PHYSICAL SCIENCE - COMPUTER PROJECT

MAGNETISM AND ELECTRICITY

First presentation starts – Wednesday, April 30th

INTRODUCTION

Electricity, in one form or another, underlies just about everything you do. It is in the lightning from the sky and it is what holds atoms together to form molecules.

Magnets are fascinating. In the 12th century, the Chinese were using them to navigate ships. Magnetism was thought to be independent of electricity until 1820 when a Danish physics professor, Hans Christian Oersted, made a remarkable discovery. He discovered, in a classroom demonstration, that an electric current deflects a compass needle. He was the first to announce that magnetism was related to electricity. This discovery ushered in a whole new technology, including electric power, radio and television.

In this project, you will teach your classmates about an assigned aspect of electricity and magnetism. You will create a website to facilitate your instruction and will plan an activity that will actively engage your classmates in learning about your topic. This will be done in collaboration with Mrs. Robert’s Computer class. As you move forth to High School, you will start to take more responsibility for your learning. Hopefully, this project will be a fun way to finish Middle School Science as well as allowing you to be more responsible for your learning.

PROJECT OUTLINE

You will be assigned one of the following topics to research.

The Nature of Magnetism	P. 612-619
Magnetic Earth	P. 622-627
Electric Currents and Magnetic Fields	P. 628-633
Electromagnets	P. 636-638
Static Electricity	P. 644-651
Circuit Measurement	P. 654-659
Series and Parallel Circuits	P. 662-665
Electricity, Magnetism and Motion	P. 676-679
Generating Electric Current	P. 682-689
Using Electric Power	P. 690-696
Batteries	P. 697-701
Electronic Signals and semiconductors	P. 710-716

The honors class will work independently and the rest of the class will work in groups of two.
You will design a website to teach your topic to the class.
You will design an activity that illustrates your topic conceptually.
You will create a quiz to evaluate how your classmates understood the material you presented.
You will create a review worksheet for quiz preparation.

PROJECT TIMELINE

DATE	DAILY OBJECTIVES	TEACHER SIGNATURE
Thursday March 27	Computer lab Research topic & activity
Friday April 4	Computer lab Research topic & activity
Monday April 28	Science Lab Plan 30 minute presentation Gather materials for activity
Tuesday April 29	Science Lab Plan and test activity Check for materials
April 30-May 8	Student presentations

Each student is responsible for getting a teacher signature to indicate that they have achieved the daily objectives. Submit this daily objective sheet with your report as this is part of your overall grade.

RESEARCH

Your textbook is a good resource. The science lab will also have books from the library on the topic. The following websites are good places to start your research.

Electricity & Magnetism (all topics)

http://ippex.pppl.gov/interactive/electricity/

http://www.bestteachersites.com/themes/science/magnets/ (Activities)

http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/electric.html (activities)

http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/science/physics/electricity/

Magnetism

http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/Imagnet.html

http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wmfield.html

http://my.execpc.com/~rhoadley/magindex.htm

http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/sci/A0831162.html

Magnetic Earth

http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/earth/magnetic.html

http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/space/mag_field.html

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast25jan_1.htm

http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/ask/amag.html

http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wfold.html (activity)

Electric currents

http://www.cln.org/themes/electricity.html

http://www.kidskonnect.com/Electricity/Electricity.html

Electromagnets

http://www.howstuffworks.com/electromagnet.htm

http://education.jlab.org/beamsactivity/6thgrade/magnetsandelectromagnets

Electric charge & static electricity

http://teacher.scholastic.com/dirt/hair.htm

http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/emotor/statelec.html

Series & parallel circuits

http://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/HighSchool/Electricity/seriesparallelcircuits.htm

Total – 400 Points

Parent signature on project guidelines	20 ___
Oral presentation	40 ___
5 minutes – website overview
Maximum 10 minutes - Activity
See attached rubric
Website (140)
Introduction to topic – concise & clear	60 ___
Two relevant graphics	20 ___
Creativity – see attached rubric	40 ___
Links to two other relevant sites	10 ___
Spelling & grammar (includes report)	10 ___
Report (160)
Title page (name, date, topic and teacher’s name)	10 ___
Website printout	20 ___
Activity write-up
Purpose	10 ___
Materials	10 ___
Procedure	20 ___
Conclusion questions for students to answer	10 ___
Expected activity outcome	20 ___
Review worksheet for quiz preparation (max. 2 pages)	20 ___
Class notes with fill in the blanks
Quiz – 5 questions	20 ___
3 Multiple Choice Questions
2 Fill in the blanks
Daily objective sheet attached to report	10 ___
Rubric attached to report	10 ___

Class participation during preparation & student presentations	40 ___

Creativity - 40 points

Your website should be attractive, colorful and easy to read. It should include an introduction to your topic, graphics and at least two links to relevant sites. The following rubric will be used to grade your creativity:

Attractiveness

The website is exceptionally attractive in terms of design, layout and neatness.

The website is attractive in terms of design, layout and neatness.

The website is acceptably attractive though it may be a bit messy.

The website is distractingly messy or very poorly designed. It is not attractive.

Graphics –

Originality

Several of the graphics used reflect an exceptional degree of relevance and student creativity in their creation and/or display.

One or two of the graphics used reflect relevance and student creativity in their creation and/or display.

The graphics are made by the student, but are not relevant and are based on the designs or ideas of others.

No graphics made by the student are included.

Oral Presentation - 40 points

Your presentation should last 4-5minutes. Your activity should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete. The following rubric will be used to grade your presentation: