Electricity & Magnetism

Plenty of options in this unit for inquiry learning...make an electromagnet quickly comes to mind. That investigation has been done for years in elementary and middle school classes. Challenge the students to pick up a certain number of paper clips to make it a little more interesting. Or, you could challenge your students to make a motor and see who can get it to make the most rotations or to simple spin for the longest amount of time. Ask your students to experiment with nail type or size, battery size, wire length, etc. and both of these challenges can easily become an inquiry experiment. I always do the motor thing as "when I have time" lab in the Spring and do not have a formal write up for it. Here are a few of the experiments that I have done in the past.

Motor Building Challenge Here is my version of the motor building challenge. I just put the materials out and let the students play. In this instance, I do allow them to use the internet if they so choose. I often only give them 45 minutes or so to complete this assignment.

AP_Electrical Resistance Inquiry Experiment This one is a tough one...getting the right resistance wires and having all of the necessary equipment make this experiment a challenge to even attempt for the teacher, let alone for the student. I found this to be a little frustrating for the students since not all resistance wires are created equal and some of the groups were unable to get reasonable results. Live and learn, right? In my first version of the experiment, I asked the students to use a variety of resistance wires, but in this version I use different gauges of Nichrome wire. The Nichrome worked the best for my students.

Circuits Investigation This is another experiment that is a little bit procedural and a little bit inquiry. This exercise is all about circuit analysis and light bulbs. I know the hardest part about analyzing circuits for my students is trying to determine what will happen to the brightness of a light bulb, so here I decided to give them practical experience. It works, too...I have found a lot less confusion on the light bulb questions on my assessments since I started using this exercise.

Ohm's Law Inquiry Experiment Electricity? Play-doh? Seriously? Yes, you can actually pass a current through Play-doh and determine its resistance...what more fun could you ask for??!? This is my favorite inquiry investigation that I use with my honors classes. No two pieces of Playdoh are created equal! Some groups will show that Playdoh is actually ohmic other groups will show it is non-ohmic...it all depends on how they construct their experiment. A lot of strange discoveries are made during this experiment...a perfect inquiry investigation to demonstrate all the new skills your students have developed over the school year.

Generating Electricity With Wind Power Inquiry Experiment A few years ago I created a unit for my students about the physics of renewable energy and I wrote up an exercise for the students to create the most efficient wind turbine. I then combined this with circuits and electricity and out came this experiment. It was a lot of fun watching the students test their turbines...the electricity component seemed secondary to them.