Lesson Plan : Brown Bag Science
Teacher Name: | Ms. Opi |
Grade: | Grade 5 |
Subject: | Science |
Topic: | guess and try to make something that's inside the brown bag |
Content: | simple circuit, battery, wire, bulb, electricity |
Goals: | The purpose of this investigation is to introduce students to the concept of electricity and dispel any fears they may have that they don't understand the concept. |
Objectives: | 1. Be able to draw and explain how an electrical circuit works. 2. Be able to define and use vocabulary associated with electricity. Vocabulary: circuits, electrons, force, conductors, switch, insulation 3. Be able to construct a simple circuit and a parallel circuit. 4. Be able to make an electrical motor work and add a switch to turn it on and off. |
Materials: | - Brown lunch sack - C cell battery - 2 Copper wire - 2 battery holders - 2 brass bateery clips - 1 small flashlight bulb - socket |
Introduction: | This is a hands-on science investigation on electricity. Students learn trough discovery method how electricity works. The student's natural curiosity & sense of exploration will enable them to explore & learn on their own with little input from their teacher. |
Development: | The closed brown lunch sacks which already contained the materials will be given to the student (small groups) without giving clues what to do for the first 10 minutes. |
Practice: | - Give each pair of students a bag and allow 10 minutes for exploration. During this time the teacher must remain quiet unless asked a question. The students will be very busy trying to find out what to do with the contents of the bag. Do not give any clues as to use of contents. This is exploration time. - Before the 10 minutes are up some students will have undoubtedly have made a simple circuit with the contents of the bag. At this time you can stop for discussion. Have the students explain what they did so others can follow. You can now talk about the concept of electricity, the flow of electrons through a conductor , discuss what things are conductors, etc. Discuss where the electricity comes from and where it goes, how does it make the light bulb light. - Discuss how the battery stores electricity. How do we know that electrons are flowing? |
Accommodations: | At this time, I give each pair of students a second battery and let them experiment. Does the second battery change anything? Does the light get brighter or dimmer? Does the way the batteries are connected make any difference in the way the light works. Try different ways of connecting the batteries. Some students will make a parallel circuit. At this time stop and have the students tell what they did. Discuss the concept of parallel circuits. Each pair of students draw what they have done. |
Checking For Understanding: | The role of the teacher in this activity is to be a facilitator. Please refrain from your urge to teach. In this activity, students discover the concept of electricity. The less you show and tell the better. |
Closure: | A follow up activity if you have time is to have switches available. For those students that finish quickly, they get a switch. See if they can connect it into the circuit to make the light come on and off. Discuss how electricity flows. Why does the electricity not cross over the switch when it is open? Does electricity jump? Again, each pair must draw what they have done. This completes the thinking process and makes the learning more personal. |
Evaluation: | 1. Check each pair of students diagrams and leave small personal messages so they will know that you have looked at what they have done. 2. Encourage all students to share what they have learned with other students and parents. |
Teacher Reflections: |
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