Grade 6: Understanding Electricity

This resource has been created to help teachers determine activities that meet the requirements for the Grade 6 “Electricity” Science Unit. We understand that individual schools and teachers may have a variety of different resources for their students. Student handouts have been included in this binder to support many of the example activities listed. We also understand that there are many other learning activities that could be included in this binder. Our hope is that the online version of this resource becomes a “living” document in which teachers are adding other activity ideas to support the outcomes of “Electricity”.

Resources:

Addison Wesley, Science & Technology 6: Electricity. Toronto, Ontario: Pearson Education Canada Inc.,1999.

SaskScience 6: Electricity. Toronto, Ontario: 2010Pearson Education Canada Inc., 2010.

Sylvester, D: “Electricity”. Rainbow Horizons Publishing.

Great Websites:

for a variety of videos!!!

(a user account is required)

Other sources:

“Power PAC Team” presentations from the Sask Safety Council: 306-757-3197

“Let’s Talk Science” Student volunteers from the University of Saskatchewan (FREE!)

Grade 6 Electricity

Appendix A / News article Student Handouts
Appendix B / Presentation Application for Inquiry Learning Project
Appendix C / Electrical Safety Tour Brochure
Appendix D / “To Dam or Not to Dam” Activity Handouts
Appendix E / Sunshine City Activity Handouts
Appendix F / Role Play Handouts (Pearson text)
Appendix G / “Careers in Electricity: Occupation Profile”
Appendix H / Examples of Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources; Teacher Reference
Appendix I / “Life Without Electricity” Letter and Questions
Appendix J / Writing a Short Story; Student Handouts
Appendix K / Case Study: The Loss of Mistaseni Rock
Appendix L / “Lights Off” Campaign Activity
Appendix M / “Surveying the Cost of Electrical Energy”
Appendix N / Electromagnet Activity (Addison-Wesley)
Appendix O / Electromagnet Activity (Pearson, SK Science 6)
Appendix P / “The Great Pop Can Race”
Appendix Q / “Swinging Cereal”
Appendix R / “Light a light bulb with a balloon”
Appendix S / “Bad Hair Days Explained”
Appendix T / Task Cards
Appendix U / The Scientific Method - Template
EL6.1 : Assess personal, societal, economic, and environmental impacts of electricity use in Saskatchewan and propose actions to reduce those impacts. (CP, DM)
Questions related to indicators: / Example Activities
What energy sources were used to provide heat and light in the past? /
  • Students can interview (Great) Grandparents/Elders in the community to find out sources of heat and light, cost involved, etc.; the class can generate a list of questions to ask prior to interviews. These can video taped and shared with the class or students can present the information they learn from the interview in the form of a news article. (See Appendix A)

What energy sources are used (in Saskatchewan) to provide heat and light today?
Key Research Questions:
  • How is electrical energy generated from hydroelectric, coal, natural gas, nuclear, geothermal, biomass, solar, and wind sources?
  • How are these sources of energy generated and transmitted to homes throughout the province?
  • What types of careers are related to this electrical energy source (generation, distribution, and conservation)?
/
  • Provide a variety of resources for students to use to learn about different energy sources (resource books, internet, pamphlets, magazines, etc.). Students can be placed in small groups and work together to create a presentation for the whole class. Generate a list of research questions/topics to explore. Give choice for HOW students can present, such as: power point, play, poster/model, mural, dance, etc. See apresentation applicationincluded in binder (Appendix B) as an example for students to put together their presentation plan.
  • Visit an electrical energy generation facility (such as the Gardiner Dam at Lake Diefenbaker).
  • Visit a local electricity plant for a tour. For example, in Saskatoon classes can take an Electrical and Safety tour at the Saskatoon Light and Power Facility. Call 975-2414 to book a tour. (See Appendix C for a sample brochure)
  • (From “Project Wildlife” Teacher Resource) Students participate in a debate entitled, “To Dam or not to Dam”. Students are assigned a role in a community to role-play at a mock town meeting in which town members are debating if they should build a dam to act as an electrical source of energy to power their growing community. Roles such as politicians, environment activists and the local grocery store owner are represented at the meeting. (See Appendix D for activity sheets).
  • Students participate in a role play entitled, “Sunshine City” as outlined in the Ranibow Horizon: Electricity resource. (See Appendix E)
  • Students participate in a role play as described in the Sask Science textbook from Pearson (2010). (See Appendix F)
  • See student handout, “Careers in Electricity – Occupation Profile” (from Pearson text); students research a career in each of the three fields listed (generation, distribution, conservation). (See appendix G)

Categorize electrical energy sources as renewable and non-renewable. /
  • Page 10-14 Addison Wesley “Science and Technology: Electricity” outlines examples of these two types of energy sources. (Appendix H)
  • Students create a 2-part collage illustrating renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Use magazines, newspapers and brochures for students to cut pictures and words/descriptions out of to place in their collage.

How has electricity-based technologies changed the way people work, live and interact with the environment? /
  • Students read handout/letter, “Life Without Electricity” and answer the questions to classify examples of renewable and non-renewable energy sources, analyze their own use of electrical energy and compare their use and lifestyle to that of someone living in a remote Kenyan village. Extension: students create “A day without Electricity” short story (Appendix I).
  • Page 273 Pearson text: Case Study- The Loss of Mistaseni Rock (student handout included). Students read about and reflect on the effects of the creation of dams and resevoirs. Student handouts are included in binder.

What factors affect electrical energy consumption at home and school?
How can individuals decrease their electrical energy use? /
  • Visit: for an amazing video on how the “stuff” we produce impacts the environment.
  • “Lights Out” Campaign: Students are assigned a schedule (aprox. 2 at a time) to go around and check that classrooms have shut off their lights (and smart boards) during recess breaks. Classes are awarded a yellow light for having their lights off or a red light if they were left on. This activity can be made into a competition for which class can accumulate the most yellow lights over a week/month. Example handouts are included in binder for setting up this action project (Appendix L).
  • “Surveying the Cost of Electrical Energy” student handout: students make a list of electric appliances in their home and record how long they are used in a 24 hour period and calculate the cost of such use. They also think about ways to reduce the amount of number ok kilowatts used. (Appendix M)
  • SaskPower conducts and “Energy & Our Environment Poster Contest” for students in grades 5 and 6 each year for students to promote energy-saving strategies. They also display winning video’s from ecoClips prize winning videos on their website (high school contest):

-What are some potential dangers of electricity use at home, school or the workplace? How can these dangers be eliminated? /
  • Students can visit and follow the prompts to the kidzone to play games and learn about the various electrical energy sources of danger. SaskPower also creates electricity booklets for children (ex: We’re Talking Electricity with Louie the Lightning Bug)
  • Students can create a children’s book to illustrate and explain possible danger areas of electricity use at home and share their books with students in grades 1-3.

EL6.2: Investigate the characteristics and applications of static electric charges, conductors, insulators, switches and electromagnetism. (SI)

General Activity related to all indicators in this outcome:

“Electrical Science Fair”: Students conduct investigations (propose a question, make predictions, identify materials needed, record results, and describe results) related to the physical properties of conductors, insulators, simple circuits, or electromagnets (eg: Who can we determine if an unknown material is a conductor or an insulator? Or, “How can we increase the strength of an electromagnet?) and present to their peers/ community members.

Questions related to Indicators: / Other Example Activities:
Conduct investigations to determine the attraction and repulsion of electrostatically charged materials and represent results of those investigations using drawings, sketches, tables, charts, etc
Describe the operation of an electromagnet and contrast magnets and electromagnets.
What are some natural and man-made applications of static electric charge and discharge (eg: lightning, photocopiers, laser printers, air filters, and electrostatic paint sprayers).
What are the characteristics of insulators and conductors of electricity? /
  • See Pg 30-31 of Addison Wesley “Science and Technonolgy: Electricity” for an experiment where students create and test the power of an electromagnet. (Appendix N)
Or
  • Page 131-132 in Pearson SaskScience6 (2010) : students design and carry out an experiment to test the power of an electromagnet. BLM also available for students to when testing. (Appendix O)
  • See for a video showing the steps on how to make an electromagnet.
  • Pearson text, pg. 271: The Great Pop Can Race: students use power generated from static electricity to race pop cans. (Appendix P)
  • See “Swinging Cereal” handout for a fun experiment related to static electricity using a comb, thread and cereal. (Appendix Q)
  • See “Light a light bulb with a balloon” project idea. Note safety precautions! (Appendix R)
  • “Bad Hair Days – Explained!” student and activity (Appendix S)
  • See Task Cards (Appendix T) for students to conduct an investigation to determine materials that can be classified as insulators and conductors.

Explain the role of switches in electrical circuits. /
  • Students explore this idea using circuit boards or other electrical kits that can be purchased from Teachers Trunk, Scholastic, or Amazon.com. The student kit included in the bin includes a handout explaining/illustrating circuits, including switches
  • A variety of videos on youtube describe roles of switches.

EL6.3: Explain and model the properties of simple series and parallel circuits. (SI, TPS)

-We suggest having a few “Electricity Kits” available for students to carry out tasks described in this outcome. Please see example kit in bin (purchased from “Teacher Trunk” in Saskatoon for $12.99 each, as well as the Task Card information sheets (Appendix T)that outline tasks students can complete using the contents of this kit.

Questions related to indicators: / Example Activities:
-What are the required characteristics of a simple electric circuit? (A source of electrical energy, a closed path to conduct electrical energy, and a load to convert the electrical energy into another form of energy.) /
  • Students go through the contents of their kit to discover the materials they will need to create a simple circuit.
  • There are some great videos on youtube to present information to students on this topic.

-Compare a variety of electrical pathways by constructing simple circuits.
-Investigate practical problems relating to simple series and parallel circuits (including combinations to determine similarities and differences of series and parallel circuits).
-Construct simple circuits to demonstrate how electrical energy can be controlled to produce light, heat, sound, motion and magnetic effects.
-Design, construct, and troubleshoot an electrical circuit that meets one or more student specific criteria. /
  • Place students in groups (aprox. 4 in each group) to conduct a series of tasks outlined on the “Task Cards”. A handout describing tasks is included in this binder.
  • Students can build and wire a mini-house using a variety of materials.

Appendix

Appendix B

Source of Electrical Energy

Project Application Form

Group Members: ______

Type of Electrical Energy Source:______

Questions to “Find Out”:

Resources we will use: (List any books, magazines, websites or other print resources)

Elders / Knowledge Keepers / People I/we can talk to:

Style / Type of Presentation: ______

Materials Needed:

Other Information:

Appendix J

A Day Without Electricity – Story Planner

Title
Setting / Characters
Sequence of Events:
1) / 2)
3) / 4)
5) / 6)
Ending:

Appendix L

Grade 6 – Lights OFF! CampaignClass: ______

Date / time / Completed by: / Status

MEMO

Date:

TO: ______School Staff

FROM: Grade 6 Class

RE: LIGHTS OFF! Campaign

______Attn: School Staff

As part of our Electricity Unit in Science, our class is taking an active role in helping our school reduce their use of electricity. We will be running a LIGHTS OFF Campaign in which we will be checking up and rewarding classrooms that shut off their lights when not in the classroom.

Students in our class will be taking turns circulating the halls twice a day at various times checking up on all classrooms and offices. If you are not in your classroom/office and your lights are off your class will receive a yellow light bulb. If you are not in your room/office and the lights are on, your class will receive a warning bulb as a reminder to shut off your lights. Our campaign will bring awareness to the simple energy saving task of shutting off your lights when you are out of your room/ office.

Please discuss this campaign with your students as prizes will be awarded to the classroom with the best record at the end of the campaign.

Thank you for your participation in this exciting campaign. Together, we can be energy efficient champions!!!

Sincerely,

The Grade 6 Class

Grade 6 LIGHTS OFF! Campaign – LIGHT CHECK SIGN UP

Date / Student Checkers / Completed

Great Job!!!

1 Light Bulb

Awarded!

______

Great Job!!!

1 Light Bulb

Awarded!

Appendix

T

Task Cards

Task A:

  1. Using the materials provided, make one light bulb light up!
  2. In your inquiry journal, sketch an illustration of how you completed your task.

Task B:

Using a variety of materials (popsicle stick, paper clip, chalk, eraser, staple), determine which materials are conductors (the light bulb lights up) or insulators (the light bulb doesn’t light up). Create a table to record your findings.

Task C:

  1. Make 2 light bulbs come on at the same time.
  2. In your Inquiry Journal, sketch an illustration of how you completed your task.

Task D:

  1. Using the materials provided, create a circuit to include 2 light bulbs, but make it so only one light bulb comes on at a time.
  2. In your Inquiry Journal, sketch an illustration of how you completed your task.

Task B Student Handout: Conductors and Insulators

Material / Does the Light Bulb Light Up?
Yes
(Conductor) / No
(Insulator)
Popsicle Stick
Paper Clip
Chalk
Eraser
Staple

Conductive Materials are those materials that allow ______to flow through them.

Group reflection questions …

  • Why do you think the connecting wires are made of copper?
  • Why do you think the clips on the holders are made of steel or brass?
  • Why do you think the holders are made of plastic?