Build A Crystal Radio Kits
What happens when you change a radio’s coil design or building materials? How does antenna length affect how a radio receives frequencies? These are the types of questions students will answer through hands-on projects. Students design and test their radios, making adjustments along the way to improve reception. After developing a simplistic crystal radio, they learn how to transform it into a transistor radio. Teacher’s manual includes building suggestions and ideas, as well as reproducible student worksheets. Complete content lists available in kit manuals. Kit accommodates 1-4 students. Set of 6 accommodates 24 students. Recommended for Middle School and up.
Next Generation Science Standards*:
- MS-ETS1-1: Define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
- MS-ETS1-2: Evaluate competing design solutions based on jointly determined criteria and trade-offs about how well they meet the requirements of a problem.
- MS-ETS1-3: Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.
- MS-ETS1-4: Develop a model to illustrate the relationships between the structure and function of an object or tool in a design solution.
- MS-PS4-1: Use models to describe how waves are created by a source and how they can be used to transfer information.
- MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to explain how light and sound waves transfer energy.
- MS-PS4-3: Use mathematical representations to describe the amplitude and frequency of waves and how they are related to energy.
- HS-PS4-1: Use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how the amplitude and frequency of the wave relate to the energy of the wave.
- HS-PS4-2: Evaluate the design of a system based on its ability to transfer energy using light, sound, or electric currents.
- HS-PS4-5: Design and evaluate a device that converts one form of energy to another, based on scientific principles.
*The Next Generation Science Standards are a registered trademark of WestEd. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.