The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

I See the Light

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I See the Light

A 4th Grade STEM Lesson

Electricity &

Design Circuits

R. Yates

February 2024

Notes for Teachers

Student will investigate the basics of a circuit by arranging the materials to make a lightbulb light up.

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List of Materials (per group)

• 1 mini light bulb
• 1 wire with clips
• 1 D-cell battery

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Standards

Physical Science:

4.P4U1.2

Develop and use a model that explains how energy is moved from place to place through electric currents.

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Arizona Educational Technology Standards:

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6. Creative Communicator - Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.

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3-5.6.a. Students, in collaboration with an educator, recognize and utilize the features and functions of a variety of creation or communication tools.

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4. Innovative Designer - Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions.

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3-5.4.c. Students, in collaboration with an educator, engage in a cyclical design process to develop, test and refine prototypes and reflect on the role that trial and error plays.

Objective(s):

Student will investigate the basics of a circuit by arranging the materials to make a light bulb light up.

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Agenda

Prep: 10 min

Class: 30 min

Small Groups

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Ask:

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How can you arrange a wire and a battery to make a lightbulb work?

Make a Prediction: 

Have students make a prediction about how the materials should be organized in order to make the lightbulb work. Let students sketch a few possible arrangements that they will test.

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Intro/Driving Question/Opening

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How do any electrical devices work when you plug them in/or when you insert batteries? How can I use this power source (D cell battery) to power the lightbulb?

Students should record their answers and observations of daily use of lights (switchest) in the K section of a KWL chart. Students should record questions or wonderings in the W section of the KWL chart.

Hands-on Activity Instructions

• Give students the materials, but ask them to observe only. Have the group design three possible sketches for out the materials could be arranged.
• Once the sketches are complete, have the students work together to test out ways to make the lightbulb light up. Try not to give them any hints and allow them to test out differents ways (many will be wrong at first).
• Students make add notes to each sketch or at the bottom as they observe failures and successes.

Recap video/ Further investigation

Recap video/ Further investigation

After watching the video about how electrons need a path to continuously flow, students can then go to this site and explore other ways to make a light bulb light and see more complex circuit designs.

Interactive Circuit Simulator for Kids / Children - Learning Circuits

Assessment

Have students respond to the following questions in their science journal.

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How did you get the light bulb to light? Do your results support your prediction?

What do you think electrical devices need in order to work?

Assessment/ Wrap up

After they respond to the questions, have them complete their KWL chart (by hand or digital).Then have the students create a digital representation (poster/slide/video) about the L, what they learned from this lesson.

Differentiation

• Provide sentence starters/framework.
• Encourage partners or small groups to speak like scientists and argue from evidence. Help them use sentence starters. “I observed       ” and “Could you elaborate on why you       .”
• Provide key vocabulary with images.
• Assign a peer mentor as needed.

Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

• Have students consider what happens inside a light switch, and see if they can make something similar with their materials.
• Have students explore the differences between series and parallel circuits.
• Have students explore the circuit building feature on TinkerCAD: https://www.tinkercad.com/circuits
• This unit can be extended with Makey Makeys, breadboards, LEDs, microbits, circuit playgrounds, or other simple circuit devices.