<p> Instructional Approach for Electricity: How do flashlights work?</p><p>No. Activity Activity Description Activity Functions* Label (Why this activity in this sequence?) 1 Exploring a Students examine a flashlight, taking it apart and observing its flashlight parts. They construct a first draft explanation of how they think the flashlight works.</p><p>2 Sharing Student share their explanations. The class shares their ideas and ideas teacher lists the different ideas. </p><p>3 Investigatin The teacher introduces the strategy of investigating a similar but g a simpler simpler system. The students will be given a flashlight battery, a system: bulb, and wire. They will work in pairs to connect the components Designing a to make the bulb light. They will first design a hookup and record hookup to it in their journals. They will then test their prediction and other light a bulb hookups. 4 Testing the Students work in pairs to test their designs, recording their results designs in their journals. They then test other hookups, recording each and whether of not it lit the bulb. 5 Forming a The students report the hookups that worked and those that did not rule as the teacher records them on a chart or overhead transparency. They then construct a rule for how the battery and bulb must be connected to light the bulb. They check the rule to be sure it covers all of the hook ups that worked and did not work. 6 Explaining The teacher introduces the question, “Why do the components have the rule to be connected in the way described by the rule?” The students record their explanations in their journals and then share them with the class. The teacher records the main alternative “theories.” These typically involve different ideas of how electricity (or current or charges, etc.) moves in the hookups. These are tested and discussed as a class, using the hookup results and rule as evidence. 7 Testing the One theory often expressed is that two wires need to connect the MORE battery to the bulb in order to supply sufficient electricity to the ELECTRICI bulb. This is tested by connecting two separate batteries to a bulb, TY theory one to each contact of the bulb. Three students help hold the components. This does not work. 8 Testing the Another theory is that the bulb needs both positive and negative POSITIVE electricity to light. This is tested by connecting the positive contact AND of one battery to one contact of the bulb and the negative contact of NEGATIVE a second battery to the other contact. This does not work either. ELECTRICI TY theory 9 Testing the Another theory is that electricity needs to follow a path from one COMPLET contact of the battery to the bulb, through the bulb and then back to E PATH the other contact of the battery. This theory seems to work for all theory of the tests. 10 Inventing The term 'complete circuit' is introduced for any set up where there the idea of a is a series of electrical connections from one battery contact, “Complete through wires to a device and back to the other contact of the same circuit” battery. This path allows the battery to push electricity around the circuit and back to the battery. The class discusses the application of the concept to examples of hookups that did and did not light the bulb. 11 Revising Students apply the complete path theory and the concept of a explanations complete circuit to revise their explanations of how a flashlight of how a works in their science notebooks. flashlight works 12 Constructing Small groups are assigned a part of the flashlight, for which they a class book prepare a page describing how the part functions. The pages are about how a assembled into a class book. As a class, they decide how to label a flashlight diagram of the whole flashlight and a caption for the diagram. works This is included in the class book. * Functions described in terms of the Inquiry and Application Instructional Model (I-AIM).</p>