Series Vs. Parallel Circuits - Directions

How it Works:

The Series Vs. Parallel Circuits Concept Builder is quite easy to use. Every question of all three difficulty levels has the same format. A statement is presented that describes a circuit. You must decide whether the statement is applicable to series circuits, parallel circuits, both types of circuits, or neither type of circuit. You indicated your answer by tapping on the corresponding button at the bottom of the Concept Builder. Once you do, that answer option is highlighted. If you change your mind, you can tap on the same buttons to deselect it or tap on a different button to select it instead. Only one button can be selected at  a time. As long as an answer option is selected, a Check Answer button will be visible. If you are satisfied with your answer, tap on the Check Answer button. Your answer will be evaluated and your Progress Report will be updated.

Your goal is to earn "Stars" and to complete one or more difficulty levels. Stars are earned when you show success on a particular question. Once you show success on all the questions for a particular difficulty level, you will earn the Trophy for that level.

 

Earning Stars

When you start up any of the level the number of questions for that level are shown in the Progress Report area of the Concept Builder. You will notice that there is either a Yellow or a Red background for each question number. When starting up a level, the background color is Yellow. Answering a "Yellow" question correctly earns you a star for that question number. However, answering it incorrectly turns the background color to Red. A question number with a Red background must be correctly answered twice (without a miss) in order to earn a star. 

 

Getting Help

You will notice that there is a Help Me button underneath the Progress Report. You should learn to use this feature of the program. It's how you can turn an exercise in answering questions into an exercise in learning. Tapping on the Help Me button will open a page with help that is specific to each task. Of course, the Help pages are only helpful if you read them. So take the time to read them. Each Help page contains four sections: a discussion of the The Basic Idea, a display of the Question your are facing (or a similar question with different numbers), a section titled "How to Think About This Situation", and a set of links to resources in our Tutorial section. You should pay attention to the section titled How to Think About This Situation. You will find what you need to know in the three or four paragraphs of this section. You will also become a better Physics student for doing that. That is, after all, the goal of such an activity as Series vs. Parallel Circuits.
 

Thanks for being patient with the Directions. Happy learning!