One piece of feedback that I received from students in AP Physics C is that they enjoyed and learned a lot from challenge labs and wish there were more in 2nd Semester (E&M). I built “circuit boards” this summer that I plan to use for two different challenge labs. One in our DC Circuits Unit and another in our RC Circuits Unit. I had used this idea for a challenge lab last year, but only made enough to have one board for the whole class. Next year, this will be a group project. These are pretty similar to “Snap Circuits” but can be made for about $5 each. The board includes 3 different types of resistors, wires, and two capacitors.
The DC Circuits Challenge lab will include setting up a circuit with all 6 resistors, and then calculating the equivalent resistance, total current produced by a 9V battery (or similar power supply voltage), and predicting the voltage across individual circuit elements. The second part of the challenge will include adding a wire to “bridge” two parallel branches and then re-calculating the voltage across each resistor and/or calculating the current that travels across the bridge.
The RC Circuits Challenge Lab will include predicting the total current produced by a 9V battery (or a similar power supply voltage) both “right away” and “after a long time.” Students will use Vernier Current Probes to measure these current values.
Randall Physics 