Design an Electrical Innovation
Learners use key ideas about electricity and magnetism to create, test, and improve a small prototype using safe, low-voltage circuits.
Overview
In this hands-on activity, learners apply ideas about electricity (and electromagnetism when motors are used) to design and test a small prototype that improves everyday life. Learners use clear design criteria to guide their decisions, gather evidence through testing, and refine their prototype. They connect their work to how everyday electrical systems are designed to be safe, reliable, and energy-efficient.
Instructions
What you'll need
Circuit Safety and Clean Energy Guide
- Prototype Planning and Reflection Sheet
- Design Scenario Cards
Electricity innovation kit components
- battery pack with safe casing
- alligator clip wires
- incandescent bulbs and holders
- LED and resistor
- switches (push or slide)
- small DC motor
- buzzer
Building materials
- recycled or repurposed materials (cardboard, containers, bottle caps, paper tubes)
- tape, elastics, or reusable fasteners
- scissors and markers
- Small weights/books/clips to hold components steady during testing
Learning Launch
- Provide each group with electrical components from the innovation kit and a selection of recycled or repurposed materials so they can explore ideas as they plan. Review basic safety expectations:
- use only low-voltage materials,
- disconnect power before changing parts, and
- avoid connecting wires directly across the battery (short circuit).
Invite learners to look at the available components and recycled materials and consider which ones could help their design.
- If learners completed Activities 1 and/or 2, briefly revisit what makes an electrical design effective. If not, introduce these ideas using familiar examples (flashlight, alarm, fan, phone vibration). An effective electrical design:
- meets the need
- can be controlled safely
- works reliably
- uses energy wisely
- Provide each group with a Design Scenario Card. Groups may continue with a previous scenario or choose a new one that is meaningful or useful. Present the challenge:
Using components from your electricity innovation kit and recycled/repurposed materials, design and test a small prototype that improves everyday life.
- Invite groups to clarify the challenge:
- Who is this system for?
- What problem are they facing?
- What must the device do well in that situation?
- What real conditions might affect how it works?
- Distribute the Prototype Planning and Reflection Sheet. Invite groups to sketch or model an initial design that shows:
- main components,
- how electricity will flow,
- how the system will be controlled,
- how recycled or repurposed materials will support the structure
Encourage learners to consider which ideas about electricity or magnetism might help their design (for example: complete circuit, arrangement affects performance, safe control, electromagnetism in motors). Explain that this is a first draft that will continue to refine after testing.
Developing Understanding
(Design, Build, Test, Improve)
- Explain that a prototype is a working model of a system used to test whether an idea solves a problem.
Direct groups to use the criteria Design Check on their activity sheet throughout planning, testing, and revision to strengthen their prototype.
Before building, ask groups to check their sketch against the criteria:
- Is the purpose clear for the user?
- How will someone start, stop, or adjust?
- What might make it unreliable?
- Is every part necessary?
- Have groups build and test their prototype, checking it again against the criteria as they go.. Encourage them to:
- Try it the way a user would
- Check it against each criterion
- Decide what works well and what needs improvement
- Invite groups to make at least one purposeful improvement based on evidence from testing. Allow time to re-test. Encourage small, purposeful changes rather than building from scratch.
Reflect and Revise
- Invite groups to briefly demonstrate their prototype and explain:
- what their prototype does and who it helps
- one improvement they made after testing
- how their design meets the criteria
You may choose one of the following formats:
- Quick Demonstration Round: Each group presents in 1–2 minutes.
- Gallery Walk: Half the groups present while others circulate and ask questions, then switch.
- Ask learners to reflect:
- What changed from your first idea to your final prototype?
- Which criterion influenced your design the most?
- How is your prototype similar to real electrical systems used in everyday life?
Modify or extend this activity
Modification
This activity can be adjusted to accommodate different learning situations, student needs, and available time.
Limited materials or time
- Use images, diagrams, or slides instead of physical circuit parts.
- Have students evaluate and improve proposed designs using the criteria.
Option for independent work
- Allow students to work independently using diagrams or simulations.
Extension
- Redesign the prototype for a different user or context.
- Adapt the design for a real-world application.
- Present the innovation to another class or community audience.
Curriculum Fit
Core Competencies
Communication
- Focusing on intent and purpose
- Acquiring and presenting information
- Working collectively
- Supporting group interactions
Thinking
- Questioning and investigating
- Designing and developing
- Reflecting and accessing
- Creating and innovating
- Generating and incubating
- Evaluating and developing
Personal and Social
- Building relationships
- Resolving problems
Science 7–9
Big Ideas
- The electromagnetic force produces both electricity and magnetism (Gr. 7).
- Evolution by natural selection provides an explanation for the diversity and survival of living things. (Gr.7)
- Energy can be transferred as both a particle and a wave (Gr.8)
- Electric current is the flow of electric charge (Grade 9).
Content
- Electricity generated in different ways (Gr.7)
- Electromagnetism (Gr. 7).
- Atomic theory provides evidence for the existence of atoms and molecules including electrons (Gr.8)
- Properties and behaviour of electric current (Gr.9).
Curricular Competencies
Questioning and Predicting
- Identify a question to answer or a problem to solve through scientific inquiry (Gr.7)
- Make predictions about finds to their inquiry (Gr.7)
- Demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic (Gr.9)
Planning and Conducting
- Collaboratively plan a range of investigation types (Gr.7-9)
- Observe, measure, and record data with accuracy and precision (Gr.7)
- Measure and control variables through fair tests (Gr.8)
Processing and Analyzing
- Construct and use tables, graphs, and models (Gr.7)
- Seek patterns and connections to data (Gr.8)
- Use scientific understandings to draw conclusions (Gr.9)
Evaluating
- Identify possible sources of error and suggest improvements (Gr.8)
- Exercise a healthy, informed skepticism to evaluate claims (Gr.9)
Applying and Innovating
- Generate and introduce new or refined ideas when problem solving (Gr.7)
- Transfer and apply learning to new solutions (Gr.8)
- Consider the role of scientists in innovation (Gr.9)
Communication
- Communicate ideas, findings, and solutions (Gr.7-9)
Assessments
Students may be assessed on their ability to:
- Identify and apply important ideas about electricity and/or magnetism
- Design and test a working prototype using safe circuits
- Use evidence from testing to refine their design
- Explain how their innovation improves life using clear criteria
Important: Assessment focuses on reasoning, application of ideas, and reflection rather than on the complexity or appearance of the prototype.
Teaching Notes
These notes offer optional guidance to support planning and facilitation. Teachers are encouraged to adapt the activity to suit their learners and setting.
They include suggestions for:
- supporting design thinking and testing
- using criteria consistently
- managing materials and safety
- supporting reflection and revision
Learning Launch
- Allow learners to handle kit components and recycled materials before planning. This helps them imagine realistic designs.
- Emphasize safety expectations before any building begins.
- If learners did not complete Activities 1 or 2, briefly model a simple circuit and discuss what makes a design safe, reliable, and energy-wise.
- Encourage learners to choose a scenario that feels meaningful or familiar.
- Remind learners that first sketches are starting points, not final answers.
Developing Understanding
- Emphasize that a prototype is a working model used to test an idea, not a finished product.
- Refer to the Design Check regularly during planning, building, and testing.
- Encourage learners to test their prototype the way a user would actually use it.
- Suggest small, purposeful revisions rather than rebuilding from scratch.
- Encourage learners to secure wires and components with recycled materials so reliability can be tested.
- If learners use motors or buzzers, you may briefly highlight electromagnetism as a cause-and-effect idea without going into technical detail.
- Connect classroom circuits to real systems (power source → control → action), such as alarms, signals, or lighting.
Reflect and Revise
- Emphasize that improving a design based on evidence is expected and valuable.
- Encourage learners to explain how testing changed their thinking.
- Allow demonstrations or gallery walks so learners can see different solutions.
- Reinforce that more than one design may meet the criteria.
- Ask learners to identify one improvement they would try next.
Addressing Common Misconceptions
Learners may think that:
- brighter always means better,
- more parts make a design better,
- a circuit that turns on is automatically reliable,
- testing once is enough.
Instead of correcting directly, guide learners back to the criteria and their evidence.
Supporting Safe Practice
- Use only low-voltage components.
- Disconnect power before changing circuits.
- Check that hot bulbs or loose wires are handled safely.
- Reinforce that safe control is part of good design.
Supporting Reasoning and Student Voice
Encourage learners to explain their thinking using prompts such as:
- How does your design meet each criterion?
- What evidence showed you it worked well?
- What change improved your design?
- Where might a system like this be used in real life?
Accept explanations through sketches, demonstrations, or short verbal descriptions.
Activity Materials
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