Lesson 0

How this works

Nine circuits, each one building on the last. You build every one in Tinkercad Circuits before anyone explains anything.

Before you start: kilo and milli

The meters in these diagrams don’t read in plain volts, amps, and ohms — they read 499 mV, 4.99 mA, 10 kΩ. If milli and kilo aren’t automatic for you yet, those numbers will slow you down before you even get to the electronics.

You already have the skill: it’s the same one behind mm, cm, and km. Read Kilo & Milli: Borrowing the Meter Stick to Teach Electrical Units first — it’s the same milli-means-÷1000, kilo-means-×1000 rule you already use for length, just pointed at volts, amps, and ohms instead.

Build first, discuss after

You’ll get a printed diagram, not a shared Tinkercad file. Open a blank workspace and build the circuit from the picture. Reading a diagram and turning it into a working circuit is most of the skill being taught here — opening a ready-made file would skip the part that matters.

Work through all nine in the simulator. Once a circuit matches its “done when” condition on the checkoff sheet, get it signed off. Only after it’s working will we talk through what’s actually going on in the circuit — what changed from the last diagram, and why it behaves the way it does. If you’re stuck, that conversation happens early for you; if you’re not, it happens once you’re done.

Predict, then measure

Several circuits ask you to predict a reading before you take it. Write the prediction down first. Being wrong is fine and often more useful than being right — it’s the gap between your prediction and the meter that’s worth talking about.