Create a Circuit on Paper

Shared by Girl Day Innovator: Women in Technology at Samsung, Samsung Austin Semiconductor

Recommended Grades: 2nd, 3rd, 4th

The Challenge: Create a working circuit on paper. Use paper, pencil, and a battery to create your circuit and power a LED light.

Recommended Materials: paper, pencil (drawing pencil/soft pencils will work best), LED diode light, tape, 9-volt battery, ruler

Instructions:

  1. Draw a simple design with all lines connected, make thick bold lines with your pencil. Leave or erase at least a 1 cm gap on opposite ends of your drawing. See the image above as an example.
  2. Mark one line positive and one line negative, the battery and LED light will need to be set up on the correct sides for the circuit to work! 
  3. Once you are done with your design, place the battery on one of the gaps. Align the positive and negative ends with the pencil lines. Make sure the ends are on top of the pencil lines. See the image above as an example.
  4. Take an LED and bend the bottom ends of the wires so you can tape it to the paper. The longer side of the LED is the positive side. Tape the wire at the end of the lines across the other gap on your design, aligning positive and negative wires. Make sure your LED stands upright and the wires should be in contact with the pencil lines. See the image above as an example.

Is your circuit working? If not, check your battery or LED, one at a time to be sure they are connected in the right direction.

What is happening? Graphite in the pencil is an electrical conductor, and the electricity from the battery is flowing through your design! For your next design, try making the design smaller, what happens to the brightness of the light? Why do you think there is a change? Keep experimenting and have fun, we can't wait to see what you come up with!

Did your paper circuit work and light up? Experiment and make virtual circuits at https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/circuit-construction-kit-dc.

How does this activity connect to STEM and today's Girl Day theme of Creating in Code: Computing, Cybersecurity, Robotics?

Engineers design and use circuits every day, in fact, most people use circuits every day! Circuits are used to power all electronics and are the building blocks to what we make at Samsung Austin Semiconductor, Semiconductors! Another word for semiconductor is integrated circuit, and they are found in many places such as:

  • computers
  • cellphones
  • cars
  • televisions
  • microchips and many more!

Engineers design circuits and experiment to make them smaller, more powerful, or faster!

Experiment with different designs for your circuit. When does the light shine the brightest? When have you used circuits, what items in your home need circuits to work?

Day in the Life at Samsung Austin Semiconductor

In today's activity, we learned how to make circuits, at Samsung Austin we use circuits to make micro-chips! Please watch this informative video for an insider view of a day in the life at Samsung Austin Semiconductor.

Samsung Austin offers opportunities for students to develop STEM skills and learn about manufacturing opportunities in the STEM Academy Program. We look forward to meeting you in person in the future!

Women in Technology at Samsung (WITS) is a grassroots organization founded by employees at Samsung Austin Semiconductor, LLC in 2014. WITS members are professional leaders who take an active role in the company and in the community.  WITS contains a diverse group of outstanding women and men who wish to develop professionally and personally, do outreach in their community, mentor their fellow coworkers, network with new people, and help retain the current workforce. Our mission is to unite, empower, and create a community to inspire women to achieve their full potential in career, life, and leadership at SAS.