Enduring Understandings

 

• Electricity is a form of energy that can be transformed by moving electric charges doing work in various devices.

• Electric fields provide the force that moves charged particles.

• Electrical circuits require a complete loop through which an electrical current passes.

• Electricity is used to generate energy that can be transformed into other forms of energy (sound, light, heat and motion).

• Some materials conduct electricity and some materials do not.

• Electricity is essential to living in today’s modern, technologically advanced world.

 

Essential Questions

 

• How can electrical energy be transformed? 

• What impact does electricity have on our world? 

• How does an electric circuit work? 

• How does energy travel along a circuit?

• How do you build an electric circuit?

• How do conductors and insulators affect the flow of electricity?

 

 

STANDARDS

 

NGSS

• 4-PS3-2.Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.

• 4-PS3-4.Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.*

• MS-ESS3-1. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth's mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.

• MS-ETS1-1.Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

• MS-ETS1-2.Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

• MS-ETS1-3.Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

• MS-ETS1-4.Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

 

CCSS

ELA/Literacy -

• RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.

• WHST.6-8.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

• WHST.6-8.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

• SL.8.5 Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points.

 

Mathematics -

• 6.EE.B.6 Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in a specified set.

• 7.EE.B.4 Use variables to represent quantities in a real-world or mathematical problem, and construct simple equations and inequalities to solve problems by reasoning about the quantities.