It never fails: you’re in your office and the phone rings. Your department head says, “Hi! Fifty kids are coming to campus in 30 minutes. Can you meet with them and give them a one-hour hands-on activity that will make them excited about physics?” Likely you’ll run to your demonstration room and grab anything that’ll generate a bright light or cause something to explode or levitate, right? In recent years, we’ve taken a more systematic approach to hosting visitors by developing a ready-to-go hands-on activity that provides opportunities for learning about DC electric circuits.

3.
See part #B009CAPYR8 at http://www.amazon.com.
4.
B.
Jones
, “
Resistance measurements on Play-DohTM
,”
Phys. Teach.
31
,
48
(
Jan.
1993
).
5.
C.
Fuse
,
B.
August
,
A.
Cannaday
, and
C.
Barker
, “
Resistivity in Play-Doh: Time and color variations
,”
Phys. Teach.
51
,
351
(
Sept.
2013
).
7.
See http://www.labjack.com, the U6 model ($299).
8.
Contact tbensky@calpoly.edu if interested in obtaining the software.
11.
See the “Energy Ball” (Part No. B00J5LWPTO) at http://www.amazon.com.
12.
Center for Excellence in STEM Education
, http://www.cesame.calpoly.edu.
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