Electrostatics

Activity #1: Sticky Tape Charges

Today we began class by looking over some of the homework problems that the students were having trouble with. Each of the problems involved electrostatics. They were asked, “you play with sticky tape and find that: A repels tape B, tape A attracts tape C, tape C repels tape D. If you know that tape D is positively charged, what kind of charge does tape B have?” All of the students were able to solve this problem after a short discussion and comparing their answers.

They had more trouble with the following question, “Given 6 tapes, A, B, C, D, and F, and given the following results of testing their electrical charge, tell what you can conclude about the charge on each tape. A attracts B.” The students began discussing their reasoning for their chosen answers and realized they'd come up with several solutions. I suggested they work the problem out on the board. They all seemed to have forgotten about the idea that we could have a neutral “charge” and after remembering that, they didn't have a problem solving the problem together.
A=Positive
B=Negative
C=Neutral
D=Positive
E=Negative
F=Positive or Neutral

Activity #2: Learning More About Circuits
Each of the students was given a diagnostic which included drawings of different types of circuits (parallel, series, etc). The students were asked to look at each drawing and decide if they thought the bulb(s) would light or not. After they'd made their predictions, they shared their thoughts with one another and then built each of the circuits.

Diagnostic
Students Building Circuits