Magnets & Electricity
Investigation 3: Advanced Connections
Part 1
Building Series Circuits
Students find ways to operate more than one component in 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. A circuit is a pathway through which electric current flows.
2. A circuit with only one pathway for current flow is a series circuit.
3. Components in a series circuit share the electric energy.
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. The NOTE on Page 13 discusses the danger of using more than two batteries in this part. It may result in burned out bulbs.
3. Before handing out any equipment remind students about the safety of hot wires.
4. When students are working with two batteries, some may not get their circuits to work. Be sure to discuss the orientation of the batteries and why this is so important. See Page 13, Step 10 for further explanation. There is also a great description of this explanation on Page 7 of this investigation in the book.
5. Remind students that schematic drawings are always drawn with square corners to keep them neat.
6. It is fun to have the motors out and see if they can get a bulb and motor to work at the same time.
A series circuit with one battery. |
A series circuit with 2 batteries. |
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. Make sure students don't try to add more than two batteries at this point.
3. Keep Moving! If you are constantly moving, it will keep everyone on task.
4. 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.
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. Read FOSS Science Story "Illuminating Teamwork: A Story of the Edison Pioneers."
2. Dear Mr. Henshaw is a wonderful book to read anytime after students have started Investigation 2.
3. Check the Resource section of the teacher's guide for more reading suggestions or the literature link on this site.