How do batteries work?

How do batteries work?
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
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5
Why are these trees such weird shapes? What do you think? Look at the pictures for clues. What else do you see in the pictures? Hint: The trees were trimmed by people.
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Did you notice the power lines? Those carry electricity! People cut off tree branches near power lines so trees don’t get zapped like this! Electricity can make sparks, which can start fires.
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There’s always electricity flowing inside of the power lines. They’re
like tubes with electricity inside. Sometimes during storms, if the
cables break, you can see the electricity starting dangerous fires.
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4
Lightning is a form of electricity! Watch these lightning bolts in slow
motion. What shapes do you notice? After thinking about that, think
about this: If lightning hit the ground, what would it look like?
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Check it out! Lightning hit the ground in this golf course. What pattern do you notice in the grass?
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An artist is going to zap a piece of wood with electricity. What do you think it will look like when it’s zapped? (Never try this yourself.)
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Watch as this piece of wood is zapped with electricity at its two corners. The electricity sets the wood on fire and it spreads. Check out the patterns that it makes! Look familiar?
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Maybe you’ve heard of electric eels before. And you may know that electricity can light up a light bulb. Here’s a strange question: Could you get an electric eel to light up a light bulb? How?
2
A scientist put a FAKE human arm in a fish tank with an electric eel. The fake arm has a lot of light bulbs inside. Watch what happens as the eel jumps up and onto the arm!
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Electricity makes cool branching patterns when it hits things. Could you invent something for lightning to hit? Hint: Electricity likes to hit metal. (It’d be dangerous to really do this, but you can pretend!)
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People have made metal suits for fun! That big round machine makes electricity, and it zaps the metal suit! (NEVER do this—t’s very, very dangerous. These people are trained scientists.)
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A band called “ArcAttack” sometimes wears metal suits. Imagine
playing a guitar while being struck by lightning! (It doesn’t hurt them,
but only because the suits are special, built to be safe!)
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Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Overview

In this mini-lesson, students explore how the dissection of a frog led to an incredible discovery, and later, the invention of the battery!

Exploration

5 mins

Extend this lesson

Writing

Writing

Here are some writing prompts to help students reflect on the mini-lesson. Feel free to copy and paste them into an assignment.

  1. How do batteries work?
  2. What did this lesson make you curious about? What other questions do you have about batteries?

Activity

Activity

Bonus Activity: Think about things that run on batteries. Look around your home. How many can you find? Be sure to check your toys. Remember that batteries are sometimes hidden, like the battery in a laptop or a cellphone. Draw a picture or describe all the battery-powered machines that you find. Suppose that you could have only one battery-powered machine. What would it be? Explain why you made that choice.
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Light Energy Tx Lesson 10: How do batteries work?

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