Unit Plan
Curated OER

Basic Electric Circuits

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students calculate the resistance across a bank of resistors in a series, parallel and combined circuit. Using new vocabulary words, they define and describe them in a scientific manner. After stating Ohm's Law, they solve electrical...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Circuits

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Learners investigate how series and parallel circuits work. In this physics activity, students build their own simple circuits and compare their characteristics. They explain the importance of circuit breakers in household circuits.
Article
Creative Science Centre

Creative Science Centre: Experiments With Homemade Batteries

For Students 9th - 10th
Simple homemade batteries are described that can be made from items found in the home or school lab. These experiments help students understand how to wire them up, the origin of current, voltage and power, as well as the chemistry that...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Investigating Batteries: Building an Electrolytic Cell

For Teachers 9th - 10th
For this inquiry, students will attempt to build an electrolytic cell which will cause a bulb to turn on then diagram the set-up. Included in this lab, students will experience voltage, solve a problem using the Nernst equation, and...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Whose Field Line Is It, Anyway?

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students teams each use a bar magnet, sheet of paper and iron shavings to reveal the field lines as they travel around a magnet. They repeat the activity with an electromagnet made by wrapping thin wire around a nail and connecting...
Activity
Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments: Lemon "Juice"

For Teachers 6th - 8th
"Juice" is a slang term sometimes used for electricity. Batteries are made up of one or more cells. Cells often consist of two different materials in a solution that are connected to each other by a wire. In this experiment, you will...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Put a Spark in It! Electricity

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Uncountable times every day "with the merest flick of a finger"each one of us calls on electricity to do our bidding. What would your life be like without electricity? Students begin learning about electricity with an introduction to the...