Transcript RET Presentation - CURENT Education

A Hands-on Approach to Teaching
Electricity and Conductivity in 8th
Grade Science
Olivia Ritter
8th Grade Science
CURENT RET
July 18, 2013
Knoxville, Tennessee
Unit Goals
• Address 8th grade science standards related to
electricity and conductivity
• Increase students’ awareness and
understanding of renewable energy and the
electric grid
• Provide hands-on activities to enhance
knowledge of electricity and conductivity and
encourage interest in engineering
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8th Grade Science Standards
• T/E.1 I can identify the tools and procedures needed to test the
design features of a prototype.
• T/E.2 I can use the engineering design process that incorporates
design constraints, model building, testing, evaluating, modifying,
and retesting
• Inq.2 I can use appropriate tools and techniques to gather,
organize, analyze, and interpret data.
• 12.1 I can explain the relationship between magnetism and
electricity.
• 9.1 I can identify atoms as the fundamental particle making up all of
matter.
• 9.9 I can describe the properties of the main groups of elements,
including conductivity.
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Student Misconceptions/Difficulties
• Organizing and analyzing data
• Identifying steps of engineering design process
in actual situations or scenarios
• How electricity is related to magnetism
• What electricity is and how it is transmitted
• Connection between atoms and electricity
• What determines materials’ conductivity
www.schoolphysics.co.uk
Pre-assessment and Survey
• Determine what students already know
about electricity, conductivity, and solar
energy
• Identify misconceptions
• Survey to evaluate students’
understanding, confidence, attitude, and
interest in engineering
Unit Outline
• Electricity


What is electricity?
How is electricity transmitted?
Lectures/Discussions
Hands-on Activities
• Conductivity



Insulators, conductors, and semiconductors
What determines materials’ conductivity?
Parts of a circuit and how it works
• Solar energy (PV cells)



How do solar panels work?
What materials are solar cells made of?
Make connections between atoms, electrons, electricity, conductivity,
and PV cells
• How do these concepts relate to engineering (specifically
electrical engineering)?
“Charge it!” Activity
• Students explore static electricity of
various materials.
• Balloon and “bending water”
• Discuss what is happening at the atomic
level (electrons).
• http://www.raftbayarea.org/readpdf?isid=32
Exploring Conductivity and Circuits
• Students experiment with circuits in groups
using energy balls.

Turn energy balls into a “conductivity meter” to test
various items
• More advanced activity from sciencelearn.org

Test conductivity of a range of materials, including
liquids
“Squishy Circuits”
• 2 types of dough (conductive and
insulating)


http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/Squ
ishyCircuits/
Does one type of dough conduct electricity
better than the other? Why? (give students list
of ingredients in each dough)
Build an Electrical Quiz Game
• Practice with circuits and
vocabulary related to
electricity and conductivity
• Create quizzes and put
concepts into students’ own
words
• Identify materials used to
make the game as insulators
or conductors
Touchscreen Simulation
• More practice with
circuits and
engineering
• Use insulators and
conductors to build a
device that mimics a
touchscreen
Activity from American Society for
Engineering Education
Other Hands-on Activities
• Make a Solar Cell
• Solar Cars
• Solar Jitterbug (next
slide)
• Wind Turbine Activity

Groups investigate
different variables related
to blade design
Solar Jitterbug
QuickTime™ and a
H.264 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
• Give students an assortment of materials to use.
• Challenge: ask students to investigate ways to make their jitterbug
move in certain ways/directions.
End of Unit Assessment and Survey
• Determine student growth by comparing student
performance on pre- and post-assessment for
this unit
• Compare pre- and post-surveys to observe
changes in student understanding, confidence,
attitude, and interest in engineering and sciencerelated concepts


Pre-survey at beginning of school year
Post-survey at end of school year
Differentiating Learning
• Greater assortment of materials to choose
from (including unnecessary or
incompatible materials) and less guidance
for advanced students
• More detailed, step-by-step instructions for
less advanced students
• Additional practice exercises and learning
materials for students having difficulty with
concepts
Acknowledgements
A special thank you to Dr. Chen and Mr. Erin Wills
of CURENT for all of their help during this RET
program.
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Thank you for your attention.
Questions or comments?
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