Magnets & Electricity
Investigation 5: Click It
Part 1
Reinventing the Telegraph
Students apply their knowledge of circuitry and electromagnetism to build a telegraph.
3. Lesson set up and Management
1.1.4 Understand that energy keeps things running and comes in many forms.
1.2.1 Identify the parts of a system, how the parts go together, and how they depend on each other.
1.2.2 Know that energy can be transferred from one object to another and can be transformed from one type of energy to another.
2.1.2 Plan and conduct simple investigations, using appropriate tools, measures and safety rules.
2.1.3 Use data to construct reasonable explanations.
2.1.5 Record and report observations, explanations and conclusions using visual, oral, written, and mathematical expression.
3.1.1 Identify problems found in familiar contexts in which science/technology can be or has been used to design solutions.
3.1.3 Evaluate how well a design or a product solves a problem.
1. Science and technology are closely related. Science is knowledge of the natural world; technology is using scientific knowledge to modify the world to solve human problems.
2. A code is a symbolic system used for communication.
3. A circuit is a pathway through which electric current flows.
3. Lesson set up and Management
Materials:
1. Keep your wire stripper handy. You and your students will use them for cutting more wire and stripping plastic when the wire breaks.
2. Be sure to read Steps 3, 4, & 5 on Page 9 a day before completing the investigation.
3. If you can make a telegraph prior to the lesson, it will help you anticipate the challenges the students will have in conducting this investigation. If not, be sure to read and keep your manual open to Pages 11 & 12 while completing this part of the investigation. The Equipment Tip and Step 5 -telegraph assembly troubleshooting tips are extremely helpful.
A telegraph ready to create messages in Morse code. |
A telegraph ready to create messages in Morse code. |
Friends creating their own Morse code messages. |
4. Leave the telegraphs assembled for Part 2 of this investigation but remove the D-cells before storing the telegraphs in a safe place.
Student Management:
1. Keep all materials at the station at which they are working. Don't let them carry the materials around. Let the students wander and explore.
2. Keep Moving! If you are constantly moving, it will keep everyone on task.
3. When discussing questions, have students place their materials in the middle of their table or desks and have them place their hands in their lap.
1. You can lengthen or shorten the time on any lesson.
2. Use Pages 2 & 3 to help guide further inquiry at the end of every part.
3. Give students time to discuss their observations with each other.
4. Give journal reflection time.
5. Keep word banks and content inquiry charts up so students can see and have more time to copy later, if needed. It's nice if you can keep them up all the time and just add to them as you go.
6. Keeping your materials organized and storing them in a safe spot will help you be ready for Part 2 of this investigation.
7. If students are having a difficult time getting their telegraphs to work, things to try include: using different batteries, making sure the steel strip is not too far away or too close to the rivet, and/or increase the number of winds of the wire.
Writing Support:
1. Reflective journaling on the day's lesson.
2. Start and finish each lesson with a KWLQ chart. ("What do I know?", "What do I want to know?", "What have I learned?" and "Are there any more questions to investigate?")
3. Have students write all word banks and inquiries in their journals.
4. Students can create their own codes and write messages to share.
Reading Support:
1. Check the Resource section of the teacher's guide for more reading suggestions or the literature link on this site.