Bonneville
Activities and Assessment of Vocabulary and Units
It's pass or fail, and one must pass to move on to the next lesson—no pressure. The second of seven installments in the Off the Grid unit has pupils demonstrate their knowledge of vocabulary as well as the process of using a multimeter....
Cornell University
Making a Battery
Don't be shocked when your class has a blast making their own batteries! Science scholars examine a dry cell battery, then design and construct a wet cell battery. The activity guides them through the parts of a battery, the variables...
Gears Educational System
Battery Basics
In a series of activities, high schoolers research and compare batteries of different chemistries (such as nickel-cadmium), measure current and voltage, and use multimeters and math to compute their capacities. In the end, they try to...
Teach Engineering
Pointing at Maximum Power for PV
Following detailed directions, teams collect the voltage and current outputs of a photovoltaic cell by adjusting the resistance. Using the collected data, they determine the highest power output. Implications for weather and a large...
Bonneville
Copper Oxide Solar Cell Construction and Testing
Who knew some pieces of copper and some saltwater would be enough to generate electricity? The fifth of 14 lessons in the Cost Effective Solar Cells unit challenges scholars to create a solar cell. They take two copper sheets, use a hot...
Carnegie Mellon University
Battery Workshop
Introduce your class to the workings and parts of a battery-operated circuit. Pairs of pupils use lemons to make batteries and measure voltage and current with a multimeter. An accompanying worksheet is used for recording values and...
Teach Engineering
Introduction to Circuits and Ohm's Law
Take a very basic understanding of circuits and develop a strong understanding of the parts and function of a circuit. This activity is developed to be an independent exploration of circuits from the basics to series and parallel models....
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Get Connected with Ohm's Law
Ideal for your electricity unit, especially with middle schoolers, this lesson plan gets engineers using multimeters in electrical circuits to explore the relationships among voltage, current, and resistance. Older learners may even plot...
Teach Engineering
A New Angle on PV Efficiency
Let me get an angle on this! Investigate the orientation of a photovoltaic panel and its effect on efficiency. By using a light source, learners collect and plot current output to determine the ultimate orientation. The resource includes...
Micron Technology Foundation
Electricity
Conduct four electrifying electricity experiments that challenge young scientists to explore positive and negative charges and magnetic fields without the shock.
Curated OER
Electronic Components
Learners review new terminology and computer circuits and the value of a resistor. They complete three experiments, "Resistance Activities," Transistor Activities,"Diode Activities" and enter data, results and their findings on Student...
Curated OER
Electricity
Students explore electricity. After watching a PowerPoint presentation, students discuss the composition of electricity and how it is made. They participate in discovery activities by rotation through four activity stations set up on the...
Curated OER
Voltage Vantage
Students measure the voltage discharge of robots as the motors are used. In this physics lesson, students explain how to use a multimeter to measure voltage. They graph the voltage change over time and present their findings in class.
Curated OER
Ohm's Law I
Students work to increase the intensity of a light bulb by testing batteries in series and parallel circuits. They analyze Ohm's Law, power, parallel and series circuits, and ways to measure voltage and current.
Curated OER
Solar Kit Lesson #8 - Positioning Solar Panels II: Explorations with Stationary Panels
This lesson is preparation-intensive, but well worth the investment. You will construct five or six portable testing stations with which lab groups will gather data on the best position for collecting sunlight with a solar panel. This is...
Cornell University
Electromagnets
Discover the connection between electric current and magnets. Scholars create electromagnets by passing a magnet through a coil. They experiment with different materials to determine the variables that affect the strength of the current.
Cornell University
Characterizing a Solar Cell
Young classes are sure to get a charge out of this lesson! Learners experiment with circuits of a solar cell. They practice determining current, voltage, and power for the circuit and maximize the voltage and current of the cell.
Curated OER
Electronic Components
Students describe how resistors affect the flow of electricity. In this electronics lesson students examine transistors and what they do and how they work.
Curated OER
Lemon Battery
Students construct their own battery made of lemons. In this electrochemistry lesson, students explain why lemons conduct electricity. They perform a series of experiments to investigate its conductivity.
Curated OER
Chemistry: Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy
Students research on renewable and nonrenewable resources. In this chemistry lesson, students design and build solar panels. They evaluate their device and write a lab report.
Curated OER
Electric Field Mapping / Equipotential Lines
Students determine the equipotential lines surrounding a charged object. In this physics lesson, students draw lines to identify areas. They relate the spacing of the field lines to the strength of the charge.
Curated OER
Howdy Neighbor
Students role play a power grid set up to show how increased load affects the grid. In this physics lesson plan, students explain the importance of electricity in their daily lives. They identify the key components of the power grid.
Curated OER
E3 Project Instructional Plan
Students will build a solar panel. In this physics lesson plan, students will begin with a lecture on energy and proceed into research for their solar panel. The solar panels will be field tested and problems and solutions will be shared...
Curated OER
Solar Kit Lesson #7 Positioning Solar Panels I: Explorations with Tracking
Learners track and record data on the Sun's position in the sky and on the output of a solar panel tracking the Sun. On a second day, students graph and analyze the data to identify relationships between (1) the time of day, (2) the...