In November, our 5th graders dove into the exciting world of electricity and circuitry using Makey Makey kits! They began by exploring how circuits work while playing a cardboard piano. The students quickly discovered that the piano wouldn’t play unless the circuit was closed—meaning the electrical current could flow all the way through. When they touched the piano keys and completed the circuit with the ground wire, beautiful music rang out!
One of the coolest lessons they learned was that our bodies are conductive. Electricity can travel through our hands and into our neighbors if everyone is connected in the circuit. This led to some fun and surprising discoveries about teamwork and connectivity—literally!
The following week, the students took their learning a step further by playing the Ollie Operation game, a creative twist on the classic game of Operation, but powered by Makey Makey. As they tried to remove “body parts” from Ollie without touching the edges, they learned just how important the ground wire is. If it disconnected, the entire game stopped working—reinforcing the idea that a complete, closed circuit is necessary for electricity to do its job.
It was a fun and eye-opening way to learn about how circuits, conductors, and electricity all work together!
