[Unschooling-dotcom] how electricity works (sort of)
Kathryn McGowan
Hi Trisha,
I was thinking about electricity and how I first learned about sort of the basic
ideas. Maybe this will interest you and Gary.
One idea is that electricity sort of flows through a wire like water through a
hose. The light switch is the valve, voltage is like water pressure, watts are
like how much water a sprinkler can put out, amps are like how much water the
hose can safely carry, resistance is like anything that can slow the flow. Show
him ratings of appliances in your home and compare how many watts a space heater
or hair dryer puts out to a blender or a TV. The watts are sort of like heat,
maybe more like energy output. If you have circuit breakers or a fuse boxes, say
that the main is like the main water line into the house, and all the smaller
ones are like pipes to different areas of the house and the outlets and switches
are like faucets. Where's the drain? Tell him all circuits are a path. There are
wires to and from all outlets and switches and even in and out of your house.
Sometimes the traffic analogy is useful. When you close the switch it's like
lowering the bridge so traffic can flow around the circuit from the source
(battery +) to the load (light) then along the wire to the other end of the
battery(-).
You could explain it like dominoes. Set up a row (as long as you want) and say
that the first tap is like turning on the switch and the last one falling can
knock something over that could represent a light bulb going on. The electrons in
the copper in a wire (or anything else that conducts electricity) get tapped
along like dominoes till they reach the other end.
I don't know if Radio Shack still sells these, but I had a "101 Projects" kit
when I was a kid where it was a board with color coded wires of different lengths
and several tiny resistors, capacitors, transistors etc. all soldered to it. You
followed the directions about which wires to connect where and you could make a
radio or a light or a morse code beeper thing. The wires connected via springs so
you could take it apart again and again. That probably is too old for him right
now, but maybe they have simpler kits that you could build together to illustrate
and play. Like the old basic of a battery, 2 wires, and a light bulb, maybe even
add a simple switch.
I hope that some of this could be interesting to you and Gary. I know I've had
alot of fun over the years making things.
Kathy in Avon
I was thinking about electricity and how I first learned about sort of the basic
ideas. Maybe this will interest you and Gary.
One idea is that electricity sort of flows through a wire like water through a
hose. The light switch is the valve, voltage is like water pressure, watts are
like how much water a sprinkler can put out, amps are like how much water the
hose can safely carry, resistance is like anything that can slow the flow. Show
him ratings of appliances in your home and compare how many watts a space heater
or hair dryer puts out to a blender or a TV. The watts are sort of like heat,
maybe more like energy output. If you have circuit breakers or a fuse boxes, say
that the main is like the main water line into the house, and all the smaller
ones are like pipes to different areas of the house and the outlets and switches
are like faucets. Where's the drain? Tell him all circuits are a path. There are
wires to and from all outlets and switches and even in and out of your house.
Sometimes the traffic analogy is useful. When you close the switch it's like
lowering the bridge so traffic can flow around the circuit from the source
(battery +) to the load (light) then along the wire to the other end of the
battery(-).
You could explain it like dominoes. Set up a row (as long as you want) and say
that the first tap is like turning on the switch and the last one falling can
knock something over that could represent a light bulb going on. The electrons in
the copper in a wire (or anything else that conducts electricity) get tapped
along like dominoes till they reach the other end.
I don't know if Radio Shack still sells these, but I had a "101 Projects" kit
when I was a kid where it was a board with color coded wires of different lengths
and several tiny resistors, capacitors, transistors etc. all soldered to it. You
followed the directions about which wires to connect where and you could make a
radio or a light or a morse code beeper thing. The wires connected via springs so
you could take it apart again and again. That probably is too old for him right
now, but maybe they have simpler kits that you could build together to illustrate
and play. Like the old basic of a battery, 2 wires, and a light bulb, maybe even
add a simple switch.
I hope that some of this could be interesting to you and Gary. I know I've had
alot of fun over the years making things.
Kathy in Avon
> Message: 13
> Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 16:17:06 CDT
> From: "Trisha Sides" <yschild@...>
>
>
> Gary has been VERY into bugs since before he could walk, and recently he,ms
> gotten interested in Spanish,and how electricity works(which has stumped me,
> I have no idea how to explain this to a 6 year old without boring him to
> tears,I have looked on the web, but most of what I found is a little too
> advanced as he doesn't read much yet.)
>
>