Connect the Black Wire

1. Insert one end of the black wire into any pin on the Arduino board labeled GND.
2. Insert the other end of the same black wire into any hole in the black row of the breadboard.
3. Use the black marker to mark this on your schematic as shown in the video.

STEM Connections

GND stands for the word ground, which is an important word in electronics. The GND pin is attached to the negative terminal of the power source, like the negative terminal in the UFO ball. The electrical circuit is still not complete, because the wires leading from the positive and negative terminals are not yet connected.

Plugging the black wire into the breadboard electrically connects all the other pins in the black row of that breadboard to the black wire. Now you can access the Arduino board’s GND pin from the four remaining pins in the black row of the breadboard.

There’s a wire stuck in GND
     1. All GND’s are the same, use another one
     2. Or, replace the Arduino

Wire doesn’t fit in the breadboard or Arduino
     3. We recommend 22 gauge wire
     4. Try a different hole of the same row in the breadboard Teacher notes

1. Using the black marker on the schematic from the negative side of power to the negative side of the LED… this is a way to visualize which row in the breadboard those components go into. I like to remind them each time I make a mark that it’s just for us to know where it belongs in the breadboard.
2. I like to also write out the instruction of “Black Wire: GND – Black Row” so the students have multiple ways of sensing what to do next. (a schematic, verbally saying it out loud, and written out)
3. Remind them that any of the 5 holes in the said black row works.

Thinkabit Companion Notebook: have students fill in the blank on page 4 after “black wire” with “GND to black row”.