Why is it that after you rub a balloon on your head that it can "pick up" certain objects?  

Third graders are learning about electricity!  While this is often a challenging concept to understand because children need to have a firm grasp on matter first, static electricity is a concrete way to understand an underlying part of electricity--electrons!  

All matter is made up of atoms.  Atoms contain three particles--protons (+), neutons (no-charge) and electrons (-).  Electrons are always on the move and may even "build up" on other objects.  This "build up" of charges is known as static electricity.  When an object that is negatively charged (extra electrons) comes in contact with an object that is neutrally (equal protons/electrons) or positively charged (less electrons), a shock can be felt or a spark can be seen.  These are all examples of static electricity.  The link to the right, Balloons and Static Electricity (choose Run in HTML5), shows just how static electricity can occur.  

Meet Emily, the main character in our electrical engineering story.  Emily certainly has her hands full balancing fun and doing her chores.  While she loves to ride her horse, she is easily distracted by this and often forgets to refill her sheep's water trough.

Over the course of the next two weeks, we will learn how Emily uses electrical engineering principles to find a way to remind her to do her chores!  Maybe our third graders should design their own reminder to the chores they just love doing!

Vocabulary:  trough, station, electricity, conductor, insulator, electrical engineer, schematic diagram, circuit and switch

By now, most third graders have had two solid years of learning about an engineer's work.  While it's a quick answer to say "THEY SOLVE PROBLEMS," third graders are seeing how they can use their knowledge of electricity to put engineer and electrical together.  

We had quite some great discussions about electricity as a form of energy and how it can change to other forms of energy, like light, heat and sound.  Third graders also seemed to know that it has something to do with batteries (maybe?), wires and light bulbs.  Students had time to generate their own questions about electricity.  The photo to the left shows a sampling of questions they generated!  

Our first notebook entry has focused on the importance of diagrams in engineering.  Diagrams, which are often seen in non-fiction texts, are an important feature that gives information and tells us something specific.  Second graders had to diagram two technologies we focused on last year in 2nd grade:  a submersible and a plant package!

We established a set of "rules" to follow when completing a diagram in class.  

Rules for Diagrams
1.  It must have a title.
2.  Label just the "right" amount of parts.
3.  Labels must be near the parts they identify.
4.  Straight arrows must connect the labels to the parts.
5.  It must be neat!