Teacher Notes - Simple Electrical Circuits

Created by:
Janice Simpson
ACSI

URL: http://www.can-do.com/uci/lessons99/electricity-t.html
URL:  http://www-sci.lib.uci.edu/SEP/CTS99/electricity-t.html 

Suggested Grade Level: 4

• Investigation and Experimentation: 6 d, f  -Students will conduct multiple trials to test a prediction and will follow a set of written instructions for scientific investigation.
• Physical Sciences:  1 a -Students will build simple series and parallel circuits.

• Batteries use chemical energy to make energy.  When the chemical energy is exhausted the battery is dead.
• A current is the flow of electrons through wires, water, objects, etc.
• Lamps light when it receives energy from the positive and negative terminals of the batteries.
• Conductors are materials which allow electrical currents to flow through the material.
• Parallel circuits give lamps normal brightness.  The advantage is the battery lasts longer.
• Series circuits make the lamps extra bright and may burn out the light bulb.  The batteries do not last as long.
• The first activity, the lemon battery, may require as many as 10 lemons to light the bulb.
• Review safety rules with students before starting. 
• Students should be told to keep wires away from all electrical outlets.
• If students create a short circuit, the wires will become hot.  Students should disconnect the batteries.

Skills:
 

• Interpreting data, making inferences,  forming hypotheses, making predictions, completing experiments, following directions 
• Presentations 
• Computer literacy
• Effective use of Internet resources

Assessment:
 

• Presentations, lab sheets, peer evaluation, rubric

Enrichment:
 

• Presentations -PowerPoint or Hyperstudio, Student created web page.
• Interesting websites:

      Shockwave (Plug in needed)
      Puzzlemaker 
      Electricity and Magnetism Site