Switching On a Motor

After learning about circuits, we continued our investigation by figuring out how to make a motor run.  Our students quickly got their motors running, and then I extended the challenge - How could you use a switch to turn your motor on and off?  Once again, our students quickly discovered how to open and close a circuit.  Some of our students connected a switch to the idea of a drawbridge.  When the bridge is closed, the cars (or electricity) can flow.  If the bridge is opened, the cars (or electricity) cannot flow.  What brilliant thinkers!

Building Circuits

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How Do You Light a Bulb?

This was the question I posed the kids.  I gave them one battery, two wires, and one small light bulb.  Our students soon learned that electricity must flow in a complete circuit - from negative to positive.  The light bulb acts as a receiver, and the path of electricity must flow all the way from one side of the battery to the other.  This was a brand new concept to the majority of our kids, and they did an incredible job developing plans, trying out their theories, revising their thinking, and working with their partner.  I was proud of their persistence and critical thinking.  Here is a video of our scientists at work...

Electricity - Making a Motor Run

I am loving science right now. We are in the middle of our Electricity Study and having a blast. During one of our first investigations, I gave the students a light bulb, wire, and a battery and issued this challenge - make your bulb light up. From this investigation, we learned about complete circuits and how current electricity flows. For our next investigation, I gave teams of scientists a battery, motor, and wires. I issued a challenge - make the motor run. Using their knowledge of circuits, students were able to quickly make their motor run. I then gave each team a switch and asked them to incorporate this into their circuit, therefore controlling the "on and off" of the motor. Our scientists were brilliant. Here are some pictures of our class at work...

Motor Run

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