Grade 4 - Term 2 Week 7 - How The World Works - Energy

For our inquiry in Grade 4, the students have been learning about the 7 different forms of energy.  This week we looked at what electricity is and how it works.  The students first learned that electricity is the movement of electrons from negative to positive matter and that in nature this acts as static electricity.  They then learned that current electricity is the continuous flow of electrons through a circuit, or loop with the same ending point as the starting point.  Based on this knowledge, the students first became electrical engineers and were challenged to put together a circuit that could light two light bulbs.  It was easy enough for them to create a simple series circuit and get their lights shining bright.  After that, we observed that when one light bulb was removed, the circuit was broken and the other light bulb went out also.  We thought about how that doesn't happen in our houses, so they were challenged to try to create a circuit that would keep the other lights on when one was removed.  After some great ideas and attempts on their own, they were given a diagram of a parallel circuit which would do this.  They then became electricians that followed a plan and made the circuit.  The activity showed students what an electrical circuit is, how it works, how the electrical wiring in buildings is done and what different jobs are involved in the process of designing and building structures with electrical circuits running through them.