1. “Exploring the material world” Make your own battery
Teaching kit
“Exploring the material world”
Make your own battery

2. Make your own battery…
The different aspects of the discovery of the material world can only be approached from real-life situations and observation satisfying children’s curiosity.

3. Activity 15: Make your own battery Make your own battery
This activity can be performed with or without supervision.
In either case, the mediator will begin by presenting the relevant activity sheet

4. To make a battery, I can use:
Exploring the material world: Make your own battery Sheet n° 15
Activity 15 : Make your own battery…
4,5 V
What is a battery made of?
- black substance (electrolyte)
zinc casing
graphite stick
To make a battery, I can use:
- - an acid (vinegar, a lemon, a potato…)
a metal (a zinc plate)
- another metal (a copper plate)

5. What is a battery made of: To make a battery, I can use:
Exploring the material world: Make your own battery Sheet n° 15
The mediator will remind the children of the composition of a battery.
What is a battery made of:
4,5 V
What is a battery made of?
- black substance (electrolyte)
zinc casing
graphite stick
To make a battery, I can use:
- - an acid (vinegar, a lemon, a potato…)
a metal (a zinc plate)
- another metal (a copper plate)
- black substance
- zinc casing
- graphite stick

6. Observation and description are the opportunity to draw attention to the functions of the different components of a battery…

7. To make a battery I can use:
Exploring the material world: Make your own battery Sheet n° 15
To make a battery I can use:
4,5 V
Black substance
An acid
Zinc casing
A metal
Graphite rods
Another metal

8. To make a battery I can use:
Exploring the material world: Make your own battery Sheet n° 15
To make a battery I can use:
4,5 V
An acid
A metal
Another metal

9. At nursery school, the important thing is that children should identify and name what they see.

10. The mediator will ask the children to turn the sheet over.

11. Activity 15 : Making a homemade battery…
Exploring the material world: Make your own battery Sheet n° 15
Activity 15 : Making a homemade battery…
Zinc
Copper
4,5 V
Lemon
My battery works!!

12. Questions to ask the children:
Look at your homemade battery. What are the three parts of which it is made?
Copper
Zinc
Lemon

13. Conducting experiments, observing and looking after things are a unique resource for verbal expression and interaction, even for the youngest and most reserved children.

14. Questions to ask the children:
What can it light up?
A diode

15. In the course of these exchanges with the adult, an orderly pattern of questioning, clear concepts and, ultimately, knowledge will take shape.

16. Questions to ask the children:
What can be used to connect the diode to the battery ?
Conducting wire
Conducting wire

17. Advice for performing the activity without supervision :
You can make other batteries by yourself or with your parents’ help, using another acid: potato, vinegar…

18. You can illustrate each stage in your experiments with drawings, notes and photos…
(these notes and observations can sometimes be made with the mediator and sometimes independently)

19. All these experiments are aids to discussion and to attempts at representation (through drawing or photography), which are themselves new subjects of discussion

20. Making a notebook with the children
They will be able to mark each stage by making drawings or taking photos to illustrate what they have learnt from their experiments:
- drawing the different batteries,
- drawing the circuit made with the homemade battery,
- drawing the inside of a battery.
(these notes and observations can sometimes be made with the mediator and sometimes independently)

21. The written recording of observations (dictated to an adult) helps to memorise knowledge, become aware of relationships in space and time and identify causal links.

22. All these experiments are aids to discussion and to attempts at representation (through drawing or photography), which are themselves new subjects of discussion.

23. the child should be able to…
On completion of the activity
the child should be able to…
- recognise the components of a battery
- name the different components
- make a homemade battery using everyday objects.