Monday, January 10, 2011

Conductor or Insulator of Electricity

Conductor or Insulator of Electricity

Reminder: This activity as well as all activities on this blog requires adult supervision.




Some materials are Conductors of electricity (They allow electricity to flow through them.)
Some materials are not conductors. They are called Insulators. (They do not allow electricity to flow through them.)

Have the students create an electric circuit (see previous post) with a mini light bulb to test different objects and materials to see which items are conductors and which items are insulators.

Before testing the objects students should PREDICT which objects they think will be insulators and which will be conductors.

Materials Needed
  • Safety glasses and safety gloves
  • D cell battery
  • wide elastic or battery holder 
  • 3 wires with alligator clips
  • mini bulb 
  • bulb holder
  • Materials to be tested (eraser, penny, paper clip, wood, etc.)

 If the bulb lights, then the object or material is a conductor of electricity. If the bulb does not light then the object or material is an insulator of electricity.

At the conclusion, students should sketch a picture of their experiment in their science notebooks and make a list of the conductors and a list of the insulators. 

The previous post (Creating an Electric Circuit) suggests different places where you can purchase the materials needed for this activity.
 

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