CIRCUITS: BATTERIES AND BULBS
5 E Lesson Plan
1. Engagement (hook):
2. Exploration:
4. Expansion:
3. Explanation:
Next, have students grab a snap circuit jr. kit from the math and science room. Allow students time to play around with it to see what they create! Don't give many guidelines, let students freely chose the circuit they want to make and be creative.
*Snap Circuit Jr. Materials*:
Snap circuit kits
Materials for building
Instruction book with hundreds of circuits included!
Board to build circuits on
*Here is what I built!*
1. The Musical Doorbell
2. The Laser Gun
3. The Flying Saucer
here is a video of our class demonstrating opening and closing circuits
5. Evaluation:
"I love to go spelunking. Has anyone ever been spelunking? Who knows what it is? Well, it is caving. You go with a group of people down into dark caves to explore around. On my last spelunking trip, I wanted to explore the cave alone so I told the other people in my group to go off and explore without me. I then turned off my headlamp, wanting to explore the sounds in the pitch dark. It was so dark I couldn't even see right in front of my face. Then suddenly, I heard a noise above my head and do you know what animals live in a cave? A bat! I was so frightened I went to stand up and hit my head on the top of the cave, shattering my headlamp. I felt around me and found my headlamp broken, finding a battery, a bulb, and two wires. I yelled for my group but all I heard was my echo. No one was anywhere to be found. I was all alone. Now, how do you think I fixed my headlamp? Take a few minutes with a partner and try to figure out how I fixed my light!"
Break students up into partners and give each group one battery, two wires (one red and one black), and a bulb. "Using these materials, see the different ways you can make the light bulb light up. Record ways that don't work as well. See if you would be able to fix your headlamp to find your way out fo the cave!"
Materials for each group
Combinations my partner and I used that worked to light the bulb!
One end of the black wire touches the side of the metal on the bulb and the other end touches the bottom of the battery.
One end of the black wire touches the side of the metal on the bulb and the other end touches the bottom of the battery.
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The red wire is connected to the bottom of the battery and the side of the metal part of the bulb.
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The black wire is connected to the bottom of the battery and the other end is touching the side of the metal part of the bulb.
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Both red and black wires are connected to an end of the battery with the other side of the red wire touching the bottom of the metal bulb and the black end touching the side of the metal bulb.
Combinations my partner and I used that didn't work to light the bulb!
1. Both the red and black wires are connected to an end of the battery with the other side of the red touching the side of the metal on the bulb and the other black end touching the other side of the metal part of the bulb.
2. the red wire touching both ends of the battery.
3. the black wire touching both ends of the battery.
"Can I get a couple volunteers to come draw up on the board what worked for you and your partner."
"Discuss as a table what you think happened to make our light bulb light."
Here are a few key terms to review with the class to help explain the process electricity travels through to make the bulb light.
Key Terms:
Insulators: A material electrons don't flow through easily. Example: rubber, plastic, air, glass.
Conductors: A material electrons flow through easily. Example: salt water
Battery: A source of power for electricity. {Image 1}
Light Bulb: uses an electric current to create light. {Image 2}
Switch: opens and closes circuits. Makes an open circuit turn into a closed circuit.
Closed Circuit: A full circle of a conductor that goes through a device. {Image 5}
Open Circuit: Not connected in a circle. {Image 4}
Short Circuit: A circuit that shortcuts the device. It gets hot! {Image 3}
Circuit Breaker: senses big electrical flow and opens the circuit. {Image 6}
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51grUOVTflL._SL1000_.jpg
https://neodesignconcepts.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/light-bulb-dezeen.jpg
http://www.sportys.com/media/catalog/product/cache/5/image/400x/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/1/0/10277_3.jpg
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51grUOVTflL._SL1000_.jpg
So, What Is Happening?
~When the two wires are connected to the battery, one wire connected to the side of the metal part of the bulb and the other to the bottom of the bulb, electrons are able to move quickly through the wires into the bulb and back, creating a closed circuit. The electrons move quickly through the wire, not wanting to be close to one another. As the electrons move through the wire and into the bottom of the lightbulb, they follow the metal wire inside the lightbulb up and bouncy quickly, banging together, across the little metal wire inside the light bulb. This is where you see the bulb light up. Then the electrons move down the other side of the metal wire and out of the side of the light bulb, back down through the wire on the other side, creating a closed circuit!
~Another scenario that we saw in our light bulb is when the electrons started moving quickly through our wire toward the light bulb, both our wires were connected to the light bulb in the same place, at the bottom of the metal part of the bulb. This caused the wires to heat up as the electrons were moving quickly and banging together. Due to this big amount of electrical energy, the electrons didn't go through the device, bypassing it, creating a short circuit. This situation is the reason wires get very hot and fires can start.
~Due to the previous scenario about short circuits, we have circuit breakers to sense this big electrical flow, open the circuit, and stop the electrons from traveling in a complete circuit from the battery through the bulb and back. This device is what helps prevent fires from starting in our homes and schools.
~Insulators and conductors are a part of the process of creating light. In our practice with batteries and light bulbs, we worked with both insulators and conductors. The outside of the wires and the black at the base of the bulb are two insulators that were apart of this activity as they worked to keep electrons from flowing through them easily. Furthermore, the metal part at the bottom of the bulb is a conductor as electrons were able to flow through it easily, to get in and out of the bulb, meeting up with the wires.
~Ask students to explain what happened in their circuit they made using the process and keywords we just learned about.
~Ask questions as you go through the lesson to make sure students are following along and retaining the information.
{Asking students to come up to the smartboard to demonstrate at the beginning is a great evaluation tool!}
~Research question for students:
"Can anyone tell me if a toaster uses electricity when it is turned off (heat not turned on)?"
*No, a toaster does not use electricity when it is turned off because there is no electrons moving through it. When the button is twisted to the on setting, that is the switch that tells the electrons to begin flowing through the cord and into the toaster, heating it up.
#1: When the switch is turned on, the electrons begin to flow through the blue "2" pieces (the conductors), reaching the button. When the button is pushed it causes the electrons to light up the small light, cueing the music to start. The music box is connected to the R1(register) piece. This piece acts as a monitor to allow the right number of electrons through to cue the music. If too many electrons went straight to the music box, the music would be bombarded and therefore, may not play. So, this register closely monitors the number of electrons it lets through which causes the music to play, before reaching the batteries again. This process is a complete circle which happens so quickly, one can hear the music play as soon as the switch is flicked.
#2: Again, the switch is flicked on, moving the electrons through the blue pieces, which are our conductors. The electrons then go through the R1 (register) in order to reach the laser gun alarm, before continuing their journey through the blue conductor and back to the batteries.
#3: In the final circuit, the switch is turned on, allowing the electrons to begin flowing through the blue conductors. Once the electrons reach the fan, it has so much power that it spins the fan motor so fast, releasing the fan into the air. As the fan is forced into the air, the electrons continue their journey back to the batteries, again making a closed circuit.