It’s Electric!

Here is another little peek into my first and second grade classroom at Xara Garden school. This documentation piece was written about a month ago.  I'm catching up!

On Tuesday, E, J, and D experimented with a cool, old electrical set donated by one of our parents. The directions weren’t very kid-friendly and my electrical knowledge wasn’t going to be much help, which worked out just fine. I wanted the kids to explore the set and see what they could come up with on their own.




After some experimentation, they shared their process with the class:









E: First, we started out, and D said to do the cover. J’s idea was to do the directions. Then we tried using all the pieces and it didn’t work.

J: I followed the directions. I had the idea for the green ones touching everything so we wouldn’t have to use the little pieces.

E: Then she followed the steps after she found the pieces.

J: We wanted to make it safer, because the batteries got hot.

E: That’s why I didn’t touch it.

(At this point, others joined in to offer their thoughts.)

M: Maybe to have it not burn, you could put something on the top.

E: How the batteries got hot was that the light was on and lights are hot.

J: Maybe it burnt us because it’s a circle.

C: If it keeps going round and round in a circle and it keeps burning you, you shouldn’t do it again.

After just one hour of free exploration, the kids were closing in on some key understandings (and misunderstandings) about electricity and circuits. With more concrete exploration, their understanding of these concepts will continue to evolve, without ever receiving an abstract explanation from grown-ups.

An additional note for those of you not familiar with my class: student E was so excited about her discoveries that this typically reticent and quiet classmate was bursting to share her ideas with the entire class. It was a delight to see!

Cheers!
Alexis