

31.  Here is an example of a
circuit with a switch.
When you close the
door, which is lined
with conductive copper
foil, you close the
circuit and turn the
window light on.

32.  Here is another kind of switch. This one allows you to
control which light turns on with a press of your
finger.

34. Play with
different lighting
styles and
materials!
Your LEDs can
shine through
small holes in
the paper (left),
or you can put a
very thin kind of
paper over them
to diffuse their
lights (right)

35. Dandelions By Jie Qi

36.  Four strips of peelable sticky copper tape
 Two 3V batteries
 One or two small pieces of black pressure-sensitive conductive
film for insulating a battery or a switch
 4 Chibitronics sticker LEDs (of varying colors)
 R = Red, B = Blue, P = Pink, O = Orange, W = White,
G = Green, Y = Yellow
 1 regular LED light bulb with two wires (the rounded, bent wire
is the negative side and the straight wire is the positive side)
 5 different templates you can use to lay down your circuit
 We have some extra batteries if you need one. We have some
extra tape if you need more. But due to a lack of LEDs, please
restrict your designs to the LEDs you have to work with.

38. You can find them all at the Pasadena Public Library!

39. I started out by buying the Beginner Classroom Kit by Lectrokit. It
includes a set of LED stickers made by Chibitronics. Later, I learned I
could get more LED stickers in various colors on Amazon.
The kit did not come with the pressure sensitive conductive film which
is so useful for designing working buttons and insulating batteries from
overuse. I ended up finding that out and buying it from Adafruit
Accessories on Amazon.
I bought the notebooks on Amazon too:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K3WM872/ref=oh_aui_detai
lpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016PYHU5C/ref=oh_aui_detail
page_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

40. I first learned about light-up notebooks from an article in School
Library Journal: http://www.slj.com/2015/04/technology/hack-your-
notebook-circuitry-mixes-with-paper-in-a-creative-project-for-21st-
century-learners/
You’ll also find good ideas here:
http://tinkering.exploratorium.edu/paper-circuits
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/the-great-big-guide-to-paper-
circuits
http://www.nexmap.org/educator-resources