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Lessons / Energy transfer with conductivity tester

Energy transfer with conductivity tester

Individual lesson

MakeCode

7-11 yrs

The micro:bit can be used to create electrical circuits using the pins along the bottom of the device. Attach alligator clips, and you and your students can investigate energy flow and carry out conductivity tests. Have a student (or a group of students) complete a circuit and see what happens and why.

This activity requires two alligator clips per micro:bit.

Safety note - never connect the GND and 3V pins directly together or you may damage your micro:bit.

Sciences:

Electricity

Working scientifically

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Overall key learning

Learning objectives are at three different levels:

  • Mild - I can observe the energy flow of electrical currents using the micro:bit conductivity tester.
  • Medium - I can modify my own conductivity tester program to identify insulators and conductors.
  • Spicy - I can create my own conductivity tester program to model and observe energy flow with electrical currents.

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This content is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) licence.

CA NGSS Standards

4-PS3-2 Energy

  • 4-PS3-2 Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.

CA CS Standards

  • 3-5.CS.2 Demonstrate how computer hardware and software work together as a system to accomplish tasks. (P4.4)
  • 3-5.CS.3 Determine potential solutions to solve simple hardware and software problems using common troubleshooting strategies. (P6.2)
  • 3-5.AP.14 Create programs by incorporating smaller portions of existing programs, to develop something new or add more advanced features. (P4.2, P5.3)
  • 3-5.AP.17 Test and debug a program or algorithm to ensure it accomplishes the intended task. (P6.2)