You might assume that most of your students are capable of lighting a light bulb given a battery, a bulb, and a single strand of wire. In actuality, when faced with this challenge, some students may succeed at the task immediately while others may never be able to make the bulb light without assistance. According to a study done by Harvard Astronomy professor Phillip Sadler, only half of the students taking part in the survey could make a light bulb light up when given a bulb, battery and a piece of wire. What can pre-college teachers do to improve this statistic?
Research tells us that students learn best when they are allowed to ask questions of nature through exploration and experimentation. With that in mind, this edition of CoolStuff offers several activities that invite students to ask questions and find answers regarding electrical phenomena.