Curated OER
Electricity
Fourth graders experiment to find out how to light a bulb with simple materials. They make predictions if a light bulb set-up could work and gain knowledge to tell the difference between an open and closed circuit. They also figure out...
Curated OER
Solar Kit Lesson #3 Parts of a Solar Panel - Part I
A solar cell is similar to a rechargeable battery in many ways. Science lab groups connect each in a series circuit to run a mini motor and then compare and contrast them by answering questions and completing a Venn diagram. This is an...
Curated OER
Series and Parallel Circuits
Students study simple circuits. After a demonstration of parallel and serial circuit designs, students work in teams to predict the difference between two circuit designs. They build examples of two different circuits and test...
Curated OER
Build a Simple Circuit
Students construct an extremely simple series circuit that powers a lamp on and off with a switch. They are in groups of 4 and are given a set of components and have to build the circuit working together as a group. Finally, they have to...
Curated OER
The Path of Electrons
Learners engage in an interactive "hot potato" demonstration to gain an appreciation for the flow of electrons through a circuit. They role play the different parts of a simple circuit and send small items representing electrons (paper...
Curated OER
Potato Power
Students light a LED clock or light bulb using potatoes. They examine how a battery works in a simple circuit. They determine how chemical energy changes to electrical energy while experimenting with potato powered circuits.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Flashlights and Batteries
Students examine how batteries work, how they provide power to the simple circuit within the battery, and how the switch controls the flow of electrons; students then disassemble a flashlight, and draw a schematic of a flashlight's...
Curated OER
Brown Bag Science
Pupils discover, through the discovery method, how electricity works. They construct a simple circuit and a parallel circuit, make an electrical motor work and add a switch to turn it on and off.
Curated OER
Energy
Wow! Colorful and simple, these 160 slides introduce the various forms of energy, along with a relevant image. Some of the images are animations, which help beginning physical scientists to visualize the flow of electrons or energy! This...
Curated OER
Green Team
Student explore the relationship of static electricity to current electricity, circuits, electromagnets, electro generators, and public electric utilities. In this Green Team lesson plan, 4th graders participate in hands-on science...
PBS
Keep Out!
Sound the alarm about a great resource. Scholars first build a simple circuit to learn the basics about electric currents. They then design an alarm system in which a buzzer activates when pressure is applied to a doormat.
Exploratorium
Circles of Magnetism IV
Hang a strip of foil on a stand and form a loop out of it. Then attach the clips of a battery-operated circuit to the loop to see its sides repel each other. This simple demonstration is applicable and easy to add to your lecture on...
Science Matters
Conductors and Insulators
Get that energy flowing while classes study conductors and insulators. Using a simple circuit, learners test different materials to determine the strength of conductivity. They use their results to classify materials as conductors or...
Curated OER
Electrical Generators
Students study what an electric generator does and its history. In this energy lesson students complete several experiments including building their own electric generator.
Curated OER
A simple computer
In this circuit worksheet, students build a circuit simulating a simple computer using light bulbs, breadboards, push pins and more. Students then complete a chart and answer 1 question.
Curated OER
Parallel circuit
In this parallel circuit worksheet, students use batteries, a breadboard, light bulbs and more to make a parallel circuit and answer short answer questions. Students answer 2 questions.
Curated OER
Electricity: Series and Parallel Circuits
Fourth graders explore electricity and electrical circuits. They explore series and parallel circuits using Christmas lights. Students pull lights out of each strand of lights. They observe the results when the light bulb is pulled out....
Curated OER
Electrical Circuits
In this electrical circuits worksheet, students read a text and examine a diagram to learn the parts of a simple electric circuit. Students then answer 6 questions about electrical circuits. This is an online interactive worksheet.
Curated OER
Circuits and Conductors
Fourth graders investigate the concepts of circuits and conductors. In this circuits and conductors lesson set, 4th graders watch demonstrations of circuits and look at images to identify whether they are complete circuits. They test...
Curated OER
Light the Bulb
Students explore electricity. In this power experiment lesson plan, students determine what is required for lighting a bulb. Students develop an understanding of open and closed circuits, and how energy is formed
Bonneville
Simple Solar Tracker
Let the solar cells fight each other for supremacy! Given a functional solar tracker that moves toward light, groups copy the design to build their own devices. They use two sets of solar cells that have reverse polarization, so that the...
Curated OER
Electric Circuits
Fourth graders investigate complete and incomplete circuits. Using an electrical kit that includes a D-cell battery, wiring, and a flashlight bulb, they construct a complete electric circuit that will light the light bulb. Students...
Curated OER
Flick the Switch
After reading a short paragraph on how electrical switches work, learners look at four examples of electrical circuits, and circle the ones which will allow a lightbulb to be lit. This would be a good precursor to having your charges...
Curated OER
Wire Maze
Middle school electrical engineers design a maze out of wire and connect it in a circuit to a noise-making or lighting device. The idea is to string a paperclip along the wire without touching it along the way. The noise-maker or light...