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Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Which Materials Are the Best Conductors?

For Students 3rd - 5th
There are two main types of materials when it comes to electricity, conductors, and insulators. What are they made of? Find out by testing different materials in a circuit to see which ones conduct the most electricity.
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Activity
Other

Electricity: Simple Circuits

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Create your own simple electric circuit. Using simple supplies build your own battery and investigate conductivity. You can also construct a crossword puzzle with electrical vocabulary words.
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Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Electrical Conductivity

For Students 9th - 10th
This is the encyclopedic entry for electrical conductivity from Wikipedia.com. The site provides a brief introduction to the topic but provides numerous links to information relative to the topic.
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Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Electric Conductors and Insulators

For Students 7th - 8th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] In this lesson, students learn about materials that conduct electricity and those that insulate against it. Includes a simulation for exploring conductivity, and a...
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Lesson Plan
SRI International

Performance Assessment Links in Science: Mystery Card 3

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Straightforward introduction to electrical circuits using minimal materials and time. Students learn about the basics of electrical circuits by experimenting with "mystery cards" -- index cards with hidden aluminum foil used to conduct...
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Unknown Type
Physics Classroom

The Physics Classroom: Static Electricity Review

For Students 9th - 10th
This review from the Glenbrook South High School provides a series of questions on various topics associated with static electricity (such as electrical insulation). Answers and explanations are hidden, yet easily accessed from within a...
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Interactive
BBC

Bbc Schools: Ks2 Bitesize: Science: Physical Processes: Electrical Conductors

For Students 3rd - 8th
A review of electrical conductors and insulators, with diagrams, activities, and quiz questions.
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Lesson Plan
BioEd Online

Bio Ed Online: Neural Network Signals

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Nervous system messages are sent as electrical signals along the length of axons and dissolved salts are important for electrical signaling in cells. In this instructional activity students are introduced to this concept by creating an...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Saltwater Circuit

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students build a saltwater circuit, which is an electrical circuit that uses saltwater as part of the circuit. Students investigate the conductivity of saltwater, and develop an understanding of how the amount of salt in a solution...
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Interactive
University of Colorado

University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Band Structure

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore the origin of energy bands in crystals of atoms. The structure of these bands determines how materials conduct electricity. Java required.
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Activity
National Geographic

National Geographic: Building Circuits

For Teachers 4th - 8th
In this lesson, students build series and parallel circuits and test their conductivity. Includes handouts with diagrams, and a vocabulary list with definitions.
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Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: Currents, Resistors, and Power

For Students 9th - 10th
In this interactive tutorial students will learn about electric current, resistance and current density. Learn how current density relates to electric field strength and how resistance produces heat.
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Handout
American Association of Physics Teachers

Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Rail Gun Model

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Simulate the movement of a rail gun in this interactive model. Learn how a magnetic field is generated by running electrical current through long rods that accelerates a current-carrying cross-rod.
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Go With the Flow

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students gain an understanding of the difference between electrical conductors and insulators, and experience recognizing a conductor by its material properties. In a hands-on activity, students build a conductivity tester to determine...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Get Charged!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students are introduced to the idea of electrical energy. They learn about the relationships between charge, voltage, current and resistance. They discover that electrical energy is the form of energy that powers most of their household...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Lights On!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students in this activity will build simple circuits using a battery, wires, and light bulbs. This activity allows students to examine how electricity is conducted through a light bulb using a battery as a power source. Students will...
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Handout
Physics4kids

Physics4 Kids: Electricity and Magnetism: Conductors and Conductivity

For Students 3rd - 8th
A brief overview of several type of conductors.
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Handout
Great Idea Finder

The Great Idea Finder: Electric Battery

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief article from The Great Idea Finder.
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Should I Drink That?

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Young scholars perform the first steps that environmental engineers do to determine water quality - sampling and analysis. Student teams measure the electrical conductivity of four water samples using teacher-made LED conductivity...
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Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Ionic Bonds and Ionic Compounds

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] In the following online tutorial students will learn to explain how an ionic bond is formed when electrons are transferred from one atom to another in terms of the...
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Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: Charge and Coulomb's Law

For Students 9th - 10th
Learning about charge and forces of attraction will be keys to understanding electrostatics and the basis of this learning unit. Developing a greater understanding of charge and the charge model is necessary to understanding electricity.
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Handout
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Magnet Academy: Joseph John Thomson

For Students 9th - 10th
Joseph John Thomson, better known as J. J. Thomson, was a British physicist who first theorized and offered experimental evidence that the atom was a divisible entity rather than the basic unit of matter, as was widely believed at the...
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Handout
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Magnet Academy: Michael Faraday

For Students 9th - 10th
A self-educated man with a brilliant mind, Michael Faraday was born in a hardscrabble neighborhood in London. Through the combination of insatiable curiosity and a powerful will to succeed, he transcended his austere beginnings to...
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Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Energy

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Through nine lessons, students are introduced to a range of energy types--electrical, light, sound and thermal-as well as the renewable energy sources of wind, hydro (water) and solar power. Subjects range from understanding that the...