TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Put a Spark in It! Electricity
Uncountable times every day "with the merest flick of a finger"each one of us calls on electricity to do our bidding. What would your life be like without electricity? Students begin learning about electricity with an introduction to the...
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Magnetic Pendulums
See how electricity and magnetism interact with this activity. Activity has students creating a current by swinging a copper coil through a magnetic field. The copper coil will start a second coil swinging as well.
Physics4kids
Physics4 Kids: Electricity and Magnetism: Resistance
Explains electrical resistance and how it is measured using the formula for Ohm's Law.
Canada Science and Technology Museum
Canada Science and Technology Museum: Background Information for Electricity
The Canada Science and Technology Museum answers some of the most common questions about electricity. For example, get the definition of electricity, the difference between alternating and direct currents, and learn how a fuse works.
Read Works
Read Works: Electric and Magnetic Forces and the Modern Day Compass
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about how a compass works using electromagnetic force. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Hans Christian Orsted
A discovery by Hans Christian Orsted forever changed the way scientists think about electricity and magnetism. While preparing to perform an experiment during a lecture at the University of Copenhagen, he found that the magnetized needle...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Schweigger Multiplier 1820
Spurred by Hans Christian Orsted's discovery of a relationship between electricity and magnetism, German chemist Julian Schweigger immediately began tinkering and soon came up with a very early galvanometer known as the Schweigger...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Mri Safety Grand Challenge
This module was written for a first year accelerated or AP physics class. It is intended to provide hands on activities to teach end of the year electricity and magnetism topics including the magnetic force, magnetic moments and torque,...
Utah State Office of Education
Utah Science: Magnetized
A unit all about magnets! Explore magnetic forces, types of magnets, and more through these informative activities.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Electric Hockey
Play hockey with electric charges. Place charges on the ice, then hit start to try to get the puck in the goal. View the electric field. Trace the puck's motion. Make the game harder by placing walls in front of the goal. This is a clone...
Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Stem Resources: Heat and Light From Electricity
Understand the energy transformations that happens when you light a bulb with a battery. Activity requires students to build a simple circuit and take temperature and time measurements. Lab includes procedure with questions that can be...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Oersted's Compass
Recreate the discovery by Hans Christian Oersted about the relationship between electricity and magnetism in this very simple experiment.
Other
Hes Energy Net: Energy Use and Delivery: Lesson Plan 3.3: Electromagnets [Pdf]
In this lesson, students learn how to identify and explain an electromagnet, describe the relationship between electricity and magnetism, and compare an electromagnet to a bar magnet.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Physical Science: Magnets
A module that uses pictures, videos, reading passages, and review question to go over what a magnet and magnetic pole are, and how magnetic force is related to magnetic field. This site may require free registration to access all...
US Energy Information Administration
U.s. Eia Energy Kids: Energy Sources: Electricity
A basic description of electricity and the role it plays in everyday life.
Orpheus Books
Q Files: Electricity and Magnetism: Electric Charge
Learn how electric charges work and about Coulomb's Law, which is used to calculate the strength of an electric force.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Magnetism
In this interactive unit students will see how magnets work and how they are used in some of the most useful and common devices today.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Magnetism
In this physical science lab, students will investigate ways to control an electromagnet, how adding coils of wire can change the magnet, and the differences between an electromagnet and a bar magnet. Students will explain in their...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Magnetism and Electromagnetism
In this interactive learning module, students learn about the basic properties of magnetism. Practice problems are provided for ongoing assessment.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Electric Field of Dreams
Play ball! Add charges to the Field of Dreams and see how they react to the electric field. Turn on a background electric field and adjust the direction and magnitude. (Kevin Costner not included). Java required.
Other
Math, Physics and Engineering Applets
Written by Paul Falstad, these educational Java applets address myriad concepts related to electrostatics, magnetostatics and electrodynamics. You'll find instructions on how to operate each applet, but little explanatory material.
Physics4kids
Physics4 Kids: Electricity and Magnetism: Magnetic Fields
Explains magnetic fields, how they differ from electric fields, and attraction and repulsion.
Physics4kids
Physics4 Kids: Electricity and Magnetism: Moving Electrons and Charges
Learn basic information about electricity on this page. Page explores the movement of charges with text and a video.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Circuits and Magnetic Fields
In this activity, students use the same method as in the activity from lesson 2 to explore the magnetism due to electric current instead of a permanent magnet. Students use a compass and circuit to trace the magnetic field lines induced...