Labs for Electric Circuits

Lesson Plans || Learning Outcomes and Activities || Teacher Notes || Labs
 

We have a collection of ~150 labs in the Laboratory section of the website. Each lab was intended to be used with a lab notebook where students report their data and findings and state their conclusion with supporting evidence and reasoning. The intent was to provide a relatively clear purpose (or question) to students that they would need to address AND to limit the amount of directions. The hope is that the purposes and students' ability to design a procedure would drive the lab activity (in contrast to a detailed set of step-by-step procedures being the driving force of students' activity). As such, each of our labs comes with a Question and Purpose and a short paragraph describing what should be included in students' lab report. On occassion, students are also provided a graphic organizer, data table, or other item to be taped into their notebook. The following pages may be useful for those teachers who wish to adopt or simply trial our Labs with a Purpose approach:

Our Thoughts on the Approach || About Lab Notebooks || Teacher Guides for All Labs


 

Lab 1: Sparky the Electrician

Question:
What are the two requirements for an electric circuit?

Purpose:
To identify the four successful arrangements of wire, bulb and battery which successfully light a bulb and a couple of unsuccessful arrangements AND to describe the commonalities of those arrangements by identifying the two requirements for an electric circuit.

A complete lab write-up includes a Title, a Purpose, a Data section, a Conclusion and a Discussion of Results. The Data section includes sketches of the four successful arrangements and at least two unsuccessful arrangements. The Conclusion describes the two requirements for an electric circuit. The Discussion of Results should explain why the unsuccessful arrangements were unsuccessful in terms of how they fail to meet the requirements; and uses one of the successful arrangements to elaborate on the meaning of each requirement.

View: Teacher's Guide 

Lab 2: Charge Flow in Wires

Question:
How does the rate and direction of charge flow at various locations in a multi-bulb circuit compare? Does one bulb appear to light before other bulbs in an electric circuit? What is the effect of the number of cells and of the number of bulbs on the rate of charge flow? 

Purpose:
To investigate a variety of characteristics and properties associated with electric current.

A complete lab write-up includes a Title, a Purpose, a Data section, and a Conclusion. The Data section should include a record of observations for each test that is conducted. The record should be graphical or tabular in nature. The Conclusion should (as always) answer the question posed in the Purpose of the lab.

View: Teacher's Guide
(None available; actual labs will be included in Course Package)
 

Lab 3: Bulb and Socket Analysis

Question:
By what pathway does charge flow through a light bulb and through a socket with an attached light bulb?

Purpose:
To determine the pathway by which charge flows through a light bulb and through a socket and light bulb.

A complete lab write-up includes a Title, a Purpose, a Data section, and a Conclusion. The Data section should include a diagram and/or a table indicating the results of testing various sections of a bulb and socket-bulb combination with the conducting circuit. The Conclusion should answer the question posed in the Purpose of the lab and identify the supporting evidence which validates the answer.

View: Teacher's Guide
(None available; actual labs will be included in Course Package)
 

Lab 4 - Resistance

Question:
In what way can a bulb be compared to a resistor? What variables affect the amount of resistance in a wire?

Purpose:
To gather evidence that compares a light bulb to a resistor and to identify what variables affect the amount of resistance.

A complete lab write-up includes a Title, a Purpose, a Data section, a Conclusion. The Data section should include observations of bulb brightness as a second and third bulb and as a resistor is added to a one-bulb circuit. There should also be a table showing exhale times for the various straws and straw arrangements. The Conclusion should make a claim regarding each question posed in the Purpose and reference specific evidence that supports such a claim. Reasoning should be given to explain how the evidence supports the claim.

View: Teacher's Guide
(None available; actual labs will be included in Course Package)
 

Lab 5 - The Greatest Resistance Bulb

Question:
Which bulb - A or B - has the greatest resistance?

Purpose:
To compare the resistance of two different types of bulbs - A and B.

A complete lab write-up includes a Title, a Purpose, a Data section, and a Conclusion. The Data section should include observations of the relative brightness of the control bulb (the bulb that was always present) for the situation in which it was with Bulb A and the situation in which it was with Bulb B. The Conclusion should make a claim regarding the relative resistance of bulbs A and B. Evidence and reasoning should be provided in support of the claim.

View: Teacher's Guide
(None available; actual labs will be included in Course Package)
 

Lab 6: Series vs. Parallel

Question:
When one light bulb goes out in a series or a parallel circuit, what happens to the other light bulbs? When the number of light bulbs in a series or a parallel circuit is increased, what happens to the overall current and the overall resistance of the circuit?

Purpose:
To compare the characteristics of series circuits to the characteristics of parallel circuits.

A complete lab write-up includes a Title, a Purpose, a Data section, and a Conclusion/Discussion of Results. The Data section includes a diagram of the two circuits being compared and a documented record of procedure and observations. The record is clear and relevant to the questions raised in the Purpose of the lab. The Conclusion/Discussion should respond to the questions raised in the Purpose.

View: Teacher's Guide

Also Available ...

1. Task Tracker Subscription (annual purchase)
   A subscription allows teachers to set up classes, add students, customize online assignments, view student progress/scores, and export student scores. Task Tracker accounts allow your students to begin assignments in class or at school and to finish them at home. View our Seat and Cost Calculator for pricing details.
    
2. The Solutions Guide
   We publish a free curriculum with >200 ready-to-use Think Sheets for developing physics concepts. The Solutions Guide is a download containing the source documents, PDFs of source documents, and answers/solutions in MS Word and PDF format. An expanded license agreement is included with the purchase. (Cost: $25 download)
    
3. Teacher Presentation Pack
   This is a large collection of downloadable content packed with nearly 190 Microsoft PowerPoint slide decks, the corresponding Lesson Notes (as PDF and fully-modifiable MS Word format), about 170 animations (in .gif, .png, and .mp4 file formats), a countless number of ready-to-use images (including the original source documents that would allow for easy modification of those images), and a license that allows teachers to modify and use all the content with their classes on password-protected sites (such as course management systems).  (Cost: $40 download)
    
4. Question Bank
   We distribute a Question Bank that includes more than 9300 questions neatly organized according to topic. The Question Bank is the perfect tool for busy teachers or new teachers. Even if you don't use the website with your classes, the Question Bank will assist you in quickly putting together quizzes, tests and other documents with high-quality questions that target student's conceptions of physics principles. And if you do use The Physics Classroom website, the Question Bank is the perfect complement to the materials found at the website. (Cost: $25 download)