Magnets & Electricity
Investigation 2: Making the Connection
Part 3
Finding Insulators and Conductors
Students build a circuit with a switch and learn the conventions for drawing schematic diagrams of a circuit.
3. Lesson set up and Management
1.1.4 Understand that energy keeps things running and comes in many forms.
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.
1. Materials that allow the flow of electricity are conductors.
2. Materials that do not allow the flow of electricity are insulators.
3. All metals are conductors.
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. Make sure that all motors have masking tape attached to the motor shaft. See Page 16.
3. Assemble a conductor detector and see how it works before beginning the lesson.
4. In Step 3, make sure they take out only a straw and a steel nail.
5. For Step 8, you may need to guide them in making conductor detectors, depending on how independent you class is. Otherwise have the example one you set up and let them create it from observation.
6. If you have a difficult class or if you are constrained for time, create one conductor detector and complete it as a whole class. The teacher wears the conductor detector and has each student choose a spot to test somewhere in the room. The teacher will check the spot and move on to the next child. Be sure to keep track of the items chosen to test and whether they work or not.
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. Be sure to tell students not to put the probes into the wall socket. This can be deadly.
3. If students wish to test an item on another person, be sure to get permission first.
4. Keep Moving! If you are constantly moving, it will keep everyone on task.
1. Encourage students to test items they may be wearing or are in their desk if they get done early. Stress electrical safety. No testing of braces and electrical outlets.
2. You can lengthen or shorten the time on any lesson.
3. Use Pages 2 & 3 to help guide further inquiry at the end of every part.
4. Give students time to discuss their observations with each other.
5. Give journal reflection time.
6. 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.
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.
Reading Support:
1. Check the Resource section of the teacher's guide for more reading suggestions or the literature link on this site.
2. Read FOSS Science Stories "Making Static" and "A Fictional Interview with Benjamin Franklin."