Creating an Electric Circuit

Creating a Simple Electric Circuit with Current Electricity

Electric Circuit

I think this is my favorite activity to do with kids because of how excited they get the 1st time they light up a bulb!

Materials Needed

• safety glasses & safety gloves
• D cell battery
• wide elastic band or battery holder
• small bulb
• bulb holder
• 2 wires with alligator clips (or 2 insulated {Bell} wires with stripped ends approx. 7 inches each)
• switch and extra wire (optional)

These materials can be bought in a kit for 1 or 2 students (www.ScienceWiz.com) or from a science supply company for a large classroom (www.carolina.com ).
Sometimes, the kits can also be found in craft stores such as A C Moore or Michael's. I bought a kit at Marshalls.

 The kit I found at Marshall's (for 1 student or a small group) is now available at Amazon (see below). It comes with great directions.

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With adult supervision, have the students put on safety glasses and gloves, then connect the material as pictured above to light their bulb. If you decide to add a switch to the circuit, they will need a 3rd wire.

      

Open Switch  

Closed Switch

In the circuit, the battery is the source of electrical energy (power),  the wires are the path through which the charges flow, and the light bulb is the user of  the electricity. A switch can turn the electricity on or off. The circuit needs to be a complete loop for the bulb to light.
Have fun!

As a follow up, children should sketch a picture of their circuit and label the parts in their science notebooks.

As a Language Arts Extension, students could write a paragraph (or a letter) to a friend explaining the steps that are needed to build an electric circuit.

Electric Circuits Video

Brain Pop Video

clipart by www.graphicsfactory.com

Click Here: Electric Circuits Video

Electrical Energy Word Search

Learning about electricity can be a lot of fun!

Kids usually like doing word searches. It's a great way to introduce or review the essential vocabulary for a unit on Electricity or any other topic.

You can visit Learning Workroom's website for a FREE Electrical Energy Word Search that you can download and print. The puzzle has 30 important electricity words that are written horizontally and vertical.

Go to: https://www.learningworkroom.com

Click on "Free Science Worksheets"

ELECTRICITY WORKSHEET

There are many posts here at my blog about electricity!

circuit

Have fun with science!

Static Electricity and Bubbles

Materials Needed:

• comb
• piece of wool
• bubble mix
• bubble ring

 Directions

1. Rub a comb several times quickly on a piece of wool.
2. Make a spray of bubbles with the bubble ring over the wool fabric so that the bubbles land on the fabric.
3. Move the comb close to each bubble.
4. Watch the bubbles jump!

clipart by www.graphicsfactory.com

After the activity, children can sketch and label pictures of the bubbles "jumping" in their science notebooks. Older students can write a summary explaining what causes the bubbles to attract or repel.

Static Electricity and Balloons

Static Electricity Balloon Demonstration

Vocabulary: positive charges, negative charges, attract (to move close together), repel (to move away)

Materials: 2 balloons, 2 pieces of string, (piece of wool - optional)

An object generally has the same number of positive and negative charges.
An object can lose negative charges and thus become positively charged.

• When 2 positively charged objects are brought close to each other they will REPEL each other. (The same will happen to 2 negatively charged objects.)
• When a positively charged object is brought close to a negatively charged object they will ATTRACT each other.

This can be demonstrated with 2 balloons each tied to a piece of string.

Try rubbing a balloon(s) with a piece of wool. This will remove negative charges from the wool and add them to the balloon(s) making the balloon(s) negatively charged.

Give the kids time to experiment and work with the balloons as they try to make the balloons attract and repel each other.


After the activity, children can sketch and label pictures of the balloons attracting and repelling in their science notebooks. 

Older students can write a summary explaining what causes the balloons to attract or repel.

Static Electricity - Attract

Static Electricity - Repel

You can download a free ELECTRICITY WORD SEARCH PUZZLE at my website.

Click HERE

ELECTRICITY WORKSHEET

Have fun with science!!!

Static Electricity Activities

Static Electricity: Electrical charges caused by friction

Friction: a force caused when one object rubs against another

 

Creating Static Electricity

Materials Needed: balloons, combs, piece of wool (old sock or sweater), piece of paper, very small pieces of paper, plastic ruler, (camera - optional), (sugar, pepper - optional)

Before each activity have students PREDICT what they think will happen.

Activities 

1. Blow up a few balloons for the kids! Have the kids rub the balloons on their heads (and watch their hair stand up.) This is always good for a few laughs! Also have the camera ready!
2. Again, have the kids rub the balloons on their heads, then see if the balloons will stick to a wall.
3. Tear a sheet of paper into small pieces. Rub a piece of wool quickly back and forth on a balloon. Hold the balloon near the paper. (See what other light objects the balloon will pick up....sugar, pepper, etc.)
4. Rub plastic combs with wool.  Then have the kids comb their hair with the combs.
5. Rub a plastic comb with wool.  Then place the comb near a piece of paper.
6. Tear a sheet of paper into small pieces. Rub a piece of wool quickly back and forth over a comb (or ruler). Hold the comb (or ruler) over the paper. 
7. Turn on the faucet.  Rub a comb with a piece of wool. Bring the comb near the water but do not touch the water. (Watch the water bend!) 

clipart by www.graphicsfactory.com

Have the students try to recall any other times they they experienced static electricity.

Possibilities:

1. Did they ever walk across a rug, then touch a metal doorknob? (Did they feel a zap?)
2. Did they ever take socks out of an electric dryer and have the socks stick together?
3. Did they ever come in from outside on a cold day and quickly pull their hats off? (What happened to their hair?)

Have students sketch pictures of their static electricity experiments in their science notebooks. Older students should write a description of their experiments.

Energy Introduction

The Topic for this Month is ENERGY!

I often start a new topic by BRAINSTORMING with the kids. ...... seeing what they already know about the topic (activating prior knowledge) and finding out what they want to learn about the topic. When the kids come up with their own questions about a new topic, then they are usually more motivated to learn.

One way to find out what kids already know about a topic is to fill in a GRAPHIC ORGANIZER. You could use one of the graphic organizers on Learning Workroom's website.

Click Here: http://www.learningworkroom.com

Go to: Free Worksheets (Graphic Organizers - Content Organization)

 
The children can write Energy in the middle circle and also write in any facts or information that they already know.

In the surrounding circles they can list any energy forms that they know with facts, questions, etc. Younger students can draw pictures or dictate their information to an older student, parent, teacher, etc.

Energy: the ability to do work, cause motion, or produce change

Energy Forms: Electricity, Magnetism, Light, Sound, Solar, Heat, Wind, Mechanical, etc.

The children can share their information, pictures, and questions with each other and share how they use energy in their own lives.