Electricity & Magnetism

In honor of our week and a half without electricity, I am writing about this really great book that describes electricity, how it works, how to create it, and how it travels through our neighborhoods and homes. Being without power, gave us the opportunity to review our lessons on electricity and magnetism when four-year-old R was quite confused and angry when the lights and TV did not work.

A few months ago, I read Switch On, Switch Off by Melvin Berger as part of our study on electricity and magnetism, and I learned a few things about electricity myself. I knew how that breaking a circuit ended the flow of electricity, but what I did not know was how the electricity was created in the first place. This science story book shows how magnets are used to move the electrons inside the circuit, and this is how electricity is created. A power plant uses large magnets to generate power, and we can do this on a small scale with a small wire and a hand-held magnet.

For Christmas last year, we got a magnet kit, which we have used all year. The kit comes with different shaped magnets and other tools with a long list of experiments. Janice VanCleave writes a full illustrated book just on magnet experiments that can be used with children from age 4 and up. We also read What makes a Magnet? by Franklyn M. Branley, an illustrated story book that explains why magnets work.

There are also electricity expermient kits and a Janice Van Cleave book on electricity, but what I think fascinated me the most was the electromagnetic experiments. One experiment in particular interested me. You will need a battery, a strip of tin foil, a circuit wire, and a strong, horseshoe magnet. Then follow these steps:

CAUTION: For safety reasons, all electrical experiments should be performed with a battery rather than an electrical outlet. A battery will provide only a small amount of electricity. Also, all experiments should be performed with an adult.

1. Connect the wire and the tin foil together.

2. Close the circuit by adding the battery.

3. Put the horseshoe magnet over the tin foil strip.

Results: The tin foil will bend in response to the magnet reacting to the electricity passing through the tin foil.