Electricity for All Levels

Jen Donaldson – jdonalds@cdeducation.org

Briana Richardson – brichardson@mplsd.org

Scott Spohler – sspohler@mplsd.org

Batteries are EXPENSIVE

Use old cell phone charges instead!

Even a USB one works, but the wiring is a little trickier. (I make Spohler do it!)

Squishy Circuits

Gives students the chance to:• follow directions/recipe• work in teams • experiment with making complete circuits,

conductors and insulators

Time to make the doughnuts… er, um, dough.

Fun AND messy!

Dough Creations

UFO Ball•Series and

parallel circuits • Is water an

insulator or conductor?

Fruit Batteries

•Potato clock •Old fruit is best •Activity series of metals

important •Measurable, but might not

light up

Electrolysis of Water

If I had to pick ONE lab, it would probably be this…• Ionic and Covalent – add sugar then salt and observe what

happens to the bubbles •Mole Ratio – have students collect the gases from the

cathode and anode and compare amounts• Acids and Bases – add some phenolphthalein and watch

what happens to the color•Metal Reactivity or Potential – use different metals as the

cathodes and anodes and observe what happens

Building a Light Bulb

•Quantitative and Qualitative •Danger factor! •Use uncoated wire (or

strip it) •Does require a Variac

2015 Teachers Materials Camp ScheduleASM Materials Camp Teachers Camps are held across North America. These are usually five-day camps and may be residential (requiring teachers to stay overnight at the camp), commuter (drive up) or mini-camps (one day or less).

www.asminternational.org City, State Venue Dates Akron, OH University of Akron July 20-24Cincinnati, OH Princeton High School July 20-24 Cleveland, OH Beaumont High School June 15-19 Columbus, OH (1st yr) Tolles Career & Technical Center July 20-24 Columbus, OH (2nd yr) The Ohio State University June 15-19 Columbus, OH (MSP) Tolles Career & Technical Center July 27-31Dayton, OH Central State University June 22-26

Indianapolis, IN Kansas City, MOLehigh Valley, PA Lexington, KY Long Beach, CA Madison, WIMeridian, MS Millersville, PA Naperville, ILNew Orleans, LA Newark, DENewark, NJ

Albuquerque, NM Ann Arbor, MIBoston, MAButte, MTCalgary, Canada Chicago, ILFort Wayne, INGreenville, SCHammond, INHattiesburg, MS Houghton, MIHouston, TX

Ottawa, CanadaPhiladelphia, PA Pittsburgh, PA (specialty)Richmond, VASalt Lake City, UT Sammamish, WASan Antonio, TX Tuscaloosa, AL Urbana, ILVirginia Beach, VA Washington, DC

Let’s do some SCIENCE!

Group UFO Ball

Four Stations: •Fruit Battery •Build a Light Bulb •Squishy Circuits •Electrolysis of Water

Squishy Circuits – RecipesConducting Dough

1 c water (hot!) 1 ½ c flour (approximately)¼ c salt3 T cream of tartar1 T vegetable oilfood coloring 1. Mix hot water, 1 c flour, salt, cream of tartar, vegetable oil, & food coloring in metal bowl on hot plate. 2. Stir and mix thoroughly. Continue to stir as it heats – it will get chunky.3. It should form a ball in the middle of the bowl.4. Dump onto floured table and flatten with spoon – let it cool before handling! 5. Knead in remaining flour until the dough reaches good consistency.

Insulating Dough1 ½ c flour½ c sugar 3 T vegetable oil½ c distilled water food coloring 1. Mix 1 c flour, sugar, food coloring, and vegetable oil together in a bowl.2. Add a small amount of water (about 1 T) and stir together until completely mixed.3. Continue step 2 until most of mixture is sticking together in clumps. 4. Knead into a lump. 5. Add remaining water to make a sticky dough. 6. Knead in remaining flour to reach good consistency.

Squishy CircuitsUse the conducting dough and insulating dough to make a simple circuit. Use an LED, Christmas tree light, or multimeter to see if your circuit is complete. Draw your circuit.

Is it a series circuit or parallel? How could you show this?

 Use the dough to make a series circuit. Test to be sure your circuit is complete. Draw your circuit.

Use the dough to make a parallel circuit. Test to be sure your circuit is complete. Retest to be sure it is truly a complete parallel circuit.Draw your circuit. Show how and where you tested to be sure your circuit was truly a parallel circuit.

Electrolysis of Water When you pass an electric current through water, you cause the water to decompose, creating hydrogen gas and oxygen gas. (You can see the gas as bubbles!)It only takes some wire, a few paper clips or other metal items, a battery, and some salt water. Directions:• Connect one wire to each of the battery terminals.• Be careful not to touch the wires to each other – you will short out the

battery if you do that.• Connect the other end of the wire to the metal items (graphite rods, nails). • Put the two metal rods into the water, not touching.• Watch the bubbles form!

Modifications

1. Add sugar. Then add salt. What do you observe?

2. Add phenolphthalein and note what happens.

3. Capture the gases in test tubes and compare the relative amounts of each.

4. Test the captured gases with a burning splint.

5. Change the metals being used.

 

Questions:

6. What do you notice about the amount of gas bubbling off of each electrode? What might explain this? How do the gases from the two electrodes react to the burning splint?

7. Which types of metal makes better electrodes?

8. What do you notice when you add salt to the water? Why might this occur?

9. How is the battery terminal related to the gas being produced? What does this help you understand about the movement of electrons?

Electrolysis of Water

Build a Light Bulb 1. (Teachers – You will need to make a simple circuit board.)2. Cut a 10 cm length of wire. Strip the coating off. 3. Twist the wire to represent a light bulb filament. 4. With the variac unplugged, attach the wire to the wing-nuts on the board and place a beaker

over it. 5. Slowly ramp up the variac, watching the wire. 6. Note the color changes as the voltage through the wire increases. 7. Repeat with different lengths of wire (20 cm, 30 cm, etc). Note any differences.8. Quantitative – Use a multimeter to measure the output of the variac through the circuit.

Qualitative – Note the different color changes at different voltages. Modifications/Questions 9. Try different gauges of wire.10. Try different wire materials. 11. Does the twisting/wrapping of the wire make a difference?

Building a Light Bulb