Designing an LED Card

Overview

Students analyze the uploaded LED-card experiment as a design model, then plan their own greeting card using an LED, copper tape, and a 3V flat battery. They apply circuit concepts by sketching a complete circuit, marking polarity and electron-flow arrows, identifying a switch or pressure contact, and writing clear, sequential construction instructions.

Learning intentions

Students will be able to:

• Analyze a model LED greeting card to identify its components and circuit pathway.
• Create a labeled circuit sketch showing the LED, copper tape, battery, polarity, and electron flow.
• Design a switch or pressure contact that opens and closes the circuit.
• Write organized construction instructions using precise technical language.

Success criteria

• I can identify the battery, LED, conductive pathway, and switch or pressure contact in the model.
• I can draw a complete circuit and correctly mark positive and negative battery terminals.
• I can use arrows to show electron flow through the external circuit.
• I can write numbered instructions that another student could follow.

Curriculum links

• Science and Engineering: Develop and communicate a design solution using evidence from a circuit model.
• Reading in Science and Technical Subjects: Integrate visual information from the model with written and diagrammatic information.
• Writing in Science and Technical Subjects: Produce clear explanatory and procedural writing supported by a circuit diagram.
• Mathematics: Apply understanding of signed quantities and direction when interpreting electron-flow arrows and circuit movement.

Lesson structure (40 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Engage with the model. Teacher displays the uploaded LED-card experiment and opens the hook and model-analysis slides, asking, “How can a card make light without a wall outlet?” Students silently observe the card or images, then share one component they notice and one question about how it works.

2. 5–12 min · Analyze the circuit. Teacher uses the circuit component and flow slides to review the 3V flat battery, LED, copper tape, polarity, complete circuit, and pressure contact; emphasize that an LED must be connected in the correct direction and that electron flow in the external circuit is from the negative terminal toward the positive terminal. Students study the model and annotate or discuss where current can travel, where the circuit is open, and how pressing the card closes the contact.

3. 12–17 min · Model the design requirements. Teacher demonstrates a simple planning sketch on the annotated design-example slides, thinking aloud while adding component labels, positive and negative signs, electron-flow arrows, and a switch or fold-over pressure contact. Teacher clarifies that the plan is not a finished artistic card: it must communicate how the circuit will be built. Students identify two features that make the example clear and explain why a gap is needed when the light is off.

4. 17–30 min · Plan an individual card. Teacher distributes the LED greeting-card design planner and circulates, using questions such as, “Where does the pathway begin?” and “What happens when the card is pressed?” Students sketch a greeting-card design with the LED, copper-tape pathway, and 3V battery; mark polarity and electron-flow arrows; show the switch or pressure contact; and label where the card will fold or be pressed.

5. 30–36 min · Write construction instructions. Teacher displays the procedure-writing and peer-review slides and reviews sequence words, precise verbs, and safety language. Students write at least five numbered steps explaining how to place the copper tape, connect the LED and battery, create the pressure contact, and test the card. They exchange plans with a partner, who checks whether the circuit is complete, polarity is marked, arrows are present, and the instructions are followable.

6. 36–40 min · Share and assess. Teacher invites two or three students to explain one design decision and uses the final the plenary and checklist slide to revisit the success criteria. Students complete the worksheet’s brief exit reflection: identify one feature that will make the LED light and one part of their plan they need to revise before construction in the next lesson.

Resources

• Uploaded LED-card experiment or photographs
• the LED card design and analysis deck
• the LED greeting-card design planner
• 3V flat batteries for teacher demonstration
• LEDs and copper tape for teacher demonstration
• Document camera or display
• Pencils, colored pencils, and rulers
• Student science notebooks
• Safety glasses for any live demonstration or testing

Assessment

• During model analysis, check whether students can identify the components, open and closed parts of the circuit, battery polarity, and electron-flow direction.
• Review planning sketches for a complete pathway, correct polarity markings, arrows, a clearly identified pressure contact, and usable labels.
• Collect the worksheet to assess procedural writing, sequence, technical vocabulary, and the exit reflection. Use misconceptions to group students for construction support in the next lesson.

Differentiation

• Provide a partially completed circuit outline, a component word bank, and sentence starters such as “First, attach…” and “When the card is pressed…”
• Allow students with fine-motor or writing needs to dictate instructions, use speech-to-text, or label a teacher-provided sketch before expanding it into steps.
• Pair multilingual learners with supportive peers and reinforce meaning with gestures, component images, and repeated terms such as pathway, terminal, polarity, contact, and electron flow.
• Challenge ready students to design two possible pressure contacts, compare their reliability, and explain how their design prevents a short circuit or reversed LED connection.