School Improvement in Maryland

Using the State Curriculum: Science, Grade 4

Skills and Processes | Earth/Space | Life | Chemistry | Physics | Environmental

Lesson Seeds: The lesson seeds are ideas for the indicator/objective that can be used to build a lesson. Lesson seeds are not meant to be all-inclusive, nor are they substitutes for instruction.

Standard 5.0 Physics

Topic C. Electricity and Magnetism

Indicator 2. Investigate and provide evidence that electricity requires a closed loop in order to produce measurable effects.

Objective a. Identify the source of electricity needed to produce various effects:

  • Light - flashlight (battery)
  • Heat - hot plate, hairdryer (outlet, battery)
  • Sound - Ipod (battery) , doorbell(electrical wiring)
  • Movement - mechanical toys (battery, outlet)

Activity

Brainstorm ways that electrical devices are powered (batteries, plugged into an outlet, hardwired in the wall). Students brainstorm effects produced by electronic devices (light, sound, heat, movement). Students construct and complete the table.

Batteries Plugged into outlet Hardwired in the wall
Light
Sound
Heat
Movement

Make sure that students realize that some electronic devices can fit in more than one column. For instance, an MP3 player can be powered by battery or plugged into an outlet. It also produces heat, light, and sound.

/instruction/lessons/science/grade4/xml/5C2a.xml