Curated OER
Pushes and Pulls
Young scholars examine different types of movement and causes that may affect those movements. In this online interactive forces and motion lesson, students use toy cars to observe push and pull and then make predictions and collect data...
Curated OER
Solid Conductors
Students work in groups to create a solid conductor testing set up. They use a variety of solid materials and predict if each will serve as a conductor of electricity (allow electricity to pass through so the light bulb will light up)....
Curated OER
Organization Station
After students complete an in-class unit on electricity they participate in making a hands-on circuit to create electricity. Then they use the computer program Kidspiration to create a graphic organizer of the content. They print their...
Curated OER
Electronic Components
Students describe how resistors affect the flow of electricity. In this electronics lesson students examine transistors and what they do and how they work.
Curated OER
Electric Current and Circuits
Learners view a basic circuit in operation and discuss what is happening behind the scenes. Using a worksheet with common electrical symbols, they diagram several setups of series circuits and discuss the flow of electrons. They solve...
NASA
Providing Light for Your Plants
Using a guided lesson, pupils learn about what it takes to make a circuit along with a switch. They build a complete circuit under the direction from the teacher and identify each of the elements of the circuit. Scholars then learn to...
Rochester Institute of Technology
Artificial Eye
Scientists in California developed a bionic eye that allows blind people to see edges of objects in black and white and costs $145,000. In the activity, groups of scholars discuss bioengineering, focusing on the human eye. They then...
Bonneville
Solar Tracker Challenge
Follow the light—not with one's eyes—but with a special solar tracker. Future engineers design and build a device that tracks light. They must build circuits in which solar cells rotate to receive equal amounts of light.
Bonneville
Phone Charger Efficiency
Be efficient in learning about efficiency. A fun hands-on activity has pupils calculate the efficiency of cell phone chargers by measuring the power in and power out. They also learn how to read and use circuit diagrams.
Rochester Institute of Technology
Artificial Hearing
Your sense of hearing depends upon tiny hairs deep inside your ear and if you lose these hairs, you lose your hearing. Here, groups explore hearing through the decibel measurement of common sounds. As a class, participants discuss...
Teach Engineering
Six Minutes of Terror
Help your class understand the design challenges when trying to land a remote spacecraft on a planet. Class members examine the provided information to understand how each component of a spacecraft is designed in order to safely land a...
Curated OER
Electricity - Lesson Plan
Tenth graders should explain some basic properties of electricity and know how electricity is produced. They should also explain the electrical components that make up electric circuits.
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...
Curated OER
Electromagnets
Pupils are introduced to the relationship between electricity and magnetism. Using a compass, they observe and record the effects of placing the object near magnetic fields and electric currents. They also experiment using a steel and...
Curated OER
Let's Light Up a Light Bulb!
Third graders investigate the concept of how electricity works in the lighting of a light bulb. They construct a circuit in order to follow the path of electricity and test how it can travel in a wire system. Then the light bulb is lit...
BBC
Sorting and Using Materials
First and second graders see that everyday objects are made from a variety of materials. They interact with objects such as keys, plastic spoons, a wooden ruler, a towel, and a plastic bag. A discussion ensues which leads them to...
Curated OER
Conductors and Insulators
Students explore electrical terms and circuits. In this conductor lesson plan students divide into groups and complete a lab on electricity.
Curated OER
Galvanometers
Learners construct their own galvanometer. In this physics lesson, students explain how it is used to detect electric current. They conduct an experiment to measure how much electricity flows through the circuit.
Curated OER
Stepper Motor
Students compare a stepper motor from a traditional motor. In this physics lesson, students summarize how it works. They build their own stepper motor and explore its uses.
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.
Teach Engineering
Changing Fields
Eddy currents, Faraday's Law and Lenz's Law provide the connection between train brakes and and MRI machines in a lesson that asks teachers to provided the material needed so the pupils can understand the properties of changing magnetic...
Curated OER
Electrical Circuits - Current & Voltage in Series Circuits
Students investigate the relationship between current and voltage in a series circuit. In this physics lesson, students measure the current across each light bulb. They predict what happens to the circuit if one bulb is blows out.
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
PHYSICS LESSONS
Students study the concept of electricity, what an electric current is and its relationship between voltage and resistance.In this electrical lesson students solve problems using Ohm's law, and research alternative sources of electricity.