Electricity Week 1

Prep:
Have this template printed out for the week's use:

Also print out these activities:

Monday:

What is Electricity?

 

Give children brief explanation on process, something along the lines of:

Electricity is caused by flowing electrons.  Our children are not familiar with atoms, so draw them a picture (5,000 atoms on the head of a pin?).  The center of the atom has protons (+) and neutrons (no charge).  Electrons (-) circle around the nucleus of the atom.
If you rub a balloon on your hair, some of the electrons rub off the balloon and onto your hair.  The balloon is positively charged (because it now has more protons than electrons).  Your hair is negatively charged (because it now has more electrons than protons).  Opposite charges attract, which makes your hair stand on end when you hold the charged balloon close to it.  This is static electricity.
The electricity that flows through the wires in our homes is current electricity. Batteries use a chemical reaction to create current electricity.
For more information on electricity, check out the Magic Schoolbus and the Electric Field Trip.

Have children do the 'forms of energy work sheet.

Tuesday:

How do electric circuits work?

An electric circuit is like a pathway made of wires that electrons can flow through. A battery

or other power source gives the force (voltage) that makes the electrons move. When the 

electrons get to a device like a light bulb, your computer, or a refrigerator, they give it 

the power to make it work. 

The word "circuit" sounds like "circle," and a circuit needs to be circular to work. The wires

have to go from the power source to the device and back again, so that the electrons can go out

and come back.

Many circuits have a switch so that they can be turned on and off. When the switch is off, it 

makes a gap in the circuit and the electrons are not able to flow around. When the switch is 

turned on, it closes the gap and the electricity is able to move and make the device work. 

Have the children do the third work sheet.

Wednesday: 

This experiment is wonderfully worded here: http://frugalfun4boys.com/2012/03/19/electricity-experiments-for-kids/

To power a device such as a lightbulb, you need a circuit – an unbroken circle – for the electricity to flow through.
To make a circuit, you need copper wire, a 6 volt lantern battery, alligator clips, and a lightbulb.
*Note:  If you build your own circuit (without a neat lightbulb holder), you need to have one wire touch the very bottom of the lightbulb and the other wire touch the side of the lightbulb like this.  Otherwise, your lightbulb won’t light up.


A switch is simply a break in a circuit.  This switch came with our set, but would be really easy to duplicate at home with an index card, two metal paper fasteners, and a paper clip.  When the paper clip is touching both of the paper fasteners, the lightbulb lights up!  Move the paper clip away from one of the fasteners, and the light goes out.
Here is what the underside of the switch looks like.
The paper switch shows how a switch works, but I also bought a real light switch from Home Depot, and we hooked up the wires to that.  The boys had so much fun switching the switch and watching the light bulb turn on and off!

In their note page, in a triangle, have the children draw a picture of the experiment and a brief note on what happened and how it worked.

Thursday:


Most of the time electricity is safe. We have to watch out for dangerous electrical situations and know what to do.
We have to be smart, and careful, or we could be in for a big SHOCK.
As a class, discuss issues relating to electrical safety at home, school and outside.
Here are six things to get you thinking about how to be safe around electricity:

1. Be careful around electrical poles and wire when you play.
2. If you see a dangerous situation, tell an adult.
3. Electricity and water don't mix.
4. Stay away from substations.
5. Metal is a conductor for electricity and can be dangerous.
6. Know what to do in an electrical emergency.

Have the children do the second work sheet.