1. A Hands-on Approach to Teaching Electricity and Conductivity in 8th Grade Science
Olivia Ritter
8th Grade Science
CURENT RET
July 18, 2013
Knoxville, Tennessee

2. Unit Goals
Address 8th grade science standards related to electricity and conductivity
Increase students’ awareness and understanding of renewable energy and the electric grid
Provide hands-on activities to enhance knowledge of electricity and conductivity and encourage interest in engineering

3. 8th Grade Science Standards
T/E.1 I can identify the tools and procedures needed to test the design features of a prototype.
T/E.2 I can use the engineering design process that incorporates design constraints, model building, testing, evaluating, modifying, and retesting
Inq.2 I can use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, organize, analyze, and interpret data.
12.1 I can explain the relationship between magnetism and electricity.
9.1 I can identify atoms as the fundamental particle making up all of matter.
9.9 I can describe the properties of the main groups of elements, including conductivity.

4. Student Misconceptions/Difficulties
Organizing and analyzing data
Identifying steps of engineering design process in actual situations or scenarios
How electricity is related to magnetism
What electricity is and how it is transmitted
Connection between atoms and electricity
What determines materials’ conductivity

5. Pre-assessment and Survey
Determine what students already know about electricity, conductivity, and solar energy
Identify misconceptions
Survey to evaluate students’ understanding, confidence, attitude, and interest in engineering

6. Unit Outline Electricity Conductivity Solar energy (PV cells)
What is electricity?
How is electricity transmitted?
Conductivity
Insulators, conductors, and semiconductors
What determines materials’ conductivity?
Parts of a circuit and how it works
Solar energy (PV cells)
How do solar panels work?
What materials are solar cells made of?
Make connections between atoms, electrons, electricity, conductivity, and PV cells
How do these concepts relate to engineering (specifically electrical engineering)?
Lectures/Discussions
Hands-on Activities

7. Students explore static electricity of various materials.
“Charge it!” Activity
Students explore static electricity of various materials.
Balloon and “bending water”
Discuss what is happening at the atomic level (electrons).

8. Exploring Conductivity and Circuits
Students experiment with circuits in groups using energy balls.
Turn energy balls into a “conductivity meter” to test various items
More advanced activity from sciencelearn.org
Test conductivity of a range of materials, including liquids

9. 2 types of dough (conductive and insulating)
“Squishy Circuits”
2 types of dough (conductive and insulating)
Does one type of dough conduct electricity better than the other? Why? (give students list of ingredients in each dough)

10. Build an Electrical Quiz Game
Practice with circuits and vocabulary related to electricity and conductivity
Create quizzes and put concepts into students’ own words
Identify materials used to make the game as insulators or conductors
Inexpensive and easy to find materials:
Cardboard, Aluminum foil, Electrical tape, Paper clips, batteries

11. Touchscreen Simulation
More practice with circuits and engineering
Use insulators and conductors to build a device that mimics a touchscreen
Activity from American Society for Engineering Education

12. Other Hands-on Activities
Make a Solar Cell
Solar Cars
Solar Jitterbug (next slide)
Wind Turbine Activity
Groups investigate different variables related to blade design

13. Solar Jitterbug Give students an assortment of materials to use.
Challenge: ask students to investigate ways to make their jitterbug move in certain ways/directions.

14. End of Unit Assessment and Survey
Determine student growth by comparing student performance on pre- and post-assessment for this unit
Compare pre- and post-surveys to observe changes in student understanding, confidence, attitude, and interest in engineering and science-related concepts
Pre-survey at beginning of school year
Post-survey at end of school year

15. Differentiating Learning
Greater assortment of materials to choose from (including unnecessary or incompatible materials) and less guidance for advanced students
More detailed, step-by-step instructions for less advanced students
Additional practice exercises and learning materials for students having difficulty with concepts

16. Acknowledgements
A special thank you to Dr. Chen and Mr. Erin Wills of CURENT for all of their help during this RET program.

17. Thank you for your attention.
Questions or comments?