Light Up The Holidays!

It’s that time of year again!

Kids are getting antsy in their seats, teachers are looking forward to the break, and everyone is excited.  After all, it’s the most wonderful time of the year–though, in the classroom, it may be a little bit harder to keep attention where it needs to be.  Ideally, rather than threatening students to “pay attention or you’ll fail the final”, around this time we as teachers would use activities to keep them engaged even when the outside world seems to be calling their name.

This is where STE(A)M comes in!

STEM activities are great opportunities to get students involved and active within the classroom.  Not only that, but it shows students the many career opportunities available to them once they’re out of high school.  It’s absolutely critical that students are aware of the many different types of jobs they can pursue after college, especially for minority students.  We want all students to see how incredible science, technology, engineering and math are, and what better time than the holiday season to do this?

Now, since it is the season of giving, I’m going to go ahead and give you all my gift now–a STE(A)M based lesson plan!  Today’s topic?  Electricity and currents.  Here are the 5 E’s for this plan:

Engage:

For the engage activity, it’s important to show students the different aspects they’ll be tinkering with during the explore.  For this, give a demonstration showing a simple circuit using copper tape and a battery with an LED light.

Once the bottom right corner is folded (so the circuit is completed), the light will turn on and get students thinking–what causes the circuit to work?  How does this make lights light up?

Explore:

Now that students are active and thinking, this is where I would bring the holidays in!  Give students three options: either they can put lights on a Christmas tree, light up a Grinch coloring page, or create a fully lit menorah!  This allows students to not feel like they’re constricted by a certain holiday, but rather that they can pick which part of the holidays they want to represent.  Once students have selected their options, divide them into groups based on their choices and begin the lab.

Have students experiment with where to place the copper tape, battery, and lights in order to make their drawing light up in the best way possible.  Allow students to work through problems they’re having on their own, really encouraging them to develop ideas as to what will make a working circuit.  For example, students may just connect the lights to the copper and then connect that to a battery without placing the copper wire above the lights as well (to make a full circuit).  Guide students along, but allow them to solve these problems on their own!

Explain:

Once students have completed the lab, have them discuss as a class the following questions:

1. What made a complete electrical current?
2. We can’t see electricity, but what do you think is causing it?  (Hint: based on our chemistry knowledge, what is the root of the word “electricity”?  ELECTR…ONS, perhaps????)

At this point, it is important to give students some background knowledge as to what is ACTUALLY happening in an electrical current.  Once students know that electrons are causing it, use a quick lecture to explain this–electrons are being pushed by their negative charges through the wiring to make a light become lit!

Elaborate:

This is where the key aspects of STEM come in!  Tell students they have been hired by a billionaire to decorate his house for the holidays.  They have to create a working light display model to show the billionaire using only their knowledge of currents to create it, since this billionaire values electrical engineering and wants his designers to show knowledge in this area.

Students then have to come up with an analysis of the costs this display would have, along with an advertisement poster detailing why their display is not only the prettiest, but the most electrically efficient.  It would be best for this project if students worked in groups of threes, having three distinct jobs:

Electrical Engineer: This person is ultimately in charge of the overall electrical efficiency of the project.

Cost Analysis: This person gives relative monetary costs of putting the lights up and keeping them lit for the holiday season.

Advertiser: This person creates an advertisement explaining why their design is both pretty and electrically the best option for the billionaire.

Once students are finished, put their models and posters on display for classes to observe and see their work!

Evaluate:

To evaluate student knowledge of this topic, I would give students a short quiz where they would have to draw a picture of an electrical current, detailing materials needed to create one, and draw the path of electrons in the current.  Also, students would need to give an explanation as to something new they learned about electrical engineering through the elaborate process.

All in all, this topic would be a great STEM activity to keep students engaged and excited around the holidays.  Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!  Happy holidays folks!

-Naomi