Kids learn best by touching and having hands on experiences. However, when learning about electricity, there are not many “safe” activities that they can learn from. The exception to this rule is the very popular elementary and middle school experience of “Batteries & Bulbs”. This teaches how electricity works and now teachers can make the lesson more impressive by showing students a new take on batteries and bulbs.
What is Learned with Batteries and Bulbs
Electricity is something that is always fun to learn about, especially since teachers can go in a lot of different directions with their teachings. They are able to cover watts, volts, amps, and loads first and then move into discussing circuits and how the wires make it possible for electricity to flow from the battery and into the light. They can discuss metal and how it is often another way for electricity to travel. The lessons have to be easily understood by kids in that grade level, but as they learn or become more interested; it can go into even more aspects of electricity.
Getting Started
When you first mention electricity to your students, you may want to talk about the basics. How the watts are a measure of a power, the volts are the pushing force, and how amps in a battery or power supply are going to be the max amount of power that you can work with. From there, hold up a simple battery and point out that both positive and negatives are important because a circuit has to complete the loop that ends and begins with the battery. If you connect only one wire from the battery to the bulb, nothing happens, but a wire that makes a full circle causes the light bulb to glow. From there, you may choose to get into switches and how they make the circle complete. To do this, you can check out popular boat battery switches on discountmarinebatteries.com to see how they work for yourself and discover which ones will help you teach the best. Ideally, the switch you choose will make it possible for kids to see how the circle “connects”.
Teaching Lessons for Life
By teaching kids about how electricity works, you are teaching them valuable lessons that they will use in their adult life. These lessons will be important when it comes to wiring a boat, tracing down wiring issues with their car, and finding out why their home’s outlets are turning colors. It will help them choose the right amperage for their batteries and run wires from their home to their driveway gates without hiring an electrician. The potentials for them to use it in their adult life are great, even if they do not choose to become electricians. It is a basic knowledge of how battery power travels and what happens when it gets to where its going and back again. It is something that everyone should have basic knowledge of and it all starts with “Batteries and Bulbs”.