One of the things I learned about at the NSTA (National Science Teachers' Association) were these amazing energy balls (you can buy them here). I purchased a few for my classroom and decided to use them as an Engagement activity to introduce our FOSS energy unit. I am so glad that I did, as my students were absolutely enthralled and engaged!
The Energy Ball is a fun, easy, and safe way to introduce students to the power of electricity!
On the outside of the Energy Ball are two metal strips. If you touch these strips with your fingers, the ball will start buzzing and flashing a red light. This happens because they have created a closed circuit when they touch the strips.
I handed out the energy balls to my students and let them try them out a bit (without telling them to much). "What are these?" They wondered.
At first, nothing seemed to be happening.
But eventually, group by group, they discovered the magic and were able to light them up.
Then my little scientists started testing out theories about how to make it work.
If we touch hands it turns on, but if we let go...
the ball turns off.
At first they thought it only worked with their hands, but then a few tried some other places...
like their faces! LOL!
We discovered it even worked with more than two people.
They work with other items too! Of course we had to test EVERYTHING!
Impromptu science "notebooks" even appeared on their desks without any teacher input! I LOVE when they pay attention and transfer what they have learned!
This was hands down one of my best science lessons so far, and I can't wait to delve into the ideas I learned even more!
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These energy balls look like a great way to build an understanding of a circuit. I have some energy sticks that I am planning on using this year, but I also added a couple of these energy balls to my Amazon cart to mix it up a bit. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteMary
Fit to be Fourth
I recently used these with my 5th graders to kick off our Forms of Energy unit! I LOVED letting them explore and figure out how to get them to work. I then had them come up with an explanation of how it worked and draw a diagram of what was inside! So fun! One group thought there was a DNA scanner inside! LOL! We fixed that misconception! :)
ReplyDeleteOoh! I absolutely love that idea of having them draw what they think is inside and how it works! I have quite a few kiddos that aren't great at writing, but are fabulous artists and they will love the chance to share their thinking through drawings. Love it! Thank you! I will definitely add that to next week's lesson plan!
DeleteKelly
We have the Foss Energy Kit and I'll be trying it for the first time this year. This will be a fun way to open the unit. Thanks for sharing this great idea! I'm off to order the Energy Balls. Teacher Ms H ~ Third Is the Word
ReplyDeleteWe are using the Foss kits too! I thought it was a great way to open the unit! One of the comments above had an idea for asking the students to draw an explanation of what they thought was going on inside. I am going to have the students do that for the beginning of the unit and the end to see how much they learned. Thank you for stopping by Julie!
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