FLEET schools: Conductors, insulators and electricity

Introduction

From the dawn of time we have witnessed electricity as a primal force of nature in the form of lightning. The ancient Greeks would rub amber with a cloth and get small electric shocks – the same static electricity we experience when we rub our feet along the carpet and then touch something conductive, for example a metal bench or your friend. But it took us until early in the 19th century before we started to learn how to generate, control and harness this energy in a way that would change the world as we know it. It was not until the late 19th Century and early 20th Century before we began to understand how it worked. It started with simple circuits to produce light and heat, revelations that led to today’s digital revolution where the world’s economies have become reliant on electricity and would collapse without it.

How long before the digital revolution enables a new generation of technologies? It may be sooner than you think and the way we generate and consume electricity is one of the main drivers of the research that will help evolve digital technologies and enable driverless cars, advanced artificial intelligence, robotics and advances in human health. It could enable computers the ability to monitor and track your every movement, conversation and your proximity to others. That computer could analyse and interpret the meaning of your conversation and actions and make decisions based on that data. What are acceptable uses of such technologies? Who should control such technology? Such questions should be part of the dialogue about the direction and application of scientific research and, alongside the hands-on experiments, are part of the critical thinking activities in this unit.

 

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This resource is for students from upper primary to lower secondary. It is cross-curricula and enables students to explore the nature of electricity; how we managed to harness this power; how it changed human society and paved the way to the digital age we live in today. The content and activities are scaffolded to enable teachers to assess student learning. There are the following two broad types of activities:

Critical thinking activities to analyze and reflect on how we produce and consume electricity, and the value of research being conducted to develop the next generation of electronic and digital technologies.

Hands-on activities/experiments that help students understand electricity, conductors, insulators, resistance and consider the value, acceptability and direction of the research that will help shape their future.

Powerpoint slide show: Download the Powerpoint presentation for your use in the classroom. It uses selective activities from this resource to run approximately two, 1.5 hour sessions.

Download a pdf of the whole resource.

 

Learning outcomes

 

 

Curriculum links

The resource content and activities are linked to the following Australian curriculum codes:

Year 6

ACSSU097 (recognizing the need for a complete circuit to allow the flow of electricity; investigating different electrical conductors and insulators; considering whether an energy source is sustainable)

ACSHE098 (investigating the use of electricity, including predicting the effects of changes to electric circuits)

ACSHE100 (considering how personal and community choices influence our use of sustainable sources of energy; discussing the use of electricity and the conservation of sources of energy; considering how electricity and electrical appliances have changed the way some people live

Year 8

ACSSU155 (recognizing that heat energy is often produced as a by-product of energy transfer, such as brakes on a car and light globes)

ACSHE135 (investigating how energy efficiency can reduce energy consumption)

ACSHE136 (investigating how scientists have created new materials such as synthetic fibres, heat-resistant plastics and pharmaceuticals)

Year 9

ACSSU182 (investigating factors that affect the transfer of energy through an electric circuit)

ACSHE157 (investigating the historical development of models of the structure of the atom)

ASCHE160 (recognizing aspects of science, engineering and technology within careers such as medicine, medical technology, telecommunications, biomechanical engineering, pharmacy and physiology)

Year 10

ACSSU190 (recognizing that in energy transfer and transformation, a variety of processes can occur, so that the usable energy is reduced and the system is not 100% efficient)

 

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FLEET research and the need for the next generation of electronics

Digital technologies (anything with a computer chip) consume about 10% of global electricity and this proportion is increasing each year as demand for computation increases and we desire smarter, more powerful computing systems to be integrated into our daily lives.

Moore’s Law (though it is not really a law) predicts that the number of transistors on a computer chip would double every 18-24 months, and it was right…until now. For many years, the energy demands of an exponentially growing number of computations was kept in check by ever-more efficient, and ever-more compact silicon-based microchips. But, we can’t make the transistors much smaller without breaking some laws of physics.

FLEET’s aim is to develop the next generation of low-energy electronics that will enable energy-efficient computing. Find out more about FLEET’s research and the motivation for that research here.

Now we start to explore electricity itself, what it is, how we use it and rely on it. To do that we first examine the atom before we travel back to the 16th Century. The rest of this resource is divided into two sections: ‘Understanding electricity’ and ‘Electricity and magnetism’. See links to each section below. In each section are the associated critical thinking and hands-on activities, or they are listed below. You can download the whole resource to use in your classroom – see below.

 

 

List of activities

What is Electricity

 

• Activity 1: What is electricity? Students will think critically about how electricity has changed the world, where it comes from, how we generate and use electricity and the risk, benefits and acceptability of these uses.
• Activity 2: Draw an atom. To understand electricity, it helps to understand the structure of the atom. Students draw their perception of an atom to establish their baseline understanding.
• Activity 3: Build an atom. Build an atom you can eat. Students will develop an understanding of the structure of the atom and its relationship to electricity. They will begin to familiarize themselves with the periodic table, how to use it and learn that there are many types of atom that make up the world around us.
• Activity 4: Draw a circuit. This activity will assess student perceptions of what electricity and a circuit is.
• Activity 5: Sticky, flappy plastic. Students get to think, observe and learn about the difference between insulators and conductors and how charged particles (electrons and protons) function to generate static electricity.
• Activity 6: Water Bender. This experiment will help students understand static electricity and you will use this power to bend water.
• Activity 7: Conduct, insulate, resist: The dance. A role play activity that will help students visualize how resistance works at the quantum level, and to challenge potential student understanding of resistance.
• Activity 8: Life without resistance. A critical thinking exercise to examine the concept of resistance and the value of research that aims to develop materials that can conduct electricity without resistance.

Electricity and magnetism

• Activity 9: Electric motors: Spinning wire. Students will replicate Michael Faraday’s simple electric motor to build on their understanding of the relationship between magnetism and electricity.
• Activity 10: Graphite circuit. Using a pencil, battery and LED, Students will develop a deeper understanding of conductors and insulators and resistance and how to construct an effective circuit.