Earlier this week I shared a short video explanation of how light bulbs work. To extend that lesson you might want to take a look at Electric Circuits from Hyperstaffs. On the Electric Circuits site your students can learn about the power sources used by common household products and then safely experiment with the creation of electric circuits. Electric Circuits presents students with a circuit to construct by using virtual power sources and switches.

When your students are ready for more advanced challenges, send them to 123D Circuits. 123D Circuits is a free tool from Autodesk for collaboratively designing electronic circuits online. On 123D Circuits you can design your circuits and test them on the simulator in your browser. You can create circuits from scratch or use and modify templates and other publicly shared projects. All projects are public unless you pay a subscription fee to make your projects private. Watch the video below to learn more about 123D Circuits.

Note, Electric Circuits is a UK site using some vernacular that US & Canadian students may not be familiar with. For example, “torch” is used instead of “flashlight.” Your students may also notice that the plugs displayed on the site are displayed using the UK style plug.