Phenomena: Kite on Powerlines
A kite becomes tangled in a power line and causes sparks or an electrical outage.
This real-world event prompts students to investigate why it happened and how electricity can travel through certain materials to cause harm.
Learning Goals:
- Students will be able to explain how electrictiy travels.
- Students will be able to demonstrate different forms of electricity by creating a squishy circuit.
Materials List
Group Supplies
- Squishy Circuits
- Items to test in the circuit (examples: coins, scissors, pens plastic or metal silverware, toothbrush, plastic toys)
Important Links
- Lesson Plan
- Powerpoint or Canva Slides
- YouTube Video: Energy Transformations
- YouTube Video: Electricity 101: How Power Gets to Your Home
- YouTube Video: Louie the Lightening Bug urges kids to stay away from power lines
- Video: Kite on wires – no sound
- CE – Modeling the Power Grid with Squishy Circuits Video
- CE – Modeling the Power Grid with Squishy Circuits Slides
- CE – Modeling the Power Grid with Squishy Circuits Facilitation Notes
Next Generation Science Standards
Next Generation Science Standards
- 3-5-ETS1-2: Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
- 4-PS3-2: Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.
- 4-PS3-4: Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.