Go Go Gadget Battery (Jonathan Moseley)
Title: Go Go Gadget battery: where to find electricity when your battery is dead.
Principle(s) Investigated: Circuits, Electricity Generation.
Standards : Past in the appropriate California content standards.
Grade Five:
Physical Sciences
1. Elements and their combinations account for all the varied types of matter in the world. As a basis for understanding this concept:
c. Students know metals have properties in common, such as high electrical and thermal conductivity. Some metals, such as aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), silver (Ag), and gold (Au), are pure elements; others, such as steel and brass, are composed of a combination of elemental metals.
Investigation and Experimentation
6. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
a. Classify objects (e.g., rocks, plants, leaves) in accordance with appropriate criteria.
b. Develop a testable question.
c. Plan and conduct a simple investigation based on a student-developed question and write instructions others can follow to carry out the procedure.
d. Identify the dependent and controlled variables in an investigation.
e. Identify a single independent variable in a scientific investigation and explain how this variable can be used to collect information to answer a question about the results of the experiment.
f. Select appropriate tools (e.g., thermometers, meter sticks, balances, and graduated cylinders) and make quantitative observations.
g. Record data by using appropriate graphic representations (including charts, graphs, and labeled diagrams) and make inferences based on those data.
h. Draw conclusions from scientific evidence and indicate whether further information is needed to support a specific conclusion.
i. Write a report of an investigation that includes conducting tests, collecting data or examining evidence, and drawing conclusions.
Grades Nine Through Twelve:
Electric and Magnetic Phenomena
5. Electric and magnetic phenomena are related and have many practical applications. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know how to predict the voltage or current in simple direct current (DC) electric circuits constructed from batteries, wires, resistors, and capacitors.
Investigation and Experimentation
1. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other four strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
a. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (such as computer-linked probes, spreadsheets, and graphing calculators) to perform tests, collect data, analyze relationships, and display data.
b. Identify and communicate sources of unavoidable experimental error.
c. Identify possible reasons for inconsistent results, such as sources of error or uncontrolled conditions.
d. Formulate explanations by using logic and evidence.
e. Solve scientific problems by using quadratic equations and simple trigonometric, exponential, and logarithmic functions.
f. Distinguish between hypothesis and theory as scientific terms.
g. Recognize the usefulness and limitations of models and theories as scientific representations of reality.
h. Read and interpret topographic and geologic maps. i. Analyze the locations, sequences, or time intervals that are characteristic of natural phenomena (e.g., relative ages of rocks, locations of planets over time, and succession of species in an ecosystem).
j. Recognize the issues of statistical variability and the need for controlled tests.
k. Recognize the cumulative nature of scientific evidence.
l. Analyze situations and solve problems that require combining and applying concepts from more than one area of science.
m. Investigate a science-based societal issue by researching the literature, analyzing data, and communicating the findings. Examples of issues include irradiation of food, cloning of animals by somatic cell nuclear transfer, choice of energy sources, and land and water use decisions in California.
n. Know that when an observation does not agree with an accepted scientific theory, the observation is sometimes mistaken or fraudulent (e.g., the Piltdown Man fossil or unidentified flying objects) and that the theory is sometimes wrong (e.g., the Ptolemaic model of the movement of the Sun, Moon, and planets).
Materials: Include a list of materials and sources from which they may be obtained.
· Strip of copper, Cu (copper nail) - Hardware Store
· Strip of nickel, Ni- Chemical Supply Shop
· Strip of zinc, Zn (galvanized nail) - Hardware Store
· Alligator connectors - Radio Shack
· Small knife - Hardware Store
· Wire cutters - Radio Shack
· Sandpaper - Hardware Store
· LED - Radio Shack
· Lemons - Grocery Store
· Kiwi - Grocery Store
· Onions - Grocery Store
· Tomatoes - Grocery Store
· Brownie - Grocery Store
· Wet Brownie (soaked in vinegar) - Grocery Store
· Record sheet - make your own from any spreadsheet or word processing software
· Multimeter - Radio Shack
Procedure: Give a detailed explanation of the procedure and include diagrams if possible.
· Students will be organized into heterogeneous teams of 2-3.
· Some tool the teacher uses that requires batteries will have dead batteries and not function.
· The students will be asked what they do when this happens.
· They will then be asked, as a group, to provide a one sentence description of electricity and an electric circuit, as well as a diagram of a simple electric circuit.
· Teams will then share their answers.
· Students will be shown a diagram of a simple circuit and several real world examples.
· They will then be asked, as a group, to provide a one sentence description of a voltaic battery.
· Teams will then share their answers.
· Students will be shown a diagram of a voltaic battery and several real world examples.
· Students will be shown the pre-selected foods and asked if they could provide electricity and how much.
· They will then be asked to vote which food will provide the most electricity.
· One team member will collect the materials needed for the experiment.
· Each team will experiment with a different type of food.
· Each team will experiment with both nickel and zinc.
· Students will first write down their predictions.
· Then they will complete the experiment using zinc.
· Students will record their findings and relate them back to their predictions.
· Students will first write down their predictions of change when using nickel.
· Then they will complete the experiment using nickel.
· Students will record their findings and relate them back to their predictions.
· Students will first write down their predictions of change when adding same fruit (decide alone the number) in parallel.
· Then they will complete the experiment.
· Students will record their findings and relate them back to their predictions.
· Students will first write down their predictions of change when adding same fruit (decide alone the number) in series.
· Then they will complete the experiment.
· Students will record their findings and relate them back to their predictions.
· For each attempt they will use a multimeter to measure volts and amps.
· For each attempt they will endeavor to illuminate the LED.
· For each attempt they will take a photograph of their setup.
· At the end, each team will present their findings and turn in their record sheet and photographs.
Student prior knowledge: What prior concepts do students need to understand this activity?
Students will need to understand:
· Energy flow (negative & positive)
· A simple circuit
· How to operate a voltmeter & amp meter
· A voltaic battery
Explanation: Give a thorough explanation of the experiment or demonstration. Your explanation should be written to give your fellow teachers a solid understanding and include greater detail than what you might provide for your secondary students. Make certain to include equations whenever pertinent.
Mose of what is needed is contained within the Procedure portion above. It is very important to include information on Voltaic cells, the chemistry behind electricity, the electric circuit, and parallel and series configurations. A chart for helping the students to organize their discovery is also important. Include one that listes the various experiments that can be connected with a space for writing the results. This is a great activity/lab to use at the beginning of a unit on electricity and can be used to talk about many aspects of electricity and chemistry, and cercuits, as well as the place of electricity in our own lives and its connection to the earth.
Questions & Answers: Give three thought-provoking questions and provide detailed answers.
1. In what ways do you use batteries and what ways could you or would you want to use batteries?
Possible Answer: I use batteries in my phone, wireless mouse, laptop, watch, camera, game controller, flashlight, ipod, etc.
2. In what uses are batteries good for the environment and what ways are batteries bad for the environment?
Possible Answer: Uses for batteries that are good for the environment include capturing energy in hybrid cars to power the electric motor, or storing solar energy for later use. Batteries can be damaging to the environment because heavy metals and toxic chemicals are used in their manufacture. In addition, some of the metals used are extremely rare and non-replenishable.
3. Why is it that when the lemons are connected in parallel the result is increased voltage, but increased amperes results when the lemons are linked in series? Use diagrams in your answer.
Possible Answer: Connecting in parallel increases the pressure, “volts”, by slightly restricting the rate of flow, “amperes”.
Applications to Everyday Life: Explain (don't just list) three instances where this principle can be used to explain other phenomenon.
This demonstration can be an excellent way of helping the students to understand the difference between volts and amperes.
An analogy can be used to help students understand water flow and piping systems.
Gaining energy from alternative sources.
Although so much of our lives depend upon electricity, some areas of the world don't have any or enough. For example, if you go camping, how will you recharge your camera battery? Or your phone? This lab is a great way to get students thinking about the amount of electricity they use and how much it is a part of their lives. It is also useful for connecting electricity to the natural world.
Photographs: Include a photograph of you or students performing the experiment/demonstration, and a close-up, easy to interpret photograph of the activity --these can be included later.
Videos: Include links to videos posted on the web that relate to your activity. These can be videos you have made or ones others have made.