“CHECKING CONNECTIONS AS A TEAM Finding circuit problems is called debugging, and it’s easier to do with some help. When you get stuck, ask someone else to look at the circuit diagram and say the connections out loud one by one while you check the real connections. For example, if your friend is reading the schematic and you’re looking at the breadboard, you might have a conversation like this: Friend: “The positive side of the battery is connected to one side of R1.” You: “Got it!” Friend: “The positive side of the battery is also connected to pins 4 and 8 of the IC.” You: “Got it!” Friend: “The other side of R1 is connected to pin 7 of the chip and to one side of the resistor R2.” You: “Oh, wait! I don’t have the connection to pin 7!” And just like that, you’ll discover the problem.”