Energy, Machines, and Motion
Part One: Energy
Lesson 2: Making a Battery
This is the first of three lessons in which students investigate energy transformations in a battery powered system. Students construct a working battery using zinc and copper strips, copper sulfate solution and blotter paper. Students use a grain of wheat light bulb to provide evidence that the battery works.
Focus Question: How do you make a battery? How do you know a battery works?
3. Lesson Set-up and Management
EALR 4: Physical Science
Core Content: Interactions of Energy and Matter
6-8 PS3A Energy exists in many forms: heat, light, chemical, electrical, motion of objects, and sound. Energy can be transformed from one form to another and transferred from one place to another.
6-8 SYSA Any system may be thought of as containing subsystems and as being a subsystem of a larger system.
- Students build a battery using two metals and an electrolyte.
- Students observe what happens when their battery operates.
- Students observe that a battery contains a limited amount of energy.
- Students learn what makes up a battery through the investigation and subsequent readings.
3. Lesson Set-Up and Management
Materials:
- Blotter paper in this unit will be consumed quickly. You can use a paper towel doubled to replace the blotter paper.
- Mixing the copper sulfate solution as directed will produce too much solution; consider mixing half the recommended amount of solution.
- Do not pour the copper sulfate solution down the sink. Check the back of your teachers guide for proper disposal methods.
Student Management:
- Students will work in groups of two. This will allow them to have better viewing of the light bulb than larger groups.
- Have students construct their battery system before passing out the copper sulfate solution. This way you can check their construction prior to placing the system into the solution.
- Stress making careful observations of their system after they take the system out of the solution. The bulb will remain lit for a short period of time.
- After students have drawn their system have them take the two metals apart and look on the inside.
- Have students begin thinking about the energy in the system. You will want to start building the concept that there is stored chemical energy in the battery and it is transformed into electrical energy. These concepts will be developed in the next two lessons as well.
- You will need to have the rechargeable batteries in your kit discharged prior to Lesson Three and Lesson 4. Hints for discharging these batteries can be found in the appendix of your teachers guide.
Writing Support:
- Rather than using Student Sheet 2.1 have students put their ideas from the worksheet directly into their student notebooks.
- Have students create a technical drawing of the battery and
electrical system the students have built. Consider using a half sheet
of graph paper for the students’ drawing. Have students include a title,
labels and color to make their drawings as accurate as possible.
- Have students write about their observations about what they
observed and any questions they have regarding their investigation.
Consider using the
Observational Organizer by Betsy Rupp Fulwiler.
My Battery (Rachelle-Middle School Student) We made a battery in class. I noticed that when we put our battery in the liquid the light bulb lit very dimly and then went out. I also noticed that there was back gunk on the outside and the inside of the zinc. There was also black stuff on the paper towel and on the inside of the copper but not on the outside. The battery reminds me of a log. This is because if you take a log out of the fire it has black charcoal on it and the battery has back gunk on it. I wonder what the back gunk on the zinc is.
Reading Support:
- There are two readings after the investigation to build content
knowledge of batteries.
- Batteries-Electricity To Go covers the history of some of the earliest batteries.
- Wet-Cell and Dry-Cell Batteries covers basic construction of these two types of cells.
Math Support:
- If you have a recipe for copper sulfate; there might be fractions here (lesson indicates to use half).Then ask “half by weight? Or half by volume? Is there a difference?