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Electricity: a type of energy that can build up in one place or flow from one place to another. FLOW VID
Static electricity: When electricity gathers in one place (the word static is that does not move)
Current electricity: electricity that moves from one place to another.
CURRENTS: When electrons move, they carry electrical energy from one place to another. This is called current electricity or an electric current. A lightning bolt is one example of an electric current, although it does not last very long. Electric currents are involved in powering all the electrical appliances that you use; these electric currents last much longer.
ELECTRIC CURRENTS: For an electric current to happen, there must be a circuit.
A circuit: a closed path or loop around which an electric current flows. A circuit is usually made by linking electrical components together with pieces of wire cable.
Thus, in a flashlight, there is a simple circuit with a switch, a lamp, and a battery linked together by a few short pieces of copper wire. When you turn the switch on, electricity flows around the circuit. If there is a break anywhere in the circuit, electricity cannot flow.
Similarly, if the switch is turned off, no electricity can flow.
This is why a switch is sometimes called a circuit breaker.
You don't always need wires to make a circuit, however. There is a circuit formed between a storm cloud and the Earth by the air in between. Normally air does not conduct electricity. However, if there is a big enough electrical charge in the cloud, it can create charged particles in the air called ions.
Ions: Atoms that have lost or gained some electrons
The ions work like an invisible cable linking the cloud above and the air below. Lightning flows through the air between the ions.
HOW ELECTRICITY MOVES IN A CIRCUIT
Discuss: What makes copper a conductor and rubber an insulator?
Conductors: Materials (such as copper metal) that conduct electricity (allow it to flow freely). Metals like copper have "free" electrons that are not bound tightly to their parent atoms. These electrons flow freely throughout the structure of copper and this is what enables an electric current to flow.
Some common conductors are copper, aluminum, gold, and silver.
Insulators: Materials that don't allow electricity to pass through them so readily. In rubber, the electrons are more tightly bound. There are no "free" electrons and, as a result, electricity does not really flow through rubber at all.
Some common insulators are glass, air, plastic, rubber, and wood.
NOTE: Conductors that let electricity flow freely are said to have a high conductance and a low resistance; insulators that do not allow electricity to flow are the opposite: they have a low conductance and a high resistance.
Current of electricity: a steady flow of electrons.
When electrons move from one place to another, round a circuit, electrons carry a tiny amount of electric charge.
Electricity can travel through something when its structure allows electrons to move through it easily.
For electricity to flow, there has to be something to push the electrons along. This is called an electromotive force (EMF). An electromotive force is better known as a voltage.
A battery or power outlet creates the electromotive force that makes a current of electrons flow.
DON'T ever play with electricity!
DON'T ever play with electricity!
Electricity is amazingly useful—but it can be really dangerous as well. When electricity zaps from power plants to your home, it's at thousands of times higher voltages and massively more dangerous than the electricity in your home. If you are silly enough to touch or play near power equipment, you could die an extremely nasty and unpleasant death—electricity doesn't just shock you, it burns you alive. Heed warnings like this one and stay well away.
Electricity can also be dangerous in your home. Household electric power can kill you, so be sure to treat it with respect too. Don't play with household power sockets or push things into them. Don't take apart electrical appliances, because dangerous voltages can linger inside for a long time after they are switched off. If you want to know what something electrical looks like inside, search on the web—you'll find a safe answer that way.
It's generally okay to use small (1.5 volt) flashlight batteries for your experiments if you want to learn about electricity; they make small and safe voltages and electric currents that will do you no harm. Ask an adult for advice if you're not sure what's safe.
Practice Online:
Practice Online:
Web Quest: Use the links to fill out the assigned web quest in Google Classroom. These are due at the end of class on Friday.
Extra Time??
Try TinkerCircuits: INDIVIDUALLY, do tutorials for the circuits --> Set up a TinkerCAD account (Directions HERE)
Practice in Person:
Practice in Person:
LittleBits: In GROUPS OF 1-2 (using correct health/safety precautions), choose a circuit set and practice putting the bits together in various combinations. Use the booklets or given Little Bits link and try to recreate the combinations that others have made, or try evolve them!
Snap Circuits: In GROUPS OF 1-2 (using correct health/safety precautions), choose a circuit set card and complete the snap circuit challenges!
Final Assignment: E-Textiles
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