1. PHENOMENON DAY 1 Who Turned Out the Lights?
5TH GRADE
PHENOMENON DAY 1
Who Turned Out the Lights?
We have two week cycles/benchmarks, so I had to condense a good bit of this Storyline.

2. OPENING- Phenomenon
On a cold, rainy afternoon, Jesse stepped off the school bus and could hear the thunder in the background. Lightning filled the sky as he ran to his front door frantically ringing the doorbell, but he didn’t hear anything. After rapidly knocking on the door, his grandmother finally appeared to let him inside. Jesse jumped inside the house and threw down his wet book bag. After asking his grandmother why she didn’t come to the door when he rang the doorbell, Jesse noticed the lights in the foyer and living room were off, making the front of the house dark. However, the lights in the rest of the house were on. How can the electricity be out in only part of the house?
Day 1 : Present the Phenomenon.
...Ask “Why is electricity out in part of the house instead of the whole house?” Have students discuss this, write in their predictions in their STEAM journals.

3. Since the electricity is out in the living room, how can Jesse make a flashlight to help him see?
Here are the materials Jesse’s grandmother has on hand:
Battery, Light Bulb, Wire
In your science journals, draw a model of how to use these materials so Jesse and his grandmother can have some light in the living room.
(Draw what it will look like.) .

4. PREDICTION ABOUT MAKING A FLASHLIGHT
In your science journals, now predict which of the below diagrams will make the light bulb light. Explain your reason for picking the method(s) you picked.

5. EXPERIMENTING WITH ELECTRICITY
In your groups, use the given materials to get the light bulb to light. Test your predictions. See which method(s) work.
Test/Observation: Draw the methods that worked.
EXPERIMENTING WITH ELECTRICITY
Each group will be given a light bulb, a battery, and wire.
You will need to give each group of students 1 light bulb, 1 battery, and 1 wire.

6. CLOSING
Now that you are more informed, in your journals, explain what components are needed to get a lightbulb to light.

7. DAY 2

8. OPENING - Discussion
Jesse has a battery and a small bulb. He wonders how many strips of wire he will need to connect the battery and the bulb so that the bulb will light. What is the smallest number of wires Jesse will need to get the bulb to light?

9. How will the brightness of a single lightbulb compare to the brightness of lightbulbs in a series or lightbulbs in parallel?

10. EXPERIMENTING WITH ELECTRICITY
In your groups, use the given materials to test the brightness of a series circuit and a parallel circuit compared to a single bulb circuit. Test your predictions. See which method(s) work.
Test/Observation: Draw your series circuit and label it. Draw your parallel circuit and label it.
EXPERIMENTING WITH ELECTRICITY
Each group will be given two light bulbs, a battery, and five separate wires.

11. CLOSING Explain what you discovered.
Can you come up with some rules that will help you explain how electricity flows through different arrangements of bulbs?

12. DAY 3

13. OPENING-Discussion
(I will draw a series circuit and a parallel circuit on the board. I will then take away a light bulb from each, opening up that part of the circuit.)
Will either circuit still allow the other lightbulb to light? If so, which one and why?
Students need to predict and discuss what they think will happen and the reasons why.

14. Build a series circuit with 2 bulbs. Remove one bulb. What happens
Build a series circuit with 2 bulbs. Remove one bulb. What happens? Record in your journal.
Build a parallel circuit with 2 bulbs. Remove a bulb. What happens? Record in your journal.
This would be up to you. On this day, I did not have enough time for students to get any hands on, so I had them complete a few pages in their workbooks.

15. CLOSING
Try to explain what happened. (Think about and include the following questions as well.)
-Why is it important for the batteries to face the same way? (Think about the positive and negative ends.)
-What is it that is flowing from the battery through the conductors and to the bulb?
-What does it mean when I say an open circuit, or a closed circuit?
Most of these vocabulary words can be found through research or with Science workbooks. You would have to allow the students to investigate further before answering the above questions.

16. DAY 4

17. OPENING - Discussion What is the load? What is the source?
What is the conductor?
What is the insulator?
Does anyone have any ideas yet as to how part of Jesse’s house could have electricity, but other parts do not?

18. Review before the test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnnpLaKsqGU
These are review videos, so pause them often for the students to answer the questions before the video answers.

19. More experimentation:
Experimenting with the brightness of the bulb based on the voltage of the battery.
If time permits:
We will predict if we think the object will light the bulb or not. Then we will see if the bulb does light or not.