User:Hilville/electricity lesson

== Background for these lessons ==

These lessons are designed to cover the learning outcomes on electricity for Grade 6 students in British Columbia using a guided inquiry methodology. This are the lessons I have used very successfully with my Grade 5/6 students in an inner city school. However, before using them, please be aware of the following:


 * the classroom will be noisy
 * students will be moving around a lot
 * the teacher has to let go of control and allow the students to follow their own path
 * the teacher needs to engage in conversation (not direction) with all the groups as they try the activities
 * the teacher has to be prepared to execute some mental gymnastics trying to follow students' trains of thought
 * the teacher should choose the groups for all the usual reasons
 * the written output may be of a lower quality than expected
 * the equipment list is what I used. Sometimes students had to borrow from another group or use some of my extra supplies when performing their personally designed experiment

In doing these lessons, I observed the following positive observations:


 * every student was actively engaged in the activity showing interest, enthusiasm and excitement. This included the cognitively challenged student, the non-medicated ADHD students, the students with severe behaviour problems and the students who have in general already given up on education.
 * the groups met my learning objectives even though they were not told what they were.
 * all the students were disappointed when we finished this unit

Equipment needed
The quantities refer to the requirements for one group:


 * 2 "D" batteries (with battery holders if possible)
 * 8 lengths of electrical wire to join the circuits (crocodile clips at each end make a big difference in the ease of connecting the circuits)
 * 3 lamps or flashlight bulbs
 * 1 iron or steel rod (a steel bolt worked well for me)
 * a small buzzer - not really necessary but the students love it.
 * a selection of common objects for the activity on conductors and insulators
 * iron filings or paper clips
 * plastic rulers or rods
 * squares of silk, wool, fur, or nylon
 * some everyday objects such as rubber bands, yarn, balloons, empty pop cans etc.

to do list