What is Electricity? Building electrical circuits.

Apr 20 2011

Source: KyleHerman

Summary Information

Keywords:

renewable resources, electricity, circuit, scientific method, solutions, conductivity, electrical components, voltage

Topic:

Physical Science

Target Grade (Ages):

Grade 6 (Ages 11-12)

Grade 7 (Ages 12-13)

Grade 8 (Ages 13-14)

Estimated Time Required:

1-2 hours

Diversity Indicators:

Modifications are not necessary. This is a great lesson for kinesthetic learners.

Tab Wrapper

LESSON

Goals and Prerequisites

Goals:

The first goal of this lesson is to have students determine how electricity works by taking electrical components and determining how they work together by physically creating electrical circuits.
The second goal is for students to come up with a way to replace their power source with a green power source.

Prerequisites:

Students must be able to develop a hypothesis and apply the scientific method.

Instructional Objective(s)

Students will:

Construct an electrical circuit that includes a battery, power source, wires, light source, switch, and a resistor
Draw a diagram showing each of their components
Hypothesize ways to replace their battery with a renewable power source
Test their hypotheses with turbines or solar panels
Hypothesize what electricity is and how it is flowing through the system
Research how electricity works, and then draw the flow of electrons into their diagram.

Instructional Resources

Background:

Teachers need to have a basic understanding of electricity, conductivity, and how electrons flow from the negative terminal of batteries out through wires and then return to the positive terminal of the battery.
If you do the voltmeter extension, you need to know how to use whatever type of voltmeter you use and explain it to the students prior to the lab.

Materials:

Student Handout
Wires
Battery holder
Batteries
Switches
Resistors
Electrical tape
Pencils with graphite cores
Suggested materials for the green power portion of the lesson: Solar panels, wind turbines, hydropower, beakers, solutions of distilled water, sucrose, salt solutions

10extension2potato.jpg

1simplesetup.jpg

2simplesetup_voltage.jpg

3switchsetup.jpg

4switchoff.jpg

5resistor.jpg

6extension1h2o_voltage_bulb.jpg

7extension1nacl_voltage.jpg

8extension1nacl_voltage_bulb.jpg

9extension2lemon.jpg

Electricity Rubric (xls)

Electricity Student Worksheet (doc)

Procedure:

Estimated time: Depends on level (For high school, 60-80 minutes)

Take a kit which will include: wires, a light bulb and housing, a resistor, electrical tape, a battery and housing, and a switch.
Using only the materials in your kit, find a way to make the light bulb light up; use the least number of components.
Draw, using the correct symbols, the setup you have constructed.
- Use the voltmeter to get a reading of the system.
Modify your setup to include the switch, draw the new setup, and explain what it does and hypothesize how it works.
- Use the voltmeter to get a reading of the system.
Modify your setup to add the resistor to your current setup. Draw the new setup and hypothesize how it works and what it does.
- Use the voltmeter to get a reading of the system.
We have been using a battery as our source of power, hypothesize different power sources that would be more environmentally friendly, and explain why this would be a more environmentally friendly power source.
Recreate the setup your constructed in procedure number 2. Remove the battery and add in one of the available renewable resources. Then, draw the setup and explain why adding it improves your system and how it inhibits your setup. For information on how to add in the renewable resources, you could purchase a kit like http://www.pasco.com/featured-products/horizon-alternative-energy-sparklabs/index.cfm You could also read and use the Teachers TryScience lessons Wind Power: Creating a Wind Generator or Racing with the Sun: Creating a Solar Car.

Extensions

Once you finish the procedure 1-8, pick one of the extension procedures below and try it. If possible, complete both.

Explore whether or not electricity can travel through liquids. You will need kit “A”. This kit includes a solution of salt water, a solution of sugar water, a solution of distilled water, and paper clips. Only connect the wires to the paper clips as to not corrode the wires by getting them wet. Draw one of your setups and answer the questions below.
Explore the energy that plants have stored in them and try to figure out how to extract electricity from lemons and potatoes. For this procedure, only use the lemon/potato, copper and zinc metals, wires, and the voltmeter.

Note to teachers on differentiation: After the designated time, all of the class will have finished procedure 1-8 and some of the class will have completed this extension section. Have the students that completed the extensions explain their findings to the rest of the class so everyone can learn from their experimentation.

Assessments and Rubrics

Complete student worksheet, including these post lab questions. See attached document for more information.

Now that we have explored electricity, hypothesize what electricity is and how it flows through systems. What is electricity?
Use the Internet to find out if your hypothesis about electricity was correct or incorrect. State whether or not you were correct and then explain electricity as if you had to explain it to a younger sibling.
On your drawings, add arrows showing the flow of electricity where it comes from and where it ends up.

Electricity Rubric (xls)

What is Electricity Rubric (XLS)

Credits

Created by Kyle Herman. Email questions or comments to kylemherman@gmail.com

RESOURCES