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...
Purdue University
Design of a Door Alarm
How does electricity work? Budding scientists explore the concepts of electrical currents and open and closed circuits with class discussion and a hands-on activity using a battery to turn on a light bulb. Learners also make predictions...
Curated OER
Solar Kit Lesson #1 - Solar Cell Inquiry
Give youngsters the components of a solar-powered electric circuit and turn them loose to figure out how to connect them in order for a light to shine or motor to turn. They compare energy output of a solar panel to that of a battery. On...
Curated OER
Magnetism and Electricity
Students demonstrate a comprehension of the properties, position, and motion of objects and materials, and of light, heat, electricity, and magnetism. They use materials to assemble an electric circuit and test materials, including...
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
Electricity 5
Fifth graders demonstrate their understanding of circuits by working in small groups to create a flashlight using a limited number of supplies.
Curated OER
Resistance In Series And Parallel Circuits
Young scholars investigate electric circuits. In this electricity lesson, students observe illumination in a series and parallel circuits. They predict and calculate the resistance in each type of circuit using a voltmeter.
Curated OER
Paths of Electrical Currents
Fourth graders examine the paths that electrical currents travel. They create a current of electricity using flashlights, bulbs, batteries, wires and tape. They determine how to create a closed circuit that will light the bulb. They...
Curated OER
Electricity
Students identify the relationship between batteries, circuits and voltage. In this physics lesson plan, students investigate the way batteries are put into different apparatus. They discuss why different machinery need different voltage...
Curated OER
Circuit City
Fifth graders are introduced to the concept of circuits and how electricity works. In groups, they design their own subdivision with houses in which they have inside and outside light sources. To end the lesson, they make the circuits...
Curated OER
How Smart are You about Electricity, Batteries and Conductors?
Students create working circuits. In this electricity and circuits lesson, students make a battery, then build a flashlight and use part of the flashlight to create a conductivity tester.
Curated OER
Create a Pathway
Fifth graders build and experiment with electric circuits using easily available materials. They hypothesize what may happen if a part is changed.
Curated OER
Lemon Battery
Students construct their own battery made of lemons. In this electrochemistry lesson, students explain why lemons conduct electricity. They perform a series of experiments to investigate its conductivity.
Curated OER
Light Your Way
Students investigate how a simple series circuit functions. They design and construct a working portable flashlight, develop a written plan for the flashlight, test their flashlight for functionality and reliability, and draw the series...
Curated OER
One Path
Students discover that charge movement through a circuit depends on the resistance and arrangement of the circuit components. In a hands-on activity, students build and investigate the characteristics of series circuits. In another...
Curated OER
Brown Bag Science
Students 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
How do Ohm's Law and Constraint-Based Reasoning Help in Thinking About Circuits?
Learners investigate Ohm's Law. Through experimentation, students observe Ohm's law. Using the voltage and resistance, learners calculate with Ohm's law. Students collaborate in other activities to apply Ohm's Law to series and...
Curated OER
Ohm's Laws
Students explore the relationship of resistance, voltage and current in series and parallel circuits. Then they discover Ohm's Law by constructing series circuits with one resistor and putting the resultant resistance, current and...
Curated OER
What Configurations Work to Light a Bulb?
Students explore simple electrical circuits. Students experiment, using different configurations, to determine what is necessary to compeete a circuit. Students observe similarities between arrangements that work and differences in...
Curated OER
Series and Parallel Circuits
Learners examine electricity. In this circuits instructional activity students complete an activity that shows them the configuration of circuits.
Curated OER
The Technology of Light
Students study the different types of light bulbs. For this exploratory lesson students complete several activities and create an electrical circuit.
Curated OER
Transformation of Energy-8th Grade
Eighth graders examine how electricity is produced in relation to the atom as well as what causes electric current to flow and what determines how much current flows through a circuit. These and other concepts of transformation of energy...
Curated OER
Hear The Light?
Students investigate a circuit and build a flashlight transmitter. In this electricity lesson, students are introduced to the parts of the modulated laser and define the purpose of each part. As an assessment, students construct a...
Curated OER
Testing for Conductivity
Learners test the conductivity of selected liquids and solids. They test the circuit by touching the two free ends of the wires together and add salt little by little recording the data after each addition. Finally, students predict...