Generate electricity with a bar magnet! Discover the physics behind the phenomena by exploring magnets and how you can use them to make a bulb light.
In this activity about chemistry and electricity, learners form a battery by placing their hands onto plates of different metals. Learners detect the current by reading a DC microammeter attached to the metal plates. Learners experiment with different metals to find out what combination produces the most current as well as testing what happens when they press harder on the plates or wet their hands. Learners also investigate what happens when they wire the plates to a voltmeter.
This animation from KET's distance learning physics course demonstrates the mathematical formula for a scientific law as it applies to light.
Make sparks fly with John Travoltage. Wiggle Johnnie's foot and he picks up charges from the carpet. Bring his hand close to the door knob and get rid of the excess charge.
Students learn how the sun can be used for energy. They learn about passive solar heating, lighting and cooking, and active solar engineering technologies (such as photovoltaic arrays and concentrating mirrors) that generate electricity. Students investigate the thermal energy storage capacities of test materials. They learn about radiation and convection as they build a model solar water heater and determine how much it can heat water in a given amount of time. In another activity, students build and compare the performance of four solar cooker designs. In an associated literacy activity, students investigate how people live "off the grid" using solar power.
Students build a model turbine to observe how different energy resources can be used to turn a turbine, inquire how the interaction between a wire and a magnet generates electricity, and investigate the different mix of energy resources used to generate electricity in Michigan, the United States, and the world.
Students explore the composition and practical application of parallel circuitry, compared to series circuitry. Students design and build parallel circuits and investigate their characteristics, and apply Ohm's law.
Students explore the composition and practical application of parallel circuitry, compared to series circuitry. Students design and build parallel circuits and investigate their characteristics, and apply Ohm's law.
See how the equation form of Ohm's law relates to a simple circuit. Adjust the voltage and resistance, and see the current change according to Ohm's law. The sizes of the symbols in the equation change to match the circuit diagram.
In this extension to the Ohm's Law I activity, students observe just how much time it takes to use up the "juice" in a battery, and if it is better to use batteries in series or parallel. This extension is suitable as a teacher demonstration and may be started before students begin work on the Ohm's Law I activity.
Students work to increase the intensity of a light bulb by testing batteries in series and parallel circuits. They learn about Ohm's law, power, parallel and series circuits, and ways to measure voltage and current.
Students are presented with a short lesson on the Coulter principle—an electronic method to detect microscopic particles and determine their concentration in fluid. Depending on the focus of study, students can investigate the industrial and medical applications of particle detection, the physics of fluid flow and electric current through the apparatus, or the chemistry of the electrolytes used in the apparatus.
The People's Physics Book v3 is intended to be used as one small part of a multifaceted strategy to teach physics conceptually and mathematically
Eighth grade students in Portland, ME tackle a real world problem by designing devices for developing countries that transform energy and benefit society during a five-month interdisciplinary project. The project combined sophisticated STEM learning with social studies and language arts content and skills. This film features interviews with former students and with a range of teachers, documenting in particular the collaboration of the teaching team.
Learn about the physics of resistance in a wire. Change its resistivity, length, and area to see how they affect the wire's resistance. The sizes of the symbols in the equation change along with the diagram of a wire.
Test prep/review sheets for students for the following topics: Cells; Reproduction; Separating mixtures; Rocks; Light and Sound; Electricity
Dope the semiconductor to create a diode. Watch the electrons change position and energy.
In this activity about electricity, learners explore what happens when you blow a fuse. Learners short-circuit a battery using copper wire (a good conductor with very low resistance) and thin iron wire. Learners will discover that when they connect the clip to the iron wire, the voltage of the battery pushes electrons through the circuit against the resistance of the iron wire, causing the iron wire to heat up. Note: the wire gets very hot! Use this activity to introduce learners to basics of electricity including conductivity, resistance, and currents as well as electronics safety and circuit breakers.
Why do the lights turn on in a room as soon as you flip a switch? Flip the switch and electrons slowly creep along a wire. The light turns on when the signal reaches it.
Students build and use a very basic Coulter electric sensing zone particle counter to count an unknown number of particles in a sample of "paint" to determine if enough particles per ml of "paint" exist to meet a quality standard. In a lab experiment, student teams each build an apparatus and circuit, set up data acquisition equipment, make a salt-soap solution, test liquid flow in the apparatus, take data, and make graphs to count particles.