Name: _______________________________ Block: ______ Date: ____/____/____
Snappy Series and Parallel Circuits (614)
Equipment Needed (Shown in Photo Below):
 1 Base Grid
 1 switch
 1 Battery Holder
 3 LED Lights
 3 1-Snap Wires
 6 2-Snap Wires
 1 4-Snap Wire
 1 5-Snap Wire


3 3-Snap Wires
1 6- Snap Wire
You will use these Snaptricity circuit kits to build series and parallel circuits.
Vocabulary:
Circuit – A complete path along which an electric current flows
Series Circuit – A circuit in which the current flows through one path without branching
or splitting
Parallel Circuit – A circuit in which the current branches, flowing along multiple paths
Voltage Source – The thing that supplies the energy to move charges through a circuit
Load – The thing that uses the energy supplied by the voltage source
Switch – A device that makes, breaks, or changes the course of an electrical circuit
Circuit Diagram Symbols
Symbol
Meaning
wire
light bulb
Symbol
Meaning
source voltage (DC)
switch
Pre-Lab Questions:
You will build circuits for this lab by snapping the components shown on the previous
page together in an appropriate pattern on the base grid. Below is an example of a
circuit made from the snap circuit components.
1. Using the circuit symbols on the first page, draw a circuit diagram below for the
snap circuit shown above.
2. Read through the tasks on the following pages and draw a sketch of the circuit
diagram you predict for each task on a separate piece of paper.
Task 1: Circuit with 1 bulb (A Simple Circuit)
1. Use the supplied pieces to build a circuit which lights only one bulb.
2. Draw this circuit using schematic symbols. (Take a look at how
bright the bulb is).
Task 2: Series Circuits
3. Use the supplied pieces to build a series circuit that includes 2 light
bulbs. Draw this circuit using schematic symbols.
4. Use the supplied pieces to add a third light bulb to your series circuit.
Draw this circuit using schematic symbols.
5. What happened to the brightness of each bulb when the third bulb was
added?
6. Unscrew one light bulb. What happens to the other light bulbs? (screw
the bulb back in when you are done with the question)
Task 3: Parallel Circuits
7. Use the supplied pieces to build a parallel circuit that includes 2 light
bulbs. Draw this circuit using schematic symbols.
8. Use the supplied pieces to add a third light bulb to your parallel circuit.
Draw this circuit using schematic symbols.
9. What happened to the brightness of each bulb when the third bulb was
added?
10. Unscrew one light bulb. What happens to the other light bulbs?
(screw the bulb back in when you are done with the question)
Task 4: A Switch
11. Build a circuit that uses a switch to control one light bulb. Draw this
circuit using schematic symbols.
CHALLENGE: Task 5: Series & Parallel
12. Build a series circuit using two light bulbs. Now, add the third light
bulb to the circuit in “parallel” to your original one. Draw this circuit
using schematic symbols. Add notes to describe the brightness of
each bulb.
Questions
13. In Task 2 you built series circuits. When one bulb was removed, all
the bulbs stopped working. Why did all the bulbs go out?
14. In Task 3 you built parallel circuits. When one bulb was removed, the
other bulbs kept working. Why didn’t the bulbs go out?
15. Most older holiday lights are the kind that when one bulb breaks, all
the bulbs turn off.
a. Is this a series or parallel circuit? __________________________
b. Why do you think they make holiday lights that way and not the other
way?
16. Circuits at home:
a. What kind of circuit do you think exists in your house, series or
parallel?
b. Why do you think this? Think about what happens when you plug
more than one lamp into the wall. Defend your answer.
17. Is a short circuit really the shortest path? Does the actual length
matter in a short circuit? Draw and explain the circuits you would
construct to prove your answer.
18. Does it matter to the bulb which direction the electricity goes through
it? How would you prove it?