Basic School Science

Our simple motor kits have a proven record of being excellent tools for teaching students the basics of electricity, magnetism, and electronics.

We do not provide exact plans for your lessons – you, as an educator, can plan them according to your curriculum. This site has plenty of educational materials for all levels – please explore Experiments and Calculations sections under Your Project. Principles of motor operations are explained in How It Works section.

How do you choose what kits and other materials you might need for your classes? Here are recommended steps and selection tips:

Step 1: First you need to select the motor kits that are appropriate for your students.

• New QuikLock™ motor kits (kits #11-14) minimize time needed for motor assembly to better fit in a classroom schedule. That leaves enough time to discuss physics principles of motor operation and other related materials with your students.

  

  All QuikLock kits could be assembled quickly, but if you need to cut assembly time significantly you may consider Rapid Assembly QuikLock kits #12 or #14 . These kits include prewound electromagnet. They also use strong neodymium magnets that make the motors faster (motor #14 rotates with the speed over 6000 RPM!). The safety ring makes these motors safe at this speed. Finally there is no messy glue and no tools needed for assembly.

  QuikLock motors #11 and #13 have a unique advantage. If you are on a tight budget and do not give away the motors to your students after they build them you may disassemble the motors and reuse some parts. To make all the kits to look like new again you may need to replace some parts with inexpensive reuse kits.

• For more advanced classes you may select any of our original motor kits (kits #1-9).

  

  Reed switch motor kits #1-4 are suitable for beginner level and do not require any special tools.

  Kits #5-9 are based on more advanced principles of operation. Please note that they involve some soldering.

• If you are on a tight budget you may select a simple conventional motor kit #17. It is a very inexpensive kit ($4.99 per motor) sold in classroom sets of 10. If you buy 3 sets you get free RPM measurement attachment; if you buy 5 sets you also get Rapid Assembly QuikLock Kit #12 (so you can compare and see why it is really much better!).

  

  Please note that while this is the least expensive kit it is not the easiest motor to build as it requires a lot of accuracy in balancing the coil and stripping off the insulation. They are also not very stable and require frequent cleaning. Practically nothing could be attached to these motors and no experiments could be performed besides the basic speed measurement.

  Reed switch motors are easier to build and understand how they work. They have a proven record of working every time without any struggle.

Step 2:  After selecting the motor kits you might be interested in some experimentation tools.

• We recommend adding generator kits – excellent way to demonstrate how electrical energy is converted to mechanical energy, and then back to electrical power. Experiments with the generator allow students to calculate many of motor parameters.

  

  Please note that generators cannot be connected to kits #11-12 (and obviously to conventional motor kits).

• You may add solar panels to your motors and introduce your students to renewable energy projects.

  

• We highly recommend adding an RPM measurement kit (or an attachment) – kids love to compare their motors! You also need speed measurements for most of motor calculations. Only one speed measurement kit (or just an attachment) is really needed for the whole class.

  

• Check out other experimentation supplies to use with your students.

Step 3:  You might add some spare parts (reed switches are recommended as they are fragile) to your order.

Volume discounts make the kits very affordable. Bulk price for QuikLock motor kit #11 can be lower than $20 and reuse kits for this motor can cost less than $10. We also offer low shipping rates with no handling/packaging fees.

Schools and other educational organizations may order a free sample of kits #12 (restrictions apply) or #17.