Lesson Plan
BioEd Online

Bio Ed Online: Neural Network Signals

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Nervous system messages are sent as electrical signals along the length of axons and dissolved salts are important for electrical signaling in cells. In this lesson students are introduced to this concept by creating an electrical...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Saltwater Circuit

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students build a saltwater circuit, which is an electrical circuit that uses saltwater as part of the circuit. Students investigate the conductivity of saltwater, and develop an understanding of how the amount of salt in a solution...
Interactive
University of Colorado

University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Band Structure

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore the origin of energy bands in crystals of atoms. The structure of these bands determines how materials conduct electricity. Java required.
Activity
National Geographic

National Geographic: Building Circuits

For Teachers 4th - 8th
In this lesson, students build series and parallel circuits and test their conductivity. Includes handouts with diagrams, and a vocabulary list with definitions.
Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: Currents, Resistors, and Power

For Students 9th - 10th
In this interactive tutorial students will learn about electric current, resistance and current density. Learn how current density relates to electric field strength and how resistance produces heat.
Handout
Physics4kids

Physics4 Kids: Electricity and Magnetism: Conductors and Conductivity

For Students 3rd - 8th
A brief overview of several type of conductors.
Handout
University of California

University of California: Seawater Density & Salinity [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the properties of seawater and the variations depending on its location, e.g., near a shoreline, in an estuary, or as sea ice. Discusses the instruments scientists use to measure the density of water and explains other...
Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Charge and Carry

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from The Exploratorium Museum is a full description of a short activity. An electrophorus plate and a Leyden jar are made. The electrophorus is charged by induction. Its charge is transferred to the Leyden jar by conduction...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Get Charged!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students are introduced to the idea of electrical energy. They learn about the relationships between charge, voltage, current and resistance. They discover that electrical energy is the form of energy that powers most of their household...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Lights On!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students in this activity will build simple circuits using a battery, wires, and light bulbs. This activity allows students to examine how electricity is conducted through a light bulb using a battery as a power source. Students will...
Unit Plan
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Magnet Academy: Duchenne Machine 1850

For Students 9th - 10th
French physician Guillaume Benjamin Amand Duchenne invented a device that electrically stimulates muscles. The apparatus gave him new insight into neuromuscular disorders, earned him the epitaph of "father of electrotherapeutics," and...
Lesson Plan
SRI International

Performance Assessment Links in Science: Mystery Card 3

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Straightforward introduction to electrical circuits using minimal materials and time. Students learn about the basics of electrical circuits by experimenting with "mystery cards" -- index cards with hidden aluminum foil used to conduct...
Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: Charge and Coulomb's Law

For Students 9th - 10th
Learning about charge and forces of attraction will be keys to understanding electrostatics and the basis of this learning unit. Developing a greater understanding of charge and the charge model is necessary to understanding electricity.
Handout
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Magnet Academy: Michael Faraday

For Students 9th - 10th
A self-educated man with a brilliant mind, Michael Faraday was born in a hardscrabble neighborhood in London. Through the combination of insatiable curiosity and a powerful will to succeed, he transcended his austere beginnings to...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Energy

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Through nine lessons, students are introduced to a range of energy types--electrical, light, sound and thermal-as well as the renewable energy sources of wind, hydro (water) and solar power. Subjects range from understanding that the...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: The Grid

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
The class forms a "Presidential Task Force" for a week, empowered by the president to find answers and make recommendations concerning the future of the national power grid. Task force members conduct daily debriefings with their...
Website
Nobel Media AB

The Nobel Prize: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1908

For Students 9th - 10th
At this site read about Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937 CE), the scientist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, "for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances." This...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Renewable Energy Living Lab

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students become familiar with the online Renewable Energy Living Lab interface and access its real-world solar energy data to evaluate the potential for solar generation in various U.S. locations. They become familiar with where the most...
Activity
Other

Lcs: Experiments on the Electrolysis of Sodium Chloride

For Students 9th - 10th
Complete directions several methods of conducting the electrolysis of sodium chloride solution. Helpful tips, discussion and a diagram of the apparatus and set-up is provided. Easily adaptable as a student lab or project.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Valence Electrons

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Valence electrons, their variation in the periodic table and relation to reactivity and electrical conductivity of elements.
Lesson Plan
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Ornl: Teacher's Guide Superconductivity for High School Students

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This site from the Human Genome Project provides a large collection of facts and information, demonstrations, experiments and project ideas. Written for teachers but easily adaptable for any type of student work. A good site to check out...
Handout
University of St. Andrews (UK)

University of St. Andrews: Insulators

For Students 9th - 10th
The nature of insulators is described at the atomic level. Band gap theory is used to explain what distinguishes insulators from conductors.
Handout
American Association of Physics Teachers

Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Rail Gun Model

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Simulate the movement of a rail gun in this interactive model. Learn how a magnetic field is generated by running electrical current through long rods that accelerates a current-carrying cross-rod.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Yogurt Cup Speakers

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
This lesson introduces students to the role of electricity and magnetism as they build a speaker. In addition, students explore properties of magnets, create an electromagnet, and determine the direction of a magnetic filed. They conduct...