It's
Electric!
A
Web Quest about Electricity
Introduction
At 2:00 in the morning on a stormy night, the electricity suddenly goes out. The house begins to get cold, so you bundle up with more blankets. Then you realize that you may not be able to wake up in the morning if the electricity does not come back on soon because your alarm clock doesn't work without electricity. What about breakfast? How will you cook that Pop Tart without electricity? Hope you like cold showers because without electricity there is no way to warm the water in the water heater.
What comes to mind when you find yourself suddenly in complete darkness? Probably fear happens first! However, when you see there is nothing to fear, you usually begin to have questions about electricity. It's easy to forget how much we rely on electricity until we don't have the use of it.
What can you learn from studying electricity? Where does electricity come from? How does electricity make your alarm clock, toaster, and water heater work? That is what you will find out in this WebQuest.
Task
You have decided to find out how electricity works so that maybe you can come up with a way to get the power back on when the electricity goes out. In order to do this, you must understand how electricity works by completing some research.
At the end of your fact finding, you will become an expert ready to show off what you know with others. So when the lights go out again, and they are sure to do so, you'll make others comforted in the knowledge you've given them.
One important fact to learn about electricity is how it flows in a circuit. This is were you will begin your Quest!
PROCESS
STEP 1 Research Electricity
Find out about how electricity works. First, read through and complete the online activity below about simple circuits. When you have finished reading through the activity, exit out of that page to get back to this page.
Next, click
on the link below. Read the information on this website to answer the
questions on your worksheet It's
Electric. When you are finished gathering your data, exit out of that page
to get back to this page.
STEP 2
Experiment with Electricity
Complete the
online activity below. You may click on the FULL SCREEN button to see a larger
view of the activities. Click on the blue
arrows at the top to move through the activity. When you are finished,
exit out of the activity to get back to this page. Then click on the Quiz link
below to take the quiz that goes with each activity. Be sure to raise your hand
after you have completed each one so your teacher can record your score for each
quiz. You may not write your own score on your worksheet It's
Electric.
ACTIVITY 1 QUIZ 1
ACTIVITY 2
QUIZ 2
STEP 3
Diagram a Circuit
Complete the
BUILDING
CIRCUIT exercise. Read through this activity carefully, paying close
attention to the the symbols that are used. You can also us the websites listed
below to find out more information about circuits. After you have completed the
activity above, exit out of that page to get back to this page. Then create a
diagram of a simple circuit on your worksheet It's
Electric. Remember use only symbols to create your diagram and each circuit
must include a power source, and arrows to show the direction the energy is
moving!
You can also
find information about electrical symbols for circuits and information about
building circuits at the websites listed below.
STEP 4
Electrical Safety
Electricity
is a very widely used form of energy. We use it in the home and at school, in
the workplace and for recreation. It can give us pleasure and comfort.
However, it can also be DANGEROUS! It can give us a shock, a burn, or even
kill us. Your next mission is to investigate how electricity is a danger to us
in various situations and list five safety rules about electricity on the back
of your worksheet It's
Electric.
Use the links
below to help you learn more about electrical Safety!
STEP 5 - What
Do you Think?
Check out
this amazing POD Car that runs on electricity. POD
Car Article. So, what do you think? Will the POD car take over cars that
run on gas? Here is another article about electric cars. Charged
Cars
Read this
really cool article about Electric
Backpacks. What is
your predicition? Do you think one day you will be using an Electric Backpack
for school?
Graphics from:
Microsoft Clipart Gallery
