Curated OER
Electrical Safety Situations
Students determine appropriate responses to electrical emergency situations such as a downed power line. They examine an image of a fallen power line before discussing reasons that a line might be down and how to handle the situation....
Curated OER
Batteries in Series: Voltage and Light Intensity
Students participate in a hands-on activity to explore the relationship between the number of batteries in a series circuit and its voltage. Students identify the relationship between two variables and plot points on a graph.
Curated OER
Changing Circuits
Students participate in an online lesson to explain how to make bulbs brighter or dimmer in a series circuit by changing the number or type of components.
Curated OER
Mississippi’s Electricity: From Generation to Consumption
Eighth graders discover how electricity is produced. For this physics lesson, 8th graders infer about the future of Mississippi's energy industry. They participate in a Smart Board interactive activity at the end of the lesson.
Cornell University
Making a Battery
Don't be shocked when your class has a blast making their own batteries! Science scholars examine a dry cell battery, then design and construct a wet cell battery. The activity guides them through the parts of a battery, the variables...
Purdue University
Light – Just Right!
What does it mean to be resistant to electricity? Scholars answer the question in a six-part STEM instructional activity on electricity. They begin by assessing the conductivity of several different materials and progress to designing...
University of Minnesota
Virtual Neurons
It's electric! Young anatomists use Virtual Neurons software to build, control, and analyze complex nerve circuits within the body. Colorful and packed with content, class members enjoy interacting with the nervous system...
Bonneville
DC to AC to DC Efficiency
The power to learn about AC and DC power lies within everyone. The fifth of seven installments in the Off the Grid unit continues the investigation of the efficiency of a USB charger. Individuals use an inverter that converts DC power to...
Bonneville
Designing a Solar Phone Charger
What a bright idea! Working in groups, scholars design a solar phone charger by applying concepts from the unit. They use solar modules and buck and boost converters in their creations, which must be able to charge a phone after...
NASA
Photons in the Radiative Zone: Which Way Is Out? An A-Maz-ing Model
Can you move like a photon? Young scholars use a maze to reproduce the straight line motion of a photon. The second in a six-part series of lessons on the sun has learners measure angle of incidence and refraction to determine the path...
Curated OER
Ohm's Laws
Pupils 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 voltage...
Curated OER
Mystery Card 1
Students test their knowledge of electrical conductors and circuits by constructing an electric tester and using it to determine where electricity flows between circles on a mystery card.
Curated OER
Homopolar Motor Experiments
Students construct a homopolar motor following certain procedures. In this physics instructional activity, students explain how generators and motors work. They compare and contrast the characteristics of both.
Curated OER
Watts Up with the Heat
Students create a variety of simple, series and parallel electrical circuits to illustrate how electricity flows through different types of basic circuits.
Curated OER
Electrifying the World
Students explore the fundamental concepts of electricity. They examine different circuit diagrams to study how electricity flows. They finish by creating their own simple circuit.
Curated OER
Understanding Power using Kirchhoff’s Rules
Twelfth graders cite real life applications of Kirchhoff's rules. In this physics lesson, 12th graders calculate current, power and voltage using Kirchhoff and Ohm's laws. They explain the different components and uses of transformers.
Curated OER
Physical Science: Solar Energy
Students review and discuss how Solar energy and electricity produce light and heat. They create a photo/picture journal and include pictures taken during solar energy activities to a PowerPoint slide presentation.
Curated OER
What are Conductors and Insulators?
Learners explore simple circuits. Students conduct a variety of experiments to discover their level of conductivity. Learners summarize and explain experimental findings. Students are introduced to passive causality.
Curated OER
Making an Electromagnet
Students explore electromagnetic forces. In this electromagnetic lesson plan, students construct a working electromagnet and conduct a series of experiments to see what increases the strength of an electromagnet.
Teach Engineering
Ampere's Law
Help your class find the the magnetic field of a toroid, a solenoid bent into a circle with an activity that allows the class to see how a loop of wire carrying an electrical charge behaves much like a magnet. The resource provides...
Curated OER
Scouting for Circuits
Fifth graders investigate electricity and how it used in a circuit to be useful energy. They also use this investigation in order to understand how energy can change forms and still be considered useful if put into the right form.
Curated OER
The Quest For Power
Students investigate and apply properties of math. In this algebra and physics lesson plan, students define important vocabulary words to create a basic understanding of keywords. They perform experiments using concepts of electricity...
Curated OER
Wire Maze
Middle schoolers investigate what causes electrical circuits to work. They construct a wire circuit and pass a paperclip through the maze, trying not to touch the wire, and answer discussion questions.
Curated OER
Bulbs & Batteries Side by Side
Young scholars build parallel circuits, exploring how they function and looking at their unique features. They describe how current changes when batteries are added in parallel or removed from a parallel arrangement, demonstrate the...