​Jill Work, K-8 STEAM curriculum

The Goal: To turn on an ordinary light switch from a distance by mechanical means.

 

The Project: Imagine you are in bed and want to turn off the bedroom light without walking back to your bed in the dark. Or on a dark winter morning, you want to turn on the light before you get out of bed.

 

The Essential Question: What is a mechanical way to achieve these goals using one string, masking tape, a pulley, and some sort of weight.

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Question 1: How can you turn the light off with just the string, tape, and weight?

NOTE: The weight should be light enough that when you hang the weight gently from the light switch, it is not heavy enough to turn it off. It should be heavy enough, that if you drop it from just above the light switch, the momentum and force are sufficient to turn the light off. I used a fishing weight one day, and two rolls of masking tape another day.

Answer: Loop the end of the string around the switch in the "on" position, and tie the weight to the other end.

 

Question 2: Ask students if they think the weight is heavy enough to turn off the light.

Answer: Gently place the the weight under the switch, so the answer is no.

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Question 3: Ask what can be done to the device to make it turn off.

Answer: Pick up the weight, then drop it so that the weight/momentum/force turns off the light.

 

Question 4: How can you turn the light on using just the string, tape, the weight, and the pulley?

Answer: Loop the string over the light switch in "off" position. Thread the string over the pulley, then tie the weight to the opposite end. Drop the weight and it will turn the light on.

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Question 4: How can you make a single device that will turn the light both on and off using the the string, the tape, the weight, and the pulley? 

Answer:

--Loop the string over the light switch in the "off" position and tape the loop on securely.

--Tie the opposite end of the string to the weight.

--Thread the string on the other side of the weight over the pulley. [The weight is now between the switch and the pulley.}

--When you yank hard on the end of the string of the far side of the pulley, it lifts the weight which eventually turns on the switch. If you let go of the string, the weight falls down between the pulley and the switch, which switches it off.

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Experiment with ideas that allow you to do this process from further away, even across the room.

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I demoed this with K-5th graders, and assigned the second graders to try it at home. They did great!

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YouTube samples of kids remote lightswitch devices:

(1) https://youtu.be/xG27sMlADsU

(2) https://youtu.be/zg_vhD47uoY

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