Turn on your light!

D. gets his bulb to light first!

Have you heard about the fun we've been having in science? Our electricity unit has us exploring circuits. This week students were given a few items and only one instruction--turn on your light! Students were each given a D-cell battery, wire, and a lightbulb. There was silence as kids began to look at their materials and plan a way to make the bulb light. It took only a minute before we heard students saying, "I can't get it!" or "I need help!" I encouraged them to keep trying and experimenting with different configurations. I explained that any minute someone would get their bulb to light and soon after, word would spread around the room about how he/she did it.

By the end of the lesson, students had discovered several different ways to use their materials to turn on their lights. We created a class anchor chart that we will refer to as we continue our study of electrical circuits. Check out the video clip of the electricians at work!