Zapped! Studying Electricity in Grade 3

I am thrilled to be working with third grade teachers and students to collaborate on their electricity unit.  Most of my students know that before I was a teacher I was an electrical engineer and that it is a passion and interest that I enjoy sharing!  It is great to be able to connect our learning with the real world through my direct experiences in this field and I learn a lot about different ways to approach this material as I watch students investigate, question and explore.  

Last week in enrichment we spent time talking about the movement of electrons during static electricity.  Next students created many examples of static electricity using salt, balloons, combs, tissue paper and fleece.  This discussion and exploratory learning would have been great alone, but we also paired it with problem solving ways that an engineer in a circuit lab would avoid static electricity ( wires are so small these days that this is a relevant problem in the industry).  Their ideas were great and are similar to ones that are utilized in labs.

This week we are creating squishy circuits.  These circuits use playdoh as a resistive conductor.  Students made light shows, spinning helicopters and more.  I witnessed lots of great discussions about how to create complete circuits and the flow of electricity.  Students learned that electricity is lazy...! Ask a third grader what that means!