Explore the Breadboard

1. Notice the different rows along the breadboard and the gap that separates them.

STEM Conncections

The breadboard allows you to easily connect various components by plugging them into a row. A row is made of 5 holes connected inside the breadboard by metal. Plugging two components into holes in the same row connects those two components together; it is like making those two components hold hands. Plugging two components into holes in different rows does not connect those two components. There are many rows on a breadboard, which makes them extremely useful to engineers when they are designing electrical systems.

Breadboard is not colored

1. Use a red, black, and blue permanent markers to highlight 3 separate rows
2. Marking the breadboard with red, black, and blue just makes it easier to give instructions.

Wires or components are not going into the hole

1. It’s ok to bend the metal of wires and components
2. Try a different hole in the same row Teacher notes
3. Teacher Notes

Ask your students, “How many of you did not want to hold hands when we did the human circuit activity?”

• Pick one student to use as an example. Grab a piece of metal and ask the class what would happen if instead of holding hands, you both held on to the piece of metal. They should tell you that the battery will still work since metal is conductive. Try it out with the student to prove that this does indeed work.
• Then explain to your students, “this is what a breadboard does. Under each row of 5 holes on the breadboard is a little piece of metal. So if you stick one wire in on one side and another wire in on the other side, it’s like those wires are holding hands through another piece of metal.
• Why do we do this? Because wires don’t have hands and we need a way for them to stay connected without holding them or twisting them together. The other way we could do this is with solder, which is when you melt metal together, but that is a more permanent connection while this is a temporary connection.