Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
Introduction Short Description:
Students will find out about electric forces in easy set up experiment.
A museums visit will enable students to have an idea of what kind of electric phenomena nature can bring up
Students study phenomena by observing simulations and videos
Age range: 15-16 years old
Context: School, museum
Time required: approx. 5-7 lessons
Connection with the curriculum: electric force, coulombs law, electrostatic phenomena
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
How can a scrap of paper on a table be lifted without touching it?
The scrap can be lifted by using frictional electricity of a charged ruler
A balloon is prepared as being charged by frictional electricity and attached to the glass of the window. As it stays there some questions will appear:
what kind of force makes the balloon being fixed? Students have to find the similarity to the first experiment
Eliciting Curiosity – pre visit phase 1
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
What do we know about charge
Who found out characteristics about charged and defined them (historical background)?
Questions Eliciting Activities – pre visit phase 1 Define questions from current knowledge
Material
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
What kind of forces do we already know? Where do those forces come from?
One of those forces are caused by electric charge: what forces appear with 2 like charges and 2 unlike charges?
What happens to charges in conductive material and what to those in insulators?
Questions Eliciting Activities – pre visit phase 1 Define questions from current knowledge
Material
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
Pre Visit –Phase 2: Active Investigation – PROPOSE PRELIMINARY EXPLANATION OR HYPOTHESES
How can we set up an easy experiment to measure and compare charge?
Get some ideas from current knowledge: in everyday life anyone knows charges are "produced" by taking off woole textiles or similar.
Find out how to "produce" electric charged objects
Find out forces that appear
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
Pre Visit –Phase 2: plan simple investigation
Build your own electroscope
Balloon, can and foil Charged balloons
• Using simple devices to explore electric field strenght
• Development of scientific models for measuring
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
Pre Visit –Phase 2: propose preliminary hypothesis
Identification of possible misconceptions associated to electricity. Some could be:
Electric charged objects attract because of magnetic force: This can easily be disproved by simple experiments Protons move from object to object: Misconception associated to the structure of matter: This would need a deeper repeating of matter-theoryElectric force increases and decreases direct proportionally to distance. This misconception can be used to start investigation by the help of electric field animation
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
Pre Visit –Phase 2: Observation:
Electric field simulation
• View field line grid
• analyze influence of additional charged particles
• measure forces and strength
• View forces as vector graphs
Animation
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
Pre Visit –Phase 2: Observation:
Charges and field simulation
• View field line grid
• analyze influence of additional charged particles
• measure forces and strength
• View forces as vector graphs
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
Pre Visit –Phase 2: Investigation:
How does electric force depend from distance and charge?
• Use of worksheet
• Analyze different charges
• Analyze different distances
• Measure field strenght
• Protocol measurements and report
worksheet
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
Pre Visit –Phase 2: Observation:
Play electric field hockey Try to reach the goal
Mind the attracting and repelling force
Try to use as less charge as possible
start game
material
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
Visit - Phase 3Creation – GATHER EVIDENCE FROM OBSERVATION
The high voltage room at the technical museum in Vienna
Observe experiments showing the impact of high voltage electric fields
Observe the tesla coile and emerging flashovers
http://www.tmw.at/default.asp?id=216&al=deutsch
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
Visit - Phase 3Creation – GATHER EVIDENCE FROM OBSERVATION
Students observe phenomena of high voltage
Students observe emerging flashovers that appear at the tesla coil
http://www.tmw.at/default.asp?id=216&al=deutsch
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
Visit - Teaching Phase 4Discussion – Explanation based on evidence
What could be a possible explanation for lightening in nature
The teacher points out that earth and clouds carry a huge amount of charge.
Students discuss how can the charge of clouds be produced.
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
Visit - Teaching Phase 4Discussion – consider and observe explanations based on animations: moving icy and fluid particles in clouds
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
How do electric fields take influence on our life
Considering: high voltage lines, electric plugs
What could be an explanation for lightening
http://www.tmw.at/default.asp?id=216&al=deutsch
Visit - Teaching Phase 4Discussion – Explanation based on evidence
Electric field and forceEducational Pathway
Markus ArtnerBG Neunkirchen
What do we know about electric phenomena in everyday life and how can we know there are electric fields?
Students are asked to make reports of observation Students are enforced to start the coulombe-quiz
How does earths and atmospheres electricity work out?
working out explanations for the phenomena Students work out presentation using material from the web
Discuss presentations and findings
Analyzing – post visit Teaching phase 5: communicate observations and explanations
start quiz
material
Top Related