Subject: Science Unit: Electricity Grade: 6
PLO’sProcesses and Skills of Science
o manipulate and control a number of variables in an experiment
Physical Science: Electricity
o evaluate various methods for producing small electrical charges
o test a variety of electrical pathways using direct current circuits
o demonstrate that electricity can be transformed into light, heat, sound, motion, and magnetic effects
o differentiate between renewable and non-renewable methods of producing electrical energy
Lesson # and Title / Activities / Materials / Assignment/
Assessment
Lesson #1 - Watt would we do without electricity? / 1. Introduce that we are going to be starting a unit on electricity
2. Brainstorm “What do you think of when you think of electricity?” Create a word wall with vocabulary
3. Set up the bulletin board with the title: “Watt would we do without electricity?” Give each child a picture of a light bulb and answer: If I didn't have electricity I would _____. / - Cut-outs of light bulbs
- Slips of paper for word wall
- Tape / Assignment: Title page for unit
Lesson #2 - What is electricity? / 1. “What is electricity?” Electricity is made of electric current or moving electricity.
2. Simple example of electricity. On a cool, dry day blow up the balloon and rub it on a rug or sweater. Bring the balloon close to a student's head. What happens? The hair rises to meet the balloon. By rubbing the balloon, you electrically charged it. The hair rises toward the balloon because of that charge. This is static electricity but where does it come from
3. “To know about electricity, you have to know about atoms”. Discuss atoms and parts of an atom (from handout or textbook)
4. Discuss electrons, protons and neutrons (from handout or textbook)
5. Discuss movement of atoms (from handouts or textbooks). Explain the balloon has a negative charge and the hair is neutral and so, they are attracted to each other
6. The electrical charge is also strong enough to hold the balloon against the wall for a short time. Try it and see how long the balloon will stay.
7. Try the swinging cereal experiment: Tie a piece of the cereal to one end of a 12 inch piece of thread. Charge the balloon by running it through long, dry hair several times, or vigorously rub the comb on a wool sweater. Slowly bring the balloon near the cereal. It will swing to touch the comb. Hold it still until the cereal jumps away by itself.
8. Now try to touch the balloon to the cereal again. It will move away as the balloon approaches.
9. Explain what happened to the students: Rubbing the balloon against hair moved electrons from your hair to the balloon. The balloon had a negative static charge. The neutral cereal was attracted to it. When they touched, electrons slowly moved from the balloon to the cereal. Now both objects had the same negative charge, and the cereal was repelled. / - Balloon
- Thread,
- Small pieces of dry cereal (O-shapes, or puffed rice of wheat)
- Textbooks or handouts (need to make)
Lesson #3 - Brown Bag Science
(If I have the equipment) / 1. The teacher will prepare ahead of time a kit for each two or three students. Each kit will include a brown lunch sack, one C cell battery, two insulated copper wires, one battery holder and two brass battery clips, one small flashlight bulb and socket. All these items must be separate and in random order in the bag.
2. Give each group a bag and allow for exploration. Teacher remains quiet unless asked a question. Do not give any clues.
3. Before the end of class, some students will have made a simple circuit. Stop for discussion. Have the students explain what they did so others can follow. Discuss how the students think the circuit works. Discuss where the electricity comes from and where it goes, how it makes the light bulb light. Discuss how the battery stores electricity.
4. For groups that end early, give students a second battery and let them experiment. Does the second battery change anything? Does the light get brighter or dimmer? Does the way the batteries are connected make any difference in the way the light works? Try different ways of connecting the batteries.
5. The role of the teacher in this activity is to be a facilitator. Please refrain from your urge to teach. In this activity, students discover the concept of electricity. The less you show and tell the better. / - Brown lunch sacks
- C-cell batteries
- Copper wires
- Battery holders
- Brass battery clips
- Small flashlight bulbs
- Sockets / Assessment: Check each pair of student’s diagrams and leave small personal messages so they will know that you have looked at what they have done.
Lesson #4 - Making a simple current circuit / 1. Strip ¾ inch of plastic from each end of the wires. Tape the bare end of one wire to the silver knob on the top of the battery. Tape the bare end of the other wire to the silver base of the battery. Connect the two free ends of the wire to the light bulb. It should glow.
2. What you have just made is a complete circuit. Electrons can flow out of the battery, through one wire, then into the battery again. When they flow through the bulb, they make it glow
3. Have the students draw a picture of a circuit in their science books / - A small flashlight bulb
- 1.5 volt AA battery
- Two insulated wires
- Tape
Lesson #5 - What happens when you turn on an electric switch? / 1. Electric currents travel to our homes along cables from giant power stations. We need to be able to control it to make it work for us.
2. Using the simple circuit, cut one of the wires in half and strip then down and touch them to the metal paper clip at the same time.
3. What’s happening? When you break the circuit, electricity can’t flow all the way around it, so the bulb stops glowing. The metal paper clip can bridge the gap in the broken circuit. When you press it again the two bare ends of the broken wire, electricity can flow through it. The paper clip acts as a switch
4. How does it work with real switches? Electric current travels along metal wires. When the switch is on, the current can continue along the wires to the device. When you turn the switch off, the switch makes a gap that the current can not cross.
5. How does a control knob work? The volume control knob on a radio is an example. Turning the knob changes the length of the wire that the current flows through. The current is made weaker by having to flow through a longer wire.
6. Have the students draw a picture of a circuit in their science books / - Simple current circuit made previously
- Metal paper clip
Lesson #6 - What materials can a current flow through easiest? / 1. Ask the students, does electricity flow through all materials the same?
2. Using the simple circuit with the switch made previous, gather a number of different materials. Replace the paper clip with the other objects. Does the bulb glow? Repeat with various objects and have students record which objects complete the circuit and which do not.
3. The wires used in electrical devices are made of metal. Metal has a very low resistance, which means a current can more through it easily. Low resistance materials and things made from them are called conductors. Objects such as wood, rubber and most plastics which do not allow the current to pass are called insulators. This is why electrical wires have plastic covers to keep currents from leaking out.
4. Is water a conductor or insulator? What about air? Take the two ends of the wire and dip them into a shallow pan of water. Did the light bulb light up? To test for air, just hold the two wires up in the air. Did the light bulb light up?
5. This doesn’t mean air doesn’t ever conduct electricity. If the electricity gets powerful enough, it can flow through the air, such as lightning / - Simple current circuit made previously with paper clip switch
- Objects made of different materials (wooden spoon, eraser, coin, class cup, sheet of paper, plastic ballpoint pen, plastic cup, etc)
- Worksheet for recording which objects complete the circuit
- A saucer of water / Assignment: Explain why birds sitting on a power line do not get electrocuted. (wire is a better conductor than the birds)
Lesson #7 - How does electricity make things move? / 1. Electric charges cause two sorts of force:
a. The first kind is static electricity. This is where the charges are stationary. The force of attraction between them is electrostatic.
b. The second kind is an electric current. This is where the charges are moving. This force is magnetic. An electromagnet is a device that develops a magnetic field when an electric current is passed through it.
2. Wind the wire tightly around the iron nail at least ten times, holding it in place with tape. Connect one end of the wire to a terminal of your battery. Connect the other end to the other terminal and add a paper clip switch. Hold the nail over the pile of steel pins as you press down the switch to turn on the circuit. What happens? Let go of the switch to turn the circuit of. What happens now?
3. Explain the when you press the switch down, the nail picks up the pins because electricity flowing through the circuit, turning its wires into weak magnets. The magnetism is concentrated when the wire is coiled It makes a magnetic force strong enough to turn the nail into a magnet. / - A very long insulated wire
- Iron nail
- Paper clip
- 9-volt battery
- Tape
- Steel pins
Lesson #8 - How does electricity make light? / 1. An electric light bulb contains a wire made of a metal such as tungsten. The wire is heated by the current passing through it and glows white-hot. The wire gets hot because the electrons moving in the current bump against the atoms of the metal, making the atoms vibrate faster. The more the electrons bump against the atoms, the harder it is for the current to flow, or the higher the resistance of the wire.
Lesson #9 - How does electricity transfer sound? / 1. Sound reproduction depends on the production of an electric current with a strength that is variable from moment to moment in the same way that the loudness of the sound is variable. In a telephone, the user’s voice makes a metal plate in the telephone’s microphone vibrate. The plate presses again tiny grains of carbon, alternately harder, reducing the resistance, and more gently, increasing the resistance. A small electric current constantly passes through the carbon. As the resistance changes, the current changes in strength.
2. When the current from the telephone microphone is passed into a telephone loudspeaker, it goes through a coil, which acts like an electromagnet. The coil attracts a magnet attached to a cone-shaped piece of metal or other material. The rapidly changing current causes the strength of the magnetism to change rapidly. This causes the cone to vibrate. The vibrating cone sets up vibrations in the air that are sound, because a sound is simply a vibration in the air. The sounds are a copy of the sounds that struck the microphone
Lesson #10 - Intro to Renewable and Non- renewable sources of electricity / 1. To assess what students already know, prompt a class discussion based on 7 questions. Create graphs or charts to refer to later:
- What is the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy?
- How does the sun contribute to and affect our lives?
- Why have coal, oil and natural gas been used in the 20th century to produce electricity?
- How is wind energy used in Texas to produce electricity?
- What are some ways that we use energy?
- What are some ways consumers can be more efficient in their energy use?
- How does the way homes are designed help us be more energy efficient?
2. Read Brother Eagle, Sister Sky to the class. As a class discussion, have the students summarize the story and identify the main ideas. Consider the message that each main idea portrays. / - Chart paper
- Brother Eagle, Sister Sky book
Lesson #11 - Group Investigation of Renewable and Non- renewable sources of electricity / 1. On the large sheets of paper, write down a topic heading and its respective questions ER allowing space for answers to be added (see “Group Reading Section Topics and Questions” on the following page). Each topic with its respective questions should appear on a separate page.
2. Organize the students into 5 equal groups, attempting to cluster reading skills. Assign each group to one of the reading topics that are based on sections from the Reading Passage. Assign the longer sections to the more advanced readers. Distribute to each group the large sheet of paper with its topic and questions written on it.
3. In the small groups, instruct the students to read aloud individual sentences or paragraphs from the assigned section of the Reading Passage.
4. Once all the paragraphs have been read, each group should create answers to the assigned questions for their section and record them on the large sheet of paper. Instruct each group to create a new graphic (chart, image, etc.) with a caption that illustrates the concepts described in their assigned section. Explain to the class that each group will make a presentation on the following day about their reading section. The presentation should present the answers to the questions and use their new graphic to illustrate the concepts. Inform the class that assessment questions will include information from each group. (See Teacher Resource Guide for reading passage assignments and group presentation guidelines.)