“Electrons are floating all around,” began Head of Lower School Science Mary Ostrover. The Class 3 girls, seated on the floor in front of her, quickly glanced around. “Electricity comes from a force, like a battery,” she continued, “that pushes the positive and negative electrons through.”
Motioning to the smartboard and lights overhead, Ms. Ostrover said, “Electricity is how all of this works!” and, today, the third graders would learn how to create electricity themselves!
“Where is there electricity in nature?” their teacher asked, with students offering lightning, electric eels or “when you walk across a rug and then touch someone.”
“That’s what we call static electricity,” Ms. Ostrover said of the latter, which is uncontrolled and caused by an imbalance of positive and negative electrons.
After sharing some ideas about electricity and how it functions, their teacher posed a central question for the day: “How do you light a lightbulb?” As the class discussed, Associate Teacher Cassidy Washburn distributed one battery, a small light bulb and two wires to each seat. “I’ve given you some clues,” Ms. Ostrover said, “So now it’s your turn…Can you make electricity?”
With excitement bubbling, the students headed to their desks to get started. Ms. Ostrover underscored that the activity was all about trial and error – the students were purposefully not given too much information.
Working in groups, the scientists began to test their theories. “Should we wrap these wires around the battery?” one group wondered. “Maybe we need to squeeze this part!” said another.
Suddenly, a cheer erupted on one side of the room. “I got it!” a girl squealed, rushing over to show her teachers. “Great job! Your next challenge is to make it light up without connecting the two wires,” Ms. Ostrover whispered (so as not to reveal anything to the students still working).
Over the course of ten minutes, a handful of other students achieved the goal of lighting the bulb. “Okay, time’s up!” announced Ms. Ostrover. “Return your materials to the metal bin.”
With students—some of whom were disappointed—back on the carpet squares, Ms. Ostrover said that it was absolutely okay that not everyone turned on their lightbulb on. “If you’re feeling frustrated,” she said, “That’s normal and will help you grow!”
This small experiment was just the beginning for these eager third graders. By the end of this unit, their teacher said, “You will all understand how electricity is made, get to make your own circuits, learn electricity safety and more! We have many exciting things in store!”
