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Electricity

Type of energy that comes from the flow of electrical power

Conductor

materials which allow electricity to easily flow through them

  • Ex: metals like copper, steel, gold, aluminum, silver

Insulator

materials that don’t allow electricity to flow easily through them

  • Ex: rubber, wood, and plastics

Simple circuit

consists of a bulb, battery, and wire

Closed circuit

allows electricity to flow within the circuit

  • If there is an opening in the circuit, electricity will not flow.

Static electricity

the transfer of negatively charged particles between materials

  • Ex: lightning, clothes sticking together when coming out of a dryer, and getting a shock when touching a door knob

Electromagnet

Wrapping a wire around an iron nail then creating a closed circuit

  • The number of coils, amount of current, gauge (thickness) of the wire, and the iron core all can affect the strength of the electromagnet
    • More coils, current, and/or thicker wire = greater strength of electromagnet
    • In real life, electromagnets are used in junk yards to pick up large pieces of scrap metal, in construction equipment, and in medical equipment such as MRI machines.

Unit 4

Navigating Currents of Electricity

For use by NNPS Department of Teaching and Learning and families only

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Curious Conversations

  • What do you think is actually happening when you flip the light switch on?
    • Follow-up: “Why does the light turn on right away?”
  • Why do you think electricians wear rubber gloves when they’re working with wires? What does the rubber do?
  • Have you ever felt a little zap when you touched a doorknob or someone’s sweater? That’s static electricity—can you think of any other times that’s happened to you?
    • Follow-up: “Let’s try to spot it around the house today!”
  • If we wanted to make a simple little circuit at home, what would we need to make it work?
  • Look around the house—can you find examples where energy is changing from one form to another? Like maybe from electrical to light, or from motion to sound?
    • You can prompt with things like: “What about the blender, or the TV?”
  • Let’s talk about electromagnets—what do you think happens if we add more coils of wire around a nail? Or use a thicker wire? Or more batteries?
    • Follow-up: “Which do you think would make the magnet stronger?”

Energy transformations

When energy changes from one form to another

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Metal wire conducts electricity.

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Plastic insulation does NOT conduct electricity.

For use by NNPS Department of Teaching and Learning and families only