Grade 6: Understanding Electricity
This resource has been created to help teachers determine activities that meet the
requirements for the Grade 6 “Electricity” Science Unit. We understand that individual schools
and teachers may have a variety of different resources for their students. Student handouts
have been included in this binder to support many of the example activities listed. We also
understand that there are many other learning activities that could be included in this binder.
Our hope is that the online version of this resource becomes a “living” document in which
teachers are adding other activity ideas to support the outcomes of “Electricity”.
Resources:
Addison Wesley, Science & Technology 6: Electricity. Toronto, Ontario: Pearson Education
Canada Inc.,1999.
Sask Science 6: Electricity. Toronto, Ontario: 2010 Pearson Education Canada Inc., 2010.
Sylvester, D: “Electricity”. Rainbow Horizons Publishing.
Great Websites:
www.saskpower.com
www.thestoryofstuff.com/electronics
www.physicsclassroom.com
www.youtube.com for a variety of videos!!!
www.brainpop.com (a user account is required)
Other sources:
“Power PAC Team” presentations from the Sask Safety Council: 306-757-3197
www.sasksafety.org
“Let’s Talk Science” Student volunteers from the University of Saskatchewan (FREE!)
www.letstalkscience.ca/usaskcca
Grade 6 Electricity
Appendix A
News article Student Handouts
Appendix B
Presentation Application for Inquiry Learning Project
Appendix C
Electrical Safety Tour Brochure
Appendix D
“To Dam or Not to Dam” Activity Handouts
Appendix E
Sunshine City Activity Handouts
Appendix F
Role Play Handouts (Pearson text)
Appendix G
“Careers in Electricity: Occupation Profile”
Appendix H
Examples of Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources;
Teacher Reference
Appendix I
“Life Without Electricity” Letter and Questions
Appendix J
Writing a Short Story; Student Handouts
Appendix K
Case Study: The Loss of Mistaseni Rock
Appendix L
“Lights Off” Campaign Activity
Appendix M
“Surveying the Cost of Electrical Energy”
Appendix N
Electromagnet Activity (Addison-Wesley)
Appendix O
Electromagnet Activity (Pearson, SK Science 6)
Appendix P
“The Great Pop Can Race”
Appendix Q
“Swinging Cereal”
Appendix R
“Light a light bulb with a balloon”
Appendix S
“Bad Hair Days Explained”
Appendix T
Task Cards
Appendix U
The Scientific Method - Template
EL6.1 : Assess personal, societal, economic, and environmental impacts of
electricity use in Saskatchewan and propose actions to reduce those impacts.
(CP, DM)
Questions related to indicators:
Example Activities
What energy sources were used to
provide heat and light in the past?

Students can interview (Great)
Grandparents/Elders in the community to
find out sources of heat and light, cost
involved, etc.; the class can generate a list
of questions to ask prior to interviews.
These can video taped and shared with
the class or students can present the
information they learn from the interview
in the form of a news article. (See
Appendix A)
What energy sources are used (in
Saskatchewan) to provide heat and light
today?

Provide a variety of resources for students
to use to learn about different energy
sources (resource books, internet,
pamphlets, magazines, etc.). Students can
be placed in small groups and work
together to create a presentation for the
whole class. Generate a list of research
questions/topics to explore. Give choice
for HOW students can present, such as:
power point, play, poster/model, mural,
dance, etc. See a presentation application
included in binder (Appendix B) as an
example for students to put together their
presentation plan.

Visit an electrical energy generation
facility (such as the Gardiner Dam at Lake
Diefenbaker).

Visit a local electricity plant for a tour. For
example, in Saskatoon classes can take an
Electrical and Safety tour at the Saskatoon
Light and Power Facility. Call 975-2414 to
Key Research Questions:
o How is electrical
energy generated
from hydroelectric,
coal, natural gas,
nuclear, geothermal,
biomass, solar, and
wind sources?
o How are these sources
of energy generated
and transmitted to
homes throughout the
province?
o What types of careers
are related to this
electrical energy
source (generation,
distribution, and
conservation)?
book a tour. (See Appendix C for a sample
brochure)
Categorize electrical energy sources as
renewable and non-renewable.

(From “Project Wildlife” Teacher
Resource) Students participate in a debate
entitled, “To Dam or not to Dam”.
Students are assigned a role in a
community to role-play at a mock town
meeting in which town members are
debating if they should build a dam to act
as an electrical source of energy to power
their growing community. Roles such as
politicians, environment activists and the
local grocery store owner are represented
at the meeting. (See Appendix D for
activity sheets).

Students participate in a role play entitled,
“Sunshine City” as outlined in the
Ranibow Horizon: Electricity resource.
(See Appendix E)

Students participate in a role play as
described in the Sask Science textbook
from Pearson (2010). (See Appendix F)

See student handout, “Careers in
Electricity – Occupation Profile” (from
Pearson text); students research a career
in each of the three fields listed
(generation, distribution, conservation).
(See appendix G)

Page 10-14 Addison Wesley “Science and
Technology: Electricity” outlines examples
of these two types of energy sources.
(Appendix H)

Students create a 2-part collage
illustrating renewable and non-renewable
energy sources. Use magazines,
newspapers and brochures for students to
How has electricity-based technologies
changed the way people work, live and
interact with the environment?
What factors affect electrical energy
consumption at home and school?
How can individuals decrease their
electrical energy use?

cut pictures and words/descriptions out of
to place in their collage.
Students read handout/letter, “Life
Without Electricity” and answer the
questions to classify examples of
renewable and non-renewable energy
sources, analyze their own use of
electrical energy and compare their use
and lifestyle to that of someone living in a
remote Kenyan village. Extension:
students create “A day without Electricity”
short story (Appendix I).

Page 273 Pearson text: Case Study- The
Loss of Mistaseni Rock (student handout
included). Students read about and
reflect on the effects of the creation of
dams and resevoirs. Student handouts
are included in binder.

Visit:www.thestoryofstuff.com/electronics
for an amazing video on how the “stuff”
we produce impacts the environment.

“Lights Out” Campaign: Students are
assigned a schedule (aprox. 2 at a time) to
go around and check that classrooms have
shut off their lights (and smart boards)
during recess breaks. Classes are awarded
a yellow light for having their lights off or
a red light if they were left on. This
activity can be made into a competition
for which class can accumulate the most
yellow lights over a week/month.
Example handouts are included in binder
for setting up this action project
(Appendix L).

“Surveying the Cost of Electrical Energy”
student handout: students make a list of
electric appliances in their home and
record how long they are used in a 24
hour period and calculate the cost of such
use. They also think about ways to reduce
the amount of number ok kilowatts used.
(Appendix M)

SaskPower conducts and “Energy & Our
Environment Poster Contest” for students
in grades 5 and 6 each year for students to
promote energy-saving strategies. They
also display winning video’s from ecoClips
prize winning videos on their website
(high school contest):
www.saskpower.com/shandgreenhouse
-
What are some potential
dangers of electricity use at
home, school or the
workplace? How can these
dangers be eliminated?

Students can visit www.saskpower.com
and follow the prompts to the kidzone to
play games and learn about the various
electrical energy sources of danger.
SaskPower also creates electricity
booklets for children (ex: We’re Talking
Electricity with Louie the Lightning Bug)

Students can create a children’s book to
illustrate and explain possible danger
areas of electricity use at home and share
their books with students in grades 1-3.
EL6.2: Investigate the characteristics and applications of static electric
charges, conductors, insulators, switches and electromagnetism. (SI)
General Activity related to all indicators in this outcome:
“Electrical Science Fair”: Students conduct investigations (propose a question, make
predictions, identify materials needed, record results, and describe results) related to the
physical properties of conductors, insulators, simple circuits, or electromagnets (eg: Who can
we determine if an unknown material is a conductor or an insulator? Or, “How can we increase
the strength of an electromagnet?) and present to their peers/ community members.
Questions related to Indicators:
Conduct investigations to determine the
attraction and repulsion of electrostatically
charged materials and represent results of
those investigations using drawings,
sketches, tables, charts, etc
Other Example Activities:
Describe the operation of an electromagnet
and contrast magnets and electromagnets.
Or
What are some natural and man-made
applications of static electric charge and
discharge (eg: lightning, photocopiers, laser
printers, air filters, and electrostatic paint
sprayers).
What are the characteristics of insulators
and conductors of electricity?

See Pg 30-31 of Addison Wesley
“Science and Technonolgy: Electricity”
for an experiment where students
create and test the power of an
electromagnet. (Appendix N)

Page 131-132 in Pearson SaskScience
6 (2010) : students design and carry
out an experiment to test the power
of an electromagnet. BLM also
available for students to when testing.
(Appendix O)

See http://education.jlab.org for a
video showing the steps on how to
make an electromagnet.

Pearson text, pg. 271: The Great Pop
Can Race: students use power
generated from static electricity to
race pop cans. (Appendix P)

See “Swinging Cereal” handout for a
fun experiment related to static
electricity using a comb, thread and
cereal. (Appendix Q)

See “Light a light bulb with a balloon”
project idea. Note safety precautions!
(Appendix R)

“Bad Hair Days – Explained!” student
and activity (Appendix S)

See Task Cards (Appendix T) for
students to conduct an investigation
to determine materials that can be
classified as insulators and
conductors.
Explain the role of switches in electrical
circuits.

Students explore this idea using circuit
boards or other electrical kits that can
be purchased from Teachers Trunk,
Scholastic, or Amazon.com. The
student kit included in the bin includes
a handout explaining/illustrating
circuits, including switches

A variety of videos on youtube
describe roles of switches.
EL6.3: Explain and model the properties of simple series and parallel circuits.
(SI, TPS)
-
We suggest having a few “Electricity Kits” available for students to carry out tasks
described in this outcome. Please see example kit in bin (purchased from “Teacher
Trunk” in Saskatoon for $12.99 each, as well as the Task Card information sheets
(Appendix T) that outline tasks students can complete using the contents of this kit.
Questions related to indicators:
- What are the required
characteristics of a simple electric
circuit? (A source of electrical
energy, a closed path to conduct
electrical energy, and a load to
convert the electrical energy into
another form of energy.)
-
Compare a variety of electrical
pathways by constructing simple
circuits.
-
Investigate practical problems
relating to simple series and
parallel circuits (including
Example Activities:



Students go through the contents of
their kit to discover the materials
they will need to create a simple
circuit.
There are some great videos on
youtube to present information to
students on this topic.
Place students in groups (aprox. 4 in
each group) to conduct a series of
tasks outlined on the “Task Cards”. A
handout describing tasks is included
in this binder.
combinations to determine
similarities and differences of
series and parallel circuits).
-
Construct simple circuits to
demonstrate how electrical
energy can be controlled to
produce light, heat, sound, motion
and magnetic effects.
-
Design, construct, and
troubleshoot an electrical circuit
that meets one or more student
specific criteria.

Students can build and wire a minihouse using a variety of materials.
Appendix
Appendix B
Source of Electrical Energy
Project Application Form
Group Members:
______________________________________________________________________
Type of Electrical Energy Source:________________________________________________
Questions to “Find Out”:
Resources we will use:
(List any books, magazines, websites or other print resources)
Elders / Knowledge Keepers / People I/we can talk to:
Style / Type of Presentation:
________________________________________________
Materials Needed:
Other Information:
Appendix J
A Day Without Electricity – Story Planner
Title
Setting
Characters
Sequence of Events:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Ending:
Appendix L
Grade 6 – Lights OFF!
___________
Date
time
Campaign
Completed by:
Class:
Status
MEMO
Date:
TO:
________________________
FROM:
School Staff
Grade 6 Class
RE: LIGHTS OFF! Campaign
______________________________________________________Attn:
School Staff
As part of our Electricity Unit in Science, our class is taking an active
role in helping our school reduce their use of electricity. We will be
running a LIGHTS OFF Campaign in which we will be checking up and rewarding
classrooms that shut off their lights when not in the classroom.
Students in our class will be taking turns circulating the halls twice a day
at various times checking up on all classrooms and offices. If you are not
in your classroom/office and your lights are off your class will receive a
yellow light bulb. If you are not in your room/office and the lights are on,
your class will receive a warning bulb as a reminder to shut off your lights.
Our campaign will bring awareness to the simple energy saving task of
shutting off your lights when you are out of your room/ office.
Please discuss this campaign with your students as prizes will be awarded to
the classroom with the best record at the end of the campaign.
Thank you for your participation in this exciting campaign.
be energy efficient champions!!!
Together, we can
Sincerely,
The Grade 6 Class
Grade 6 LIGHTS OFF! Campaign – LIGHT CHECK SIGN UP
Date
Student Checkers
Completed
Great Job!!!
1 Light Bulb
Awarded!
_________________________
Great Job!!!
1 Light Bulb
Awarded!
Appendix
T
Task Cards
Task A:
1. Using the materials provided, make one
light bulb light up!
2. In your inquiry journal, sketch an
illustration of how you completed your
task.
Task B:
Using a variety of materials (popsicle stick,
paper clip, chalk, eraser, staple), determine
which materials are conductors (the light bulb
lights up) or insulators (the light bulb doesn’t
light up). Create a table to record your
findings.
Task C:
1. Make 2 light bulbs come on at the same
time.
2. In your Inquiry Journal, sketch an
illustration of how you completed your
task.
Task D:
1. Using the materials provided, create a
circuit to include 2 light bulbs, but make it
so only one light bulb comes on at a time.
2. In your Inquiry Journal, sketch an
illustration of how you completed your
task.
Task B Student Handout: Conductors and Insulators
Material
Popsicle Stick
Paper Clip
Chalk
Eraser
Staple
Does the Light Bulb Light Up?
Yes
No
(Conductor)
(Insulator)
Conductive Materials are those materials that allow
______________________ to flow through them.
Group reflection questions …
 Why do you think the connecting wires are made of
copper?
 Why do you think the clips on the holders are made of
steel or brass?
 Why do you think the holders are made of plastic?