ALEX Learning Activity

  

Got Power? What Is Electricity?

A Learning Activity is a strategy a teacher chooses to actively engage students in learning a concept or skill using a digital tool/resource.

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  This learning activity provided by:  
Author: Sophia Hedrington
System:Dothan City
School:Heard Magnet School
  General Activity Information  
Activity ID: 2944
Title:
Got Power? What Is Electricity?
Digital Tool/Resource:
Got Power? Experiment Procedures
Web Address – URL:
Overview:

In this activity, students will further expand their knowledge of energy and matter by exploring electrons. Students will learn that the flow of electrons creates electric currents. Students will explore open and closed circuits to plan an experiment that uses electricity.

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools. 
  Associated Standards and Objectives  
Content Standard(s):
Science
SC2015 (2015)
Grade: 4
2 ) Plan and carry out investigations that explain transference of energy from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.

a. Provide evidence that heat can be produced in many ways (e.g., rubbing hands together, burning leaves) and can move from one object to another by conduction.

b. Demonstrate that different objects can absorb, reflect, and/or conduct energy.

c. Demonstrate that electric circuits require a complete loop through which an electric current can pass.

NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
P4.11: Electricity flowing through an electrical circuit produces magnetic effects in the wires. In an electrical circuit containing a battery, a bulb, and a bell, energy from the battery is transferred to the bulb and the bell, which in turn transfer the energy to their surroundings as light, sound, and heat (thermal energy).

NAEP Statement::
P4.2: Objects vary in the extent to which they absorb and reflect light and conduct heat (thermal energy) and electricity.

NAEP Statement::
P4.7: Heat (thermal energy), electricity, light, and sound are forms of energy.§

NAEP Statement::
P4.8: Heat (thermal energy) results when substances burn, when certain kinds of materials rub against each other, and when electricity flows though wires. Metals are good conductors of heat (thermal energy) and electricity. Increasing the temperature of any substance requires the addition of energy.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Planning and Carrying out Investigations; Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions; Developing and Using Models
Crosscutting Concepts: Energy and Matter
Disciplinary Core Idea: Energy
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Plan and carry out investigations that explain transference of energy from place to place by sound.
  • Plan and carry out investigations that explain transference of energy from place to place by light.
  • Plan and carry out investigations that explain transference of energy from place to place by heat.
  • Plan and carry out investigations that explain transference of energy from place to place by electric currents.
  • Provide evidence that heat can be produced in many ways.
  • Provide evidence that heat can move from one object to another by conduction.
  • Demonstrate that different objects can absorb energy.
  • Demonstrate that different objects can reflect energy.
  • Demonstrate that different objects can conduct energy.
  • Demonstrate that electric circuits require a complete loop for the electric current to pass through.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Construct
  • Transfer
  • Energy
  • Potential energy
  • Kinetic energy
  • Friction
  • Conduction
  • Absorb
  • Reflect
  • Circuit
  • Open circuit
  • Close circuit
  • Heat
  • Radiation
  • Convection
  • Collision
  • Motion
  • Electrical energy
  • Stored energy
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Energy is present whenever there are moving objects, sound, light, or heat.
  • The transfer of energy, including the following:
    • Collisions between objects.
    • Light traveling from one place to another.
    • Electric currents producing motion, sound, heat, or light.
    • Sound traveling from one place to another.
    • Heat passing from one object to another.
    • Motion, sound, heat, and light causing a different type of energy to be observed after an interaction.
  • Heat is produced in many ways.
  • Heat can move via conduction.
  • The properties of different objects cause them to be able to absorb, reflect, and/or conduct energy.
  • Electric currents pass through a circuit.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Collaboratively plan and carry out an investigation that converts energy one form to another.
    • Identify the phenomenon.
    • Identify the evidence to address the purpose of the investigation.
    • Collect the data.
  • Construct an explanation using evidence about heat production.
  • Develop a model demonstrating that different objects can absorb, reflect, and/or conduct energy.
  • Develop a model demonstrating electric circuits.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects.
  • Heat energy can be produced in many ways.
  • The properties of objects, e.g. ability to absorb, reflect, or conduct energy, relate to their function.
  • Electric energy can be transferred through circuits.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Energy and Waves
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.4.2- Recognize different sources of heat; Identify materials that are conductors of heat, such as metals.
Learning Objectives:

The students will plan an investigation that explains the transfer of energy from place to place by electric current. 
  Strategies, Preparations and Variations  
Phase:
During/Explore/Explain
Activity:

This activity will focus on Electricity. Students should have basic prior knowledge of the relationship between electricity, energy, and matter. 

The teacher will have the students read aloud the lesson objectives. Below are the learning objectives in student-friendly terms.

  • I can actively participate in explicit teacher-led instruction to gain important knowledge about electricity.

  • I can provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric current. 

The teacher will review the key terms and definitions for the activity: circuit, conductors, return, electrons, energy, and matter.

  • A circuit is a path that an electric current can travels along. 

  • A conductor is a material that conducts electricity. 

  • An insulator is a material where electric energy cannot flow freely.

  • Return is the place to which the electrons flow in a circuit. 

  • Electrons are negatively charged particles that exist in a cloud around the nucleus of an atom. 

  • Energy is the power an atom's charged particles has to cause an action or move an object. 

  • Matter is an atom that contains tiny protons, electrons, and neutrons.

  1. The teacher will give each student a pre-printed handout with the materials and procedures written down for an investigation of energy transference by electric current. Students will glue this into glue it in their journals.

  2. The teacher will have the students write Entry #3 – Planning an Investigation in their science notebooks/journals on a new page.

  3. The teacher will have the students divide their notebook page into three sections and label each section “Question,” “Prediction,” and “Results.”

  4. The teacher and students will write the focus question in their notebooks under the “Question” label. Question: How many connections to a battery are necessary for a light bulb to light up?

  5. The teacher will ask each student to predict what they think will happen during the investigation on energy transference by electric current.

Sentence frame “I predict that …”

6. The teacher will put the students in groups of 4 to develop a sketch of their investigation based on the written procedures. (Remind the students to be very detailed when sketching their plans.)

7. The teacher will check each sketch to ensure completion, and allow the students to make the necessary revisions.
Assessment Strategies:

Exit Ticket (Quick Write)

In your own words, what is the difference between an open and closed circuit?
Advanced Preparation:

The teacher will need to make sure that each student has their Science Journals or Investigation Notebooks.

The teacher will need to print out the procedures and materials for students to glue in their notebooks. 

The students are asked to complete Entry #3 in their science journals. Entry #3 will be the students' and teacher-created discussion on how to plan and execute the investigation for energy transference by electric current.

The teacher needs a sample of how to complete Entry #3 with the three sections: "Question," "Prediction," and "Variables."
Variation Tips (optional):

Tier II Intervention (Small Group/Reteaching)

The teacher and the students will work in small groups of no more than 4 students to revise their investigation sketches. 

Extension Activity 

The teacher will have the Extension Activity “Capture the Gist” written on the board. Directions: The students are to write an independent summary of their investigation sketch in 20 words or less. This statement must be a true statement. 
Notes or Recommendations (optional):

Teachers can use this activity in the class as whole group instruction and/or small group instruction. The lesson should last for 30 - 45 minutes. 

Students have a variety of resources in their science notebooks as reference materials to prepare for the final project.

Links to Related Activities:

Before Activity- Got Power? An Introduction to Electricity

After Activity- Got Power? Creating a Complete Electric Circuit
  Keywords and Search Tags  
Keywords and Search Tags: closed circuits, electric current, electricity, open circuits, transferring energy