Partnerships Implementing Engineering Education Worcester Polytechnic Institute – Worcester Public Schools Supported by: National Science Foundation Electricity and Magnetism: 4.F.3 Lights Out _______________________________ Grade Level 4 Sessions Seasonality Instructional Mode(s) Team Size WPS Benchmarks Session 1 – 45-50 minutes N/A Small Group Activity 2 – 4 students 04.SC.IS.03 04.SC.IS.06 04.SC.PS.05 04.SC.TE.02 04.SC.TE.04 04.SC.TE.05 3-5.IS.03 3-5.IS.06 3-5.PS.4 3-5.TE.1.2 3-5.TE.2.1 3-5.TE.2.2 Electricity, circuit, continuity tester MA Frameworks Key Words _ Summary The students will learn about basic circuit components and will learn the basics of electricity including voltage and current. They will then construct a basic simple circuit. Finally they will use their circuit to test for current flow in houses and decide if the wire inside the house is cut or intact. Learning Objectives 2002 Worcester Public Schools (WPS) Benchmarks for Grade 4 04.SC.IS.03 Keep accurate records while conducting simple investigations or experiments. 04.SC.IS.06 Record data and communicate findings to others using graphs, charts, maps, models, and oral and written reports. 04.SC.PS.05 Recognize that electricity in circuits requires a complete loop through which an electrical current can pass, and that electricity can produce light, heat and sound. -1- Partnerships Implementing Engineering Education Worcester Polytechnic Institute – Worcester Public Schools Supported by: National Science Foundation 04.SC.TE.02 Identify and explain the appropriate materials and tools (e.g., hammer, screwdriver, pliers, tape measure, screws, nails, and other mechanical fasteners) to construct a given prototype safely. 04.SC.TE.04 Identify a problem that reflects the need for shelter, storage, or convenience. 04.SC.TE.05 Describe different ways in which a problem can be represented (e.g., sketches, diagrams, graphic organizers, and lists). Additional Learning Objectives 1. 04.SC.IS.03 Keep accurate records while conducting simple investigations or experiments. 2. 04.SC.IS.06 Record data and communicate findings to others using graphs, charts, maps, models, and oral and written reports. 3. 3-5.PS.4 Recognize that electricity in circuits requires a complete loop through which an electrical current can pass, and that electricity can produce light, heat and sound. 4. 3-5.TE.1.2 Identify and explain the appropriate materials and tools (e.g., hammer, screwdriver, pliers, tape measure, screws, nails, and other mechanical fasteners) to construct a given prototype safely. 5. 3-5.TE.2.1 Identify a problem that reflects the need for shelter, storage, or convenience. 6. 3-5.TE.2.2 Describe different ways in which a problem can be represented (e.g., sketches, diagrams, graphic organizers, and lists). Required Background Knowledge Basic understanding of electricity. Essential Questions 1. What are the basic circuit components and how do voltage and current work? 2. How can I build a useful circuit to test for current flow? -2- Partnerships Implementing Engineering Education Worcester Polytechnic Institute – Worcester Public Schools Supported by: National Science Foundation Introduction / Motivation Electricity is all around us. We are going to build the same circuit that is in a flashlight so we are going to get to build something that exists in real life. Procedure Part I – 45-55 minutes The instructor will: 1. Review electricity and electrical engineering (see Lights Out!). Be sure to go over what electrical engineers might do. Go over the different types of circuits and components of a circuit. (5-10 minutes) 2. The next part is to go through step by step how to build a circuit that can turn on and off an LED with the use of a switch. (5 minutes) 3. Next we hand out the Light Out! Worksheet. The kids need to think about how they can use their circuit to test the houses. When the students have completed that worksheets, hand out Test Results. The students should proceed through the worksheet as noted testing each house on their assigned street (approximately 4 students will be assigned to each street of houses) and keeping track of what they discover. (30 minutes) 4. Discuss what the class found. Go over safety issues. Tell the students to NEVER use the circuit they built to test things plugged into the wall. (5-10 minutes) Materials List Materials per group/student Amount Location AA battery 2 Supermarket, electronics store Resistor 1 Electronics store LED 1 Electronics store Switch 1 Electronics store “house” boxes 3 or 4 Paper goods store, party supply store Wire As needed Electronics store Wire cutters 1 Electronics store Duct or electrical tape 2 Hardware store, electronics store -3- Partnerships Implementing Engineering Education Worcester Polytechnic Institute – Worcester Public Schools Supported by: National Science Foundation Vocabulary with Definitions (in alphabetical order) 1. Circuit - A path along which negative charges move. 2. Parallel circuit – a path that branches; the electricity can follow more than one branch, just like a river that splits into several paths. Each path can have its own switch. If one of the paths breaks, the others will still work. 3. Series Circuit – a path which forms one continuous loop; there can be one or more devices in the path. If a wire breaks, the entire circuit stops working. Assessment / Evaluation of Students The instructor may assess the students by checking their worksheets. Lesson Extensions None Attachments 1. Lights Out! 2. Lights Out! Worksheet 3. Test Results 4. Electric Circuits and Your Continuity Tester 5. Continuity Tester Safety and Ideas Troubleshooting Tips None Safety Issues The students should not try to test anything plugged into the wall. Additional Resources None Key Words Electricity, circuit, continuity tester -4- Name: _______________________________ Date: _______________ LIGHTS OUT! Worksheet It is your job to design and build a circuit that will be able to detect if there is current flow in any of the houses below. This circuit is called a continuity tester. Sketch your circuit drawing here. Don’t forget the circuit must contain a path, a power source, a load, and a control device. Name: ______________________________ Date: ________________ Test Results Now it is time to build your circuit. Once you’ve built your circuit, you should use it to test each house individually as well as the street as a whole. Fill in what you find in the table below. Street name: _______________________________________________________ Test House A House B House C All 3 houses Did it light? Do you think these houses were wired in series or parallel? How do you know? ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ An electric circuit is a path around which electricity can travel. There must be a source of electricity, and an unbroken path from one side of the source to the other. In our example below, the source is a battery. The electricity travels from one pole of the battery, through the light and the switch (which is connected, or ' closed' ), and back to the other pole of the battery. This path forms a complete circuit. This simple circuit has just one device (or load), not counting the switch ... it' s the light bulb. If you were to open the switch, the circuit would be broken, and the light bulb would go out. There are more complicated circuits, of course; let' s look at one with two light bulbs on it. Here is a circuit with two bulbs. Notice how the bulbs lie along the path of the electricity. The electric current flows through one light bulb, and then the other. This kind of path is called a series circuit. The bulbs are said to be in a series. When you open the switch, both bulbs turn off. This is a very simple circuit to build. But what would happen if a wire were to break, somewhere in the circuit? Here is a series circuit with a broken wire. The switch is closed, but neither of the bulbs are lit up. This is because the circuit has been broken. No electricity can flow at all, because there is no complete path from one pole of the battery to the other. A series circuit will stop if it’s broken anywhere. But there is another type of circuit that can allow electricity to flow, even if a wire is broken. Here is a parallel circuit. Notice how the path that the electricity can follow branches into three parts. The electricity can choose any of the three paths. It will flow through all three of them, just like a river will branch into three streams. This can be very useful. In this example, the switch controls all three lights at once. If you open the switch, all the lights will turn off at once. But what if you wanted to turn off just one light ... how would you do it? You got it! Put switches on each of the branches in the parallel circuit. In our example here, the electricity can flow to both of the light bulbs. But one of the switches has been opened, so that light is off. Even though that path is broken the electricity can still follow the other path, so the other bulb remains lit. This means that a parallel circuit with a break in it could still work. Here' s a parallel circuit with a break. Notice that one of the paths is broken. But there are still two paths that the electricity can follow, so two of the bulbs remain lit up. A circuit is a complete path, around which electricity can flow. A series circuit is a path which forms one continuous loop; there can be one or more devices in the path. If a wire breaks, the entire circuit stops working. A parallel circuit is a path that branches; the electricity can follow more than one branch, just like a river that splits into several paths. Each path can have its own switch. If one of the paths breaks, the others will still work. ! # " !! ! # You can use your continuity tester to find out if a certain material conducts or does not conduct. If a material can conduct it means electricity can pass trough it. It becomes part of the path (like the wire). Try testing a piece of aluminum foil. Does it conduct? How about a piece of cloth? Try to think of different things that you can test. Just remember NEVER to connect your tester to the wall socket or anything that is plugged into a wall socket!