Arizona STEM
Acceleration Project
Creative Battery Design
Creative Battery Design
A 4th grade STEM lesson
Ana Ramirez
12/29/23
Notes for Teachers
List of Materials:
Science Standards:
4.P4U1.1: Develop and use a model to demonstrate how a system transfers energy from one object to another even when the objects are not touching.
4.P4U1.2: Develop and use a model that explains how energy is moved from place to place through electric currents.
Science and Engineering Practices
4.RL.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
4.RL.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).
4.W.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
4.SL.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly
Objective(s):
Today we will explain how electricity is the flow of electrical energy from one place to another.
Today we will understand that batteries are made up of layers of different materials.
Today we will describe how a battery stores energy using facts from a story.
Today we will collaborate and communicate effectively with our peers to complete an engineering design challenge.
Today students will be able to design and engineer a battery out of coins to power a bulb.
Agenda (60 minutes)
How batteries convert chemical energy into electrical potential energy?
How Does a Battery Work?
By Rosie Wilson
Engineering a Battery
Share or present
How do batteries convert chemical energy into electrical potential energy?
Batteries
Batteries convert the chemical energy of the two metals (electrodes) interacting with the acid on the mat board (electrolyte) into electrical energy. In this situation, the metal surface serves as the electrode and an electric current (movement of electrons from one metal to the other) is created when the wire connects both metal surfaces.
Read-Aloud
Hands-On Activity Instructions
In a group of 2-4, engineer a a battery out of coins to power a bulb.
Constraints:
How do we assess our work?
We evaluate our final iteration’s ability to meet requirements and stay within constraints
Assessment
Test your battery:
ELA Assessment
How can you compare the performance of your battery to the batteries from the book?
What is the difference between a 1.5-volt battery and a 9-volt battery?
Describe in detail how without batteries, we would not be able to power many of the electronics we use every day and how does a battery store energy?
Differentiation
One way to differentiate in this lesson is to provide some groups with a labelled diagram of their battery showing the detail of the individual cells and how the LED bulb completes the circuit.
Another option is to provide a plan for students to explain in their own words how their battery works and record how many cells were needed to make the LED bulb light up.
Remediation
Extension/Enrichment
Students who are successful right away can plan and investigate whether they can power any other electrical components from a coin battery, for example a motor.
• Investigate how long your coin battery will light up the bulb for.