Electrical Instructor Sparks Student Interest During Off-Campus Outreach

Sixth-graders at Williamsport’s Lycoming Valley Intermediate School got a charge from a recent two-class visit by Vince R. Fagnano, instructor of electrical technology/occupations. The Penn College faculty member assisted students with their electronics’ unit. Employing the same devices used at the college level to create circuits, Fagnano helped the students design series and parallel circuits, wire light bulbs, and integrate a binary switch to create open and closed circuits. The students expanded their knowledge by incorporating resistors into the series circuits and calculating the effect of the resistors. In his second visit to the class, Fagnano had the students create a potentiometer by using their own springboards on which they wired a model that imitated a basic dimmer switch. Fagnano concluded his visit by creating lightning with a high-voltage transformer and copper electrodes. The experiment allowed the students to witness the movement of electrons and protons to create electricity. “They asked so many questions that their teacher had to a put a stop on it,” Fagnano said. “I enjoyed it and would do it again!”
Photo provided