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Building Your Own Crystal Radio
Submitted by: Vicky L.
Recommended Grade Level(s):
Appropriate for: Grades 11 – 12
Time Requirements:
Activity Time: 150 min – 250 min A period is about 50 minutes long. Estimate of about 3-5 days of lessons.
Teaching Topics & Concepts:
Students will research how a radio sends and receives AM and FM signals. Students will design and construct a crystal radio.
Students will also demonstrate their knowledge of how a radio works using electromagnetic radiation by creating a presentation,
flier, or poster to showcase their expertise.
National Science Standards Alignment
NGSS Standards:
HS-PS4-5: Communicate technical information about how some technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and
wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy. HS-PS3-3: Design, build, and refine a device that
works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy. HS-PS4-3: Evaluate the claims, evi-
dence, and reasoning behind the idea that electromagnetic radiation can be described either by a wave model or a particle model,
and that for some situations one model is more useful than the other.
California Content Standards:
4. Waves have characteristic properties that do not depend on the type of wave. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know waves carry energy from one place to another. e. Students know radio waves, light, and X-rays are different
wavelength bands in the spectrum of electromagnetic waves whose speed in a vacuum is approximately 3x 108 m/s (186,000
miles/second).
Objectives:
Students will be able to construct and evaluate how components of a crystal radio relate to the communication system that trans-
mit information using radio waves to carry a signal by creating a crystal radio. Students will also research and compile information
on how radio works using electromagnetic radiation by presenting their findings through a flier, google slides, video or a poster.
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Safety
• Students need to be careful when using scissors to cut holes or wires.
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