Make and Do

As well as the major group project assignment in third year, There was also minor individual project assigned to the class. One in particular was the Make and Do day(One of my favorites). I was instructed to search the net for tutorials on something that I could take into college on the day and make.

I started by researching on the instructables website, http://www.instructables.com. It took a lot of time to find something suitable to make but I finally came across a small circuit game which was perfect, http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Simple-Circuit–Game/.

It seemed simple enough and I knew I would be able to get the materials that were needed, which were; wire, electric tape, 9 volt battery, LED light or buzzer and wire strippers. I went into Maplin in Dundalk to get the materials.

I decided to use a buzzer instead of an LED light for a better effect. I learned from practicing making the circuit that electrical tape wasn’t very reliable. It was very particular and it didn’t work every time, so I decided to get my cousins soldering iron to take with me into college for the actual make and do day.

It didn’t take that much time to make the entire circuit. It took about one and a half hours. I started off by stripping the wires and cutting them into the correct sizes. Then I ran into a bit of trouble with the soldering iron. I couldn’t get it to work properly with the solder because it was taking far too long to heat up. I then borrowed an iron of  a class mate and I got my circuit working in no time. I then covered the soldered areas with the electrical tape that I had bought to make it more secure.My simple circuit game worked perfectly.

I stuck the battery and buzzer onto a piece of wood with the remainder of the electrical tape and it worked even better as it was more secure.

My project came in very useful for my sister also as she is a primary school teacher and was teaching circuits to her class the following week. She used my project as an example and the kids played with my simple circuit game while they learned.