Assignment Introduction:

Electricity is a class of phenomena arising from the existence of charge. The basic unit of charge is that on the proton or electron—the proton's charge is designated as positive while the electron's is negative. There are three basic systems of units used to measure electrical quantities, the most common being the one in which the ampere is the unit of current, the coulomb is the unit of charge, the volt is the unit of electromotive force, and the ohm is the unit of resistance, reactance, or impedance.

Invitation:

Whenever an electrical current flows through a wire, a magnetic field is created around the wire. This is referred to as an "electromagnetic field" or an "electrically induced magnetic field".  It is a temporary magnetism which will go away when the current stops flowing through the wire. Your challenge is to explain how various electric circuits, motors, electromagnets, MRI's, and magnetic levitation devices work.  You must also discuss the implications there are for the future use of these items?

Exploration:

Students are to gather information on electricity & electromagnetism from a variety of sources that include the following:

• Chapter 19 of the 9^th grade science text
• School Library Books
• The school computer periodical service - search.epnet.com - using the following terms:

• Electric Circuits
• Magnetic Levitation
• Electromagnetic Fields (EMF)
• Electronic Devices
• Electric Motors

• Internet Sites:

• http://www.howstuffworks.com/electromagnet.htm
• http://www.ee.duke.edu/~cec/final/node1.html
• http://www.infoplease.com/ce5/CE016522.html
• http://www.nu.com/partners/glossary.htm
• http://www.galaxy.net/~k12/electric/
• http://www.iinc.com/~obwan/htc/technogy/elec/elmagnet.htm
• http://www.wpi.edu/~kmfdm/ph1121.html
• http://www.ee.mtu.edu/~jgan/ee280/magtrain.html
• http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/maglev/maglev.html

Activity:  Timeline 1-2 weeks

Objectives:
Students are to define/explain/identify the following terms/devices:

• Electrical Circuits (Series & Parallel) - Draw & Label Examples
• Volt/Voltage
• Ampere
• Electric Current
• Direct Current (DC)
• Alternating Current (AC)
• How to Measure Electric Current
• Coulomb's Law
• Ohm's Law
• Resistance
• Conductor
• Power
• Ground
• Resistor(s)
• Electricity
• Electromagnet
• Battery
• Magnetic Levitation
• MRI (Body Imaging Device)
• Electromagnetic Fields (EMF)
• Electronic Devices
• Electric Motors

• Poster Display with pictures/diagrams, charts, graphs dealing with the terms above.
• Written Report consisting of a title page, table of contents, introduction paragraph , body of report showing depth of research & understanding (including pictures/diagrams, charts, graphs, etc.,) summary paragraph, and reference page.  This Written Report must be between 5-10 pages 1.5 or double-spaced with 1 inch margins.
• Oral Presentation to run between 5-10 minutes.

The information included will begin with a brief history of electromagnetic devices to modern day applications.  *Concept demonstration(s) model(s) may also be on display!