LAMP Topic Brief 15: Electronics

The ASE’s LAMP Project took into account the need, expressed by HMI and government, to increase the relevance of the school science curriculum to the needs of society at a time of rapid societal and technological change. This electronics unit was devised with the minimum of printed information. The tasks were presented diagrammatically on the assumption that teachers would talk through the problems with the students.

Objectives
This is a selection of the objective given in full in the resource text :
* explain, or identify a correct explanation of the meanings of key technical terms related to electronics
* state the connection between the brightness of a bulb and the current flowing through it
* state how the current in a circuit is changed when the resistance of the circuit is altered
* recognise, state or identify at least one correct use and give or identify a correct description of the function of the following items: conductors, insulators, diodes, resistors, light-dependent resistors, variable resistors, thermistors, transistors, relays, capacitors
* state or identify the materials of which a transistor is made, identify the terminals and be aware of the technological importance of its invention
* explain in simple terms the action of:: a relay; a transistor; an inversion circuit; an astable circuit (multivibrator); an amplifier; a bistable circuit
* interpret correctly a set of instructions for building a simple electronic circuit
* correctly interpret a diagramatic representation of an electric circuit drawn either conventionally or as for building up on an S-Dec
* handle electronic components competently, assemble electronic circuits neatly and accurately
* select correct values for components for use in circuits or portions of circuits which they have studied
* explain the operation of a simple electronic circuit based on one which they have built themselves
* give and/or interpret a graphical/diagrammatic representation of soundwaves showing, qualitatively: high and low pitched sounds; loud and soft sounds
* identify elementary faults in simple circuits