Electricity and Magnetism Unit Schedule and Lesson Plan

The children really, really wanted to learn about electricity, so I finally buckled down and planned this unit. It seemed like a really overwhelming subject to me at first (and it is, even if you're just doing the basics like we were), but it got easier as I went along. I realized as I was preparing that electricity and magnetism really go together, so the Electricity Unit grew into an Electricity and Magnetism Unit. All the better! We love magnets. :)

Here's a list of most of the materials you need for this unit, plus links to buy them online.

Below are some electricity and magnetism resources that didn't fit anywhere else. You can also look at my Electricity Unit Pinterest Board.

I really had to do a lot of reading before I FINALLY got it straight in my mind what the difference between volts, amps, ohms, and watts is. Here are some resources for that:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/question501.htm

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?9200-Amps-vs-Watts-vs-Volts

http://www.ducksters.com/science/electricity_102.php---some good electricity basics

http://www.physics4kids.com/files/elec_current.html

Robert Krampf's electricity show is really fun (subscription required---it's worth it! We love Robert Krampf and use his site all the time)

We loved this interactive animation for helping us understand AC and DC.

And here's a video that talks about the differences between AC and DC, and the contributions of Edison and Tesla to each.

LOVE this video explaining transistors and semiconductors. So clear!

Building a telegraph looks fun---we did something similar with the snap circuits. This could go with a lesson on the transcontinental railroad, too.

We spent a day talking about electricity in animals (we had some good books on the subject) and this article was interesting too.

And here's a short video about electric eels

Seb's illustration of the electromagnetic spectrum