Sparkling Knowledge

about Electricity

Created by Emily Bonilla and Karyn Fessler-West at CUNY Brooklyn College for Education 713.22 during the Spring 2009 semester with Dr. O’Conner.

•Lesson 1: Electricity Basics

•Lesson 2: Insulators and Conductors

•Lesson 5: Electricity Safety Tips

•Lesson 3: Working with Electricity

•Lesson 4: Series and Parallel Circuits

•Lesson 6: Experience with Electricity

Learning about Electrical Energy throughout the week

Lesson OneElectricity Basics

What is electricity?

Who are the inventors of electricity?

How do we get electricity?

What everyday objects do we use that need electricity?

Vocabulary

Electricity-the flow of electrical power or charge.Blackout- what happens when the electrical supply is interrupted.Electric circuit- unbroken path along which an electric current exists or is intended or able to flow

KWL Chart on ElectricityWhat do I know

about electricity?What would I like

to know about electricity?

What have I learned about

electricity?

There are electrical power boxes on the poles.

Where does electricity come from? Electricity is energy. It is the flow of electrons in a circuit. There are different kinds of electricity.

If you plug too many appliances in at the same time you can cause a power failure.

Who invented basic electrical machines? The electricity that runs through your house is current electricity. It gets there through transmission lines and transformers from power plants. It travels on distribution wires to your house.

Electricity runs the computer and the telephone.

How does electricity get into your house? Electricity can be dangerous. You get a shock when you touch a live wire because your body acts as a conductor. That is because your body is mostly water.

Batteries are used in some electronics. Why do we get electric shocks? Brownouts and blackouts happen when the electrical supply is interrupted.

Inventors and Inventions• Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod in 1752.• Faraday invented the generator in 1831.• Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876.• Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1879.• Latimer worked with Edison and invented the carbon

filament in 1880.• Woods invented the telephone transmitter in 1885.

Lesson Two Insulators and ConductorsWhat are insulators?What are conductors?In what ways can we classify insulators and conductors?How can we sort insulators and conductors by creating a collage?

Conductors• Some materials will allow electricity to

travel through them. We call these materials conductors.

• The piece of metal in this circuit allows electricity to travel through it, so the bulb lights up.

Insulators

• Other materials do not allow electricity to pass through them. We call these materials insulators.

• There are lots of different insulators, such as plastic, rubber or glass. The plastic does not allow electricity through, so the bulb does not light up.

Classifying Materials as Conductors and Insulators

Material Picture of Material

Made From

Conductor Insulator

Paper Clip Metal Yes No

Eraser Rubber No Yes

Penny Metal Yes No

Pencil Wood No Yes

Lesson ThreeInvestigating Properties of Metals and Magnets• Magnets attract or repel certain objects / metals.

• Magnetic fields extend beyond the actual magnet.

Investigating Properties of Metals and Electricity• All metals conduct electricity.

• Not all conductors are magnetic.

Electricity and Magnetism• Electrons moving around atoms create magnetic fields.

• Electrons moving through conductors create electricity.

• Moving a conductor through a magnetic field can

generate electricity.

Vocabulary• Force: a push or pull.• Attract: magnets pulling together.• Repel: magnets pushing apart.• Magnet: an object that attracts iron.• Permanent Magnet: magnet made from a material

(such as iron) that stays magnetized.• Temporary Magnet: a piece of iron that behaves like a

magnet when it is touching a permanent magnet.• Induced Magnetism: the influence of a permanent

magnet's magnetic field on a piece of iron which makes the iron behave like a magnet.

PET Manipulative TestDoes the object conduct electricity?Does the object attract a magnet?

Object Electricity? Magnet?

Metal Yes No Yes No

Steel Nail X X

Staples X X

Quarter X X

Aluminum Foil

X X

Nonmetal Yes No Yes No

Rubber Band X X

Spork X X

Wooden Stick

X X

Colored Disc X X

Lesson Four Series and Parallel Circuits

– What is a series circuit?

– What is a parallel circuit?

– What are electrical circuits?

– How do we change circuits?

Electrical Circuits

An electrical circuit is a device that gives energy to the charged particles that make up the current,

devices that use current, and the wires that connect them, such as lamps, electric motors and electronic computers. .

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2009) Retrieved on March 31, 2009, from http://www.britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/182454/electric-circuit.

What is a series circuit?

• There is only one path for electrons to flow.

• All components are connected end-to-end, forming a single path for electrons to flow.

What is a parallel circuit?

• All components are connected across each other, forming exactly two sets of electrically common points.

• All components are connected between the same set of points.

Changing Circuits• You can change circuits by adding more bulbs.• If you add more bulbs to a circuit, the bulbs will glow

less brightly, because the bulbs have to share the electricity that the cell provides.

• Adding more cells to a circuit will make the bulbs glow brighter because there is more electric power.

• You can also change a circuit by changing the length of the wire.

• As the wires get longer the bulbsget dimmer.

Lesson FiveElectricity Safety Tips

What are the safety tips when working with electricity?

–Can a song help us to remember the safety tips when

working with electricity?

–How can we add the safety tips we learned onto a

Filamentality webpage?

Electricity Safety Tips

• Never play with electrical cords, wires, switches, or plugs.

• Never use a hairdryer near a sink or bathtub.• Never play an electrical radio or television

near a bathtub or sink. • Before you climb a tree, look up. If a power

line is nearby or touching, stay away from thetree.

• Never touch anything that runs on electricity when your hands are wet.

Safety Tips on FilamentalityElectricity Safety Tips! An Internet Hotlist on Electricity! created by EmilyIntroduction | Safety Tip #1 | Safety Tip #2 | Safety Tip #3 | Safety Tip #4 | Safety Tip #5

IntroductionElectricity!Electricity is Dangerous!Very Dangerous!Stay Away From it!Electricity!

The Internet Resources •Basic Electricity! - This website offers information on parallel circuits. •Be Safe Around Electricity! - This website offers safety tips and explains about electricity. •Circuit Connections! - All about circuits and its symbols as well as a short quiz at the end of all the reading. •Circuit Diagrams and Symbols! - Learn about circuit diagrams and symbols in a flash. •Circuit Symbols! - Try and analyze of the parts of a circuit. •Electric Circuits! - This website explains all about electric circuits. •Electrical Insulators and Conductors! - This website offers information and examples about insulators and conductors.

Lesson SixExperience with Electrical Energy

–How can we add bits of everything that we've learned about electrical energy into one graphic organizer?

–How can we act out what we have learned in a class play for the whole school?

YouTube for Conservation TipsConservation for Kids

• Replace incandescent bulbs with CFL to save 50% of lighting Energy.

• Use a timer or motion sensor to turn lights on and off.

• Turn off anything not in use.• Try using more battery power.• Use less electrical energy whenever possible.

Alternative Energy Sources and Uses for the Future

• Solar Energy - provided by photovoltaic cells.• Electric Cars – powered by batteries.• Improved Power Grid – Use wind and solar or

low carbon resources to power it.• Using Magnets to Generate Electricity –

moving conductors through magnetic fields generates electricity!

We hope you learned a lot about electrical energy and had loads of fun throughout all the interesting activities we had, such as creating a PowerPoint presentation, a Filamentality web page, a Webquest activity, a song, spreadsheets, tables, graphic organizers, a collage, a scavenger hunt and lastly a class play. What a unit!