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| Introduction | Task
| Process | Resources
| Evaluation |
Conclusion | Credits |
  
Your hear a scampering of feet near your room! Before you
know it, someone's in your room rifling through your stuff
and "borrowing" your most prized possessions. If
you're miles away—at school, at a friend's house, team
practice, etc—what can you do? That's what intruder
alarms are for. These simple electrical circuits are designed
to raise the alarm the moment they detect anything out of
the ordinary. The alarm can be in many forms - a loud sound,
falshing lights, moving parts, etc- and can be triggered by
many different stimuli affecting the electrical circuit.
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Your goal is to design and build an intruder alarm for your
bedroom. Your alarm must invovle an electrical circuit to
set off a warning. This warning can be a sound, light. something
moving, or whatever you choose to draw attention to the intruder
and send them on their way. How the alarm is triggered, is
totally up to you. You can make it as simple or as complex
as you like. Most alarms are based on something breaking the
circuit and causing the warning.
Something as basic as a flashlight can be modified to make
a simple and relatively effective intruder alarm. If the lamp
in a flashlight was replaced with an electrical buzzer and
a piece of string run from the switch to the handle of a door,
you've made a basic intruder alarm. If someone comes in the
door, the string will pull on the switch, complete the electrical
circuit, and trigger the buzzer.
Think about what you've learned about structures and mechanisms
and the actvitites you've done related to electricity. Put
it all together and have fun with your alarm!
Vocabulary for
this activity |
| word |
definition.... |
| electricity |
a form of energy where charged particles are moving |
| circuit |
the path the charged particles (electricity) follow |
| series circuit |
a circuit where there is only one path available for
the electricity to follow |
| parallel circuit |
a circuit where there is more than one path available
for the electricity to follow, if one path doesn't work
the others do |
| electric light |
a device that takes electrical charge and uses it to
produce light |
| electric buzzer |
a device that takes electrical charge and uses it to
produce sound |
| electric motor |
a device that takes electrical charge and uses it to
produce movement of a shaft |
| battery |
a device that takes chemical energy and uses it to produce
electricity |
| wires |
a conductor that allows electricity to travel one from
place to another |
| alligator clips |
a device that allows to connect two parts of a circuit
together (ex. two wires, a wire and a light, etc) |
| switch |
a device that allows you to break a circuit and turn
a light, buzzer, motor, etc on and off |
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- Think about and decide what kind of warning (light, sound,
something moving, etc) you want your alarm to produce.
- Think about and decide how you can build a circuit to
produce this warning.
- Draw a labelled diagram of your initial plan.
- Build the circuit to produce your warning.
- Think about and decide how you can turn the warning off
and on.
- Think about and decide what will cause the warning to
turn on in relation to your bedroom intruder alarm.
- Draw a lablelled diagram of the complete alarm and how
it will be set up in your room.
- Try some different ideas and build your prototype.
- Have fun!
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- Your teacher will have some basic materials for you to
use in your design but if you want to eventually keep and
use your intruder alarm, you'll need to discuss this with
your teacher as other classes will need these materials.
- You can bring in materials from home but OK them with
your teacher before you use them.
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Here are some rubrics your teacher may use to assess and
evaluate your design and build work:
Thinking and Inquiry:
Planning Your Solution (printable
version)
Criteria |
Level 1 |
Level 2 |
Level 3 |
Level 4 |
Use of initiating and planning skills
and strategies (e.g. identifying the problem, developing
a plan) |
uses initiating and planning skills with limited
effectiveness
has a vague idea of what the problem is in the task
makes an attempt at devising a plan of action |
uses initiating and planning skills with some effectiveness
is able to state the general idea of what the problem
is in the task
is able to come up with a some steps, incomplete plan
of action |
uses initiating and planning skills with considerable
effectiveness
is able to identify the problem associated with the
task
is able to come up with a possible plan of action |
uses initiating and planning skills with a high degree
of effectiveness
is able to clearly state in own words what the problem
is and the goal of the task
is able to come up with a well thought out plan of
action |
Carrying Out Your Plan (printable
version)
Criteria |
Level 1 |
Level 2 |
Level 3 |
Level 4 |
| Use of processing skills and strategies (e.g. performing
and recording, observing, manipulating materials and using
equipment safely) |
uses processing skills and strategies with limited
effectiveness
performing, recording, and observing skills are very
rudimentary
rarely takes an active role in using materials
pays little attention to the safe use of tools |
uses processing skills and strategies with some effectiveness
performing, recording, and observing skills are somewhat
developed
sometimes takes an active role in using materials
pays some attention to the safe use of tools |
uses processing skills and strategies with considerable
effectiveness
performing, recording, and observing skills are at
average level for grade
usually takes an active role in using materials
pays attention to the safe use of tools |
uses processing skills and strategies with a high
degree of effectiveness
performing, recording, and observing skills are well
developed
takes a leadership role in using materials
pays very close attention to the safe use of tools,
reminds others in group |
Critical / Creative Thnking
(printable version)
Criteria |
Level 1 |
Level 2 |
Level 3 |
Level 4 |
| Use of critical/creative thinking processes, skills,
and strategies (e,g, analysing, interpreting, problem
solving, justifying) |
uses critical/creative thinking processes, skills,
and strategies with limited effectiveness
task solution is attempted, very incomplete solution,
does not address the main part of the problem |
uses critical/creative thinking processes, skills,
and strategies with some effectiveness
basic task solution is shown, may not address all aspects |
uses critical/creative thinking processes, skills,
and strategies with considerable effectiveness
standard approach to the task solution |
uses critical/creative thinking processes, skills,
and strategies with a high degree of effectiveness
approach to the task solution is very creative
makes revisions to better the design/solution |
Communication:
Expression and Communication (printable
version)
Criteria |
Level 1 |
Level 2 |
Level 3 |
Level 4 |
| Expression and organization of ideas and information
(e.g. clear expression, logical organization) in oral,
visual, and/or written forms (e.g. diagrams, models) |
Expresses and organizes ideas and information with limited
effectiveness |
Expresses and organizes ideas and information with some
effectiveness |
Expresses and organizes ideas and information with considerable
effectiveness |
Expresses and organizes ideas and information with a
high degree of effectiveness |
| Some checklissts that may be helpful as you work through
your task are coming soon. |
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Congratulations!
You've successfully designed and built a prototype for an
intruder alarm. Now that you've completed this project, take
time to consider the following questions:
What have you learned about yourself and
your groupmates in completing this task?
Did anything in this task trouble you?
What might you do differently given the opportunity
to do a similar task again?
How did this task allow you to build your
personal learning skills?
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If you are interested in learning more about
this subject matter, you can find related hyperlinks at Student
Links 2 on the LDCSB "Intranet" Website.
* Note: This link is not licensed for home use by students |
Thanks to the many
scientists out there who share great ideas and activites in
the online environment.
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Publication
& Copyright Details |
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Last updated on January 16, 2008.
Copyright © 2008 London District Catholic School
Board and its licensors.
All rights reserved.
In the event this
activity were to be placed on a searchable database, we
would need some keywords for search purposes (grade level,
subject(s), strand(s) activity related...)
Keywords:student, rich performance task, RPT,
science & technology, electricity, alarm,,,
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