Vocabulary: charge, negative, positive, conduct, resistance,
insulate, gauge, friction, voltage, magnetism, opposite, similar, load,
alternate, direct, terminal, velocity,
Here is a worksheet for other vocabulary
words.
Resources:
An easy to understand interactive
lesson about circuits, insulators, and conductors.
This site explains what
electricity is. It is better understood by kids in 5th and up depending
on reading ability.
Here you'll find an easy to understand interactive
demonstration on electricity.
What
is electricity? (High school)
Introduction
to Electricity (older kids)
How
batteries work
Easy to understand explanation
of static electricity
What
is electricity?
Just a few fantastic
electricity facts
Why
can some birds sit on power lines and not get zapped?
A simple
circuit picture you can use for your lapbook.
A
picture of 2 magnets
A
black and white image of an outlet
Activities:
1. Timeline
2. Vocabulary
3. What is electricity?
4. Negative and Positives
5. Static Electricity
6. Types of Circuits
7. Insulators, Conductors, Resistors
8. Magnets
9. Electric Meters
10. Batteries
11. AC/DC
12. Electric Safety
13. Taking Electric Experiments a bit further
Activity 1: Timeline
Use an accordion fold for the timeline. Have them record milestones
and discoveries concerning electricity.
Activity 2: Vocabulary
For the vocabulary I thought we would make cards the size of business
cards writing the word and definition on front and a picture representation
of the word on the back. We'll then make a pocket fold to hold the cards
in our lapbook.
Activity 3: What is Electricity?
First I will have them write a short report on what electricity is using
this electricity
report form.
I'll have them use this sheet to give them an idea of what to put in
their report and to take notes on. What's
electricity worksheet?
Electric
force is an interactive activity to help students understand it.
The
Voltaic pile (it is the 2nd experiment on the page)
Electricity
word search
Do page 288 of TCBOS
Activity 4: Negatives and Positives
Like charges repel each other. So if we were to charge two things with
negative charges they should repel each other. You'll need 3 strips
of newspaper and a piece of plastic wrap. Holding 2 strips of newspaper
up but not touching take the plastic wrap and rub it up and down the
strips of newspaper. Now try and touch them together. They should repel
each other. Now put one strip down and pick up the other. Rub only one
strip with the plastic wrap and then put the strips close to each other.
They should attract.
What we are seeing is that two like charges repel each other but opposite
charges attract each other. You can not put 2 positives or 2 negatives
together.
Here is another thing to demonstrate this. You'll need two balloons,
about 2 to 3 feet of string, and tape. Blow up the balloons and tie
the strings to the end. Now hang them beside each other in a door way.
They should be close but not touching. Now rub them in your hair or
use a piece of wool cloth. Let go and see what happens. They should
push away from each other.
Making
an electroscope
Have the kids use a simple rectangle folded in half to write what they
learned about negative and positive charges. They'll write Negative
and Positive charges on the front. I'll have the younger kids draw pictures
of what we did and the older ones will write about the experiments.
Activity 5: Static Electricity
To help them get more of an idea of how static electricity works I will
have them do a series of experiments. I'll have them use this book for
recording information. On the front they'll write Static Electricity.
The tabs will go like this - what is it, Runaway cola, dancing paper,
light by friction, super sparker, the charger, the comb, flea circus.
On the tab what is it they should write a brief description of what
static electricity is. For the lab tabs they should write what they
did, observed and why they think it happened. (I also thought they could
draw some lightning bolts on the front cover)
Runaway
cola can experiment
Dancing
paper experiment
Light
by friction
Super
sparker experiment
The
Charger (4th experiment on page)
Picking
up things with a comb
Electrical
flea circus
Activity 6: Types of Circuits
First they do these online activities to get an understanding of circuits
before we start playing with them.
Do this online activity to learn
about circuits.
An online gizmo for building
virtual circuits
Open
circuit online game (very simple)
Next we are going to use this octagon
shape to make a 3 page book. The first page they'll write electric
circuit and what an electric circuit is. The next page will be a series
circuit and definition. I will also have them make a series circuit
diagram. The third one will be for a parallel circuit done in the same
fashion.
Now we'll have some fun trying to build these circuits. We'll record
the experiments on a mini
book.
Open
and short circuit experiment
Simple
circuit
Series
Circuit
Switched
circuit
Parallel
circuit
A
simple computer
What
happens when you blow a fuse?
Activity 7: Insulators, Conductors, Resistors
We are going to use a tri-fold for this mini book. On the first section
write Insulators and write the definition. The second will be Conductors
and the third Resistors.
We are going to do an experiment to see what kinds of things are insulators
and conductors. You'll need to gather a bag of things for them to try.
There is a form on this page where they can record the information and
glue onto their lapbook.
Conductors
and insulators
Resistors
Do the understanding insulation experiment on page 299 of TCBOS.
Activity 8: Magnets
I'm going to use a fan book for this activity. Here is a fan
book template so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about.
I'm going to make the fans larger though.
The front will say magnets. The second will tell what a magnet is and
the rest will record each of the following activities.
Investigating
magnets
Magnetic
fields
Magnetic
insulators
Make
a magnetic toy
Create
a magnet using electricity
Magnetic
suction
A
magnet exerts a force on current carrying wire.
Magnetism
writing paper
Maze
Activity 9: Electric Meters
Reading
an electric meter
Activity 10: Batteries
Do the battery diagram on page 295 of TCBOS
I'm going to use this to make a shape book for this activity. It will
be 5 pages.
Homemade
battery experiment
Battery
life experiment
Build
a battery holder
Activity 11: AC/DC
I'm going to use this to make a shape
book for this activity.
Ac/DC
current what's the difference?
A
simple explanation of AC/DC power
Make
a galvanometer to check for AC or DC current.
Do page 296 of TCBOS.
Activity 12: Electricity safety
I'm not quite sure how I'm going to add this to the lapbook.
Dorothy S. suggests: How about a mini tv ad scripted on receipt tape
and scrolled through a tv looking frame.
Is
electricity safe?
Ground
fault circuit interrupter
Louie
the Lightning bug coloring book
This demonstration will demonstrate why children should never play
with electricity. You will need a pickle an old extension cord and a
pan. Place the pickle in the pan and then attach the pickle to the wires
of the extension cord. Then plug it in. The pickle will burn, glow,
and smell. This is very dangerous. Make sure they understand they are
to never try these themselves. The pickle represents what could happen
to a human
Activity 13: Taking electric experiments a bit further
This is the clip
art image I'm going to use to make a shape book for this activity.
A
stripped down motor
Building
an electric car
Design
an electric car. There are no instructions just a list of materials
to give them. They come up with the design on their own using the knowledge
they have gathered.
Build
a planetary land rover.
Disclaimer: All links are for informational purposes only
- a link to a web site does not imply agreement with or endorsement of
that site. Because of the changing nature of the internet, always preview
a site before viewing it with your children.
