Logo

Jumper cables attached to a car battery

Car Battery (Series and Parallel Circuits)

Grades 9-12

Car batteries are essential in order for a car to even turn on to be able to drive it. When a car battery is dead, jumper cables are used to provide an alternative current to the circuit within the battery to allow it to work again. How does this work and what does a circuit even look like? We will address the answers to these questions in this lesson.

 

Teacher's Guide and Related Standards

Objective

Students explain the difference between series and parallel circuits, and describe which circuit format is better for a car battery.

Essential Questions

  • Why is a car battery essential for a car to function?
  • What are series and parallel circuits and what are the major differences between them?
  • Is it better for a car battery to operate with a series or parallel circuit?

 

Motorweek Clip

Thinking questions:

  • What happens if you use jumper cables incorrectly on a dead car battery?
  • What is a jumper pack? What is its purpose?
  • How many amps are needed to start a 4-cylinder engine? How many are needed to start a V8 engine?


Vocabulary


Supplemental Enrichment Activities

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Series and Parallel Circuit Investigation

Have students watch the video in which an investigation is being conducted, to compare series and parallel circuits.

Create a graphic organizer so that students have a visual they can reference in which they will describe the key differences between series and parallel circuit,

» Go to Video

Types of Interactions

Building a Circuit Simulation

Students will be able to use this interactive simulation to build a variety of different circuits. As students build their circuits, have them recognize the patterns and interactions occurring within the circuit.

» Go to Interactive

Cause and Effect

Circuit Outage Diagram

View the image of a series and parallel circuit. The blue explosive symbol indicates that there was damage or an outage at this particular location in the circuits.

Have students explain how this outage would affect the current in these circuits.

Which circuit would still be able to function even with this damage?

» Go to Circuit Image

 

This learning resource is a production of Maryland Public Television/Thinkport.