Generation Technology Apprenticeship

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Apprenticeship Overview

Apprentices will learn about electricity and power generation through a series oI
hands-on experiments wherein they will learn the Iundamentals oI electricity
including resistance, voltage, current, create circuits, and build simple electronic
devices. Apprentices will learn about how electricity Ilows, what a circuit diagram
is, and how to generate electricity. Ultimately, apprentices will build an electric
generator that will light a light bulb.



Goals









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and how elecLrlclLy ls generaLed ApprenLlces wlll galn more confldence
ln Lhelr moLor skllls by creaLlng worklng elecLronlc devlces 1hey wlll
also learn abouL Lhelr communlLy and undersLand how Lhe devlces we
bulld are used ln Lhelr everyday llves and Lhe Lechnlcal Lerms Lo descrlbe
$ession 1: Introduction to Electricity

Overview



Materials
O !aper and writing instrument
O andout one

ontent $tep I: Team Intro Time: 15 min
$tart with an introduction oI yourselI (Who you are, What you do, Where you went to school,
One oI your Iavorite things to do)

Go around the room student by student asking Ior an introduction oI who they are and one thing
that they like to do. Teacher will write each new item onto the board. AIter each student has
given their introduction the teacher will discuss a little about the class and what we will be doing.

So what are we going to do and what does any of this have to do with Generation Technology?
Well over the next 10 weeks I am going to teach you the fundamentals of electricity and we are
going to build our own working generator that will power a light bulb. Along the way I am going
to teach you the fundamentals of electronics, the appropriate vocabulary, why things work the
way that they do, and we are going to have some hands on fun building along the way.

ontent $tep I: Team Intro Time: 30 min
So why did we start the class talking about all these different things that you like to do when
really we are going to be learning about electricity and not any of these things? Thats a great
question 'insert your name here`. Well electricity is used by each of us over and over
throughout the day and many times you may not even reali:e what, how, or why electricity is
involved. Lets start with what I like to do . Take a few minutes to describe how electricity is
used in your hobby.

Our first activity is going to get you guys thinking about electricity, how its used and why its
important.

reak the class up into groups oI three. Each group must choose one person to be the spokes
person. Next each team will pick a team name and one activity Irom oII the board or a new
activity and everyone will write it down on their handout. For the next Iive to ten minutes each
group is responsible Ior coming up with and writing all the diIIerent ways that electricity is used
Ior that activity. The team with the most number oI diIIerent uses oI electricity will win a star!

ApprenLlces wlll be lnLroduced Lo each oLher and Lo Lhe concepL of elecLrlclLy SLudenLs wlll
geL lnLo groups and dlscuss elecLrlclLy and how lL lmpacLs Lhelr dally llves and Lhe Lhlngs
Lhey llke Lo do mosL
AIter they have been working Ior Iive to ten minutes call stop and have the teams say the how
many diIIerent ways they came up with and award a star. Next have the teams volunteer some oI
the diIIerent ways they have written down. Ask Ior some oI their most creative ideas and take
some time Ior each oI the students to explain what they have written down. Award another star
Ior the most creative or unique example oI how electricity is used.

ontent $tep II: Electricity Fundamentals Time: 30 min
Great fob being creative and thinking about different uses of electricity, now can anyone tell me
what they think electricity is? Take some time to talk about electricity then write down your Iirst
deIinition.

Electricity: the movement oI electrons Irom an area oI high potential (area with a lot oI
electrons) to an area oI lower potential (area with les electrons). Teach Back

Some other important concepts that we will learn about over the course of the class are.
Voltage The diIIerence in electrical potential between two points. (Eg 9v battery)
Measured in Volts and its $ymbol is V
Current Flow oI electrons through a conductor.
Measured in Amps and its $ymbol is I
Resistance The measure oI how diIIicult electric Ilow is through a material.
Measured in Ohms and its symbol is
Conductor is a material that allows electricity to Ilow easily (igh or 4 resistance)
Insulator a material that resists electric Ilow and ( or low resistance)
Each of these topics are very important when it comes to electricity and we will have class and
experiments on each of these but today we are learning about electricity. One thing that you
need to know about electricity is that electricity is La:y' (Teach Back)

This is very important to remember. Electricity will always take the shortest and easiest path (the
path of least resistance).Now we are going to work together to review some circuits and

ave the teams work together to discuss the circuits that are on their work sheet. For each circuit
discuss whether or not the circuit will light up the light bulb and why. ave the kids right down
their answers and review each circuit. The team with the most correct answers will get a star.

Final onus Question! For the rest oI the class the team who can write down the path that
electricity would take through the maze will get a star.

#eview $tep
Review what we learned and how electricity is involved in our daily liIe.

Q: What is electricity
A: Electricity: the movement oI electrons Irom an area oI high potential (area with a lot oI
electrons) to an area oI lower potential (area with les electrons). Teach Back

Q: ow does electricity move and why
A: The path oI least resistance because it is lazy
$ession 2: Electricity ontinued

Overview

Materials
O alloons
O $tring
O Cereal

O !lexiglas and wool
O andout Two
O Tape
#eview $tep: Time: 5 min
What did we learn yesterday? There were two important things that we learned.

Q: What is electricity
A: Electricity: the movement oI electrons Irom an area oI high potential (area with a lot oI
electrons) to an area oI lower potential (area with les electrons). Teach Back

Q: What path will electricity take and why
A: The path oI least resistance because it is lazy

ontent $tep I: Electrons Time: 25 min
We know that electricity is the movement of electrons from an area of high potential to an area
of low potential but do you guys know electrons are and where they come from?

Everything in this world is made of atoms. They are the building blocks that create everything
from water, to metal to you and me. Atoms are made of protons, neutrons, and electron. The
protons and neutrons are at the center of the atom and the electrons fly around it in different
rings somewhat like our solar system where the earth and the planets fly around the sun. The
thing that differentiates one atom from another is the number of protons, neutrons and electrons
it has. A proton has a positive charge, an electron has a negative charge, and a neutron has no
charge. One important thing to remember is that opposites attract electrons are attracted to
protons and they repel other electrons. We are going to take a moment to demonstrate this
attraction using these balloons. But first you are going to teach me what an electron is.

Electron: Atomic particle that has a negative charge.

Instruct each student to blow up their balloon and tie oII the end. Take the next Iive minutes to
rub the balloon with the wool or rub it against your hair and see what you can make it stick to
Try to count how long it will stick to diIIerent things and what it sticks best to. ring everyone
back to their teams and let`s discuss why the balloon sticks to something when it`s rubbed. What
is happening

ApprenLlces wlll learn more abouL elecLrlclLy and elecLrons SLudenLs wlll bulld off Lhe lasL
class and enhance Lhelr knowledge of elecLrlclLy
One way to make electrons move is to rub two materials together. If you rub two insulators
together they will transfer electrons from one to the other. When you rub the balloon with your
hair or with the wool electrons from your hair are transferred to the balloon. Your hair sticks up
because its positively charged and positive charged things dont like each other so they repel or
push apart. The balloon gains a bunch of electrons and traps them because electrons do not like
to move through insulators.

raw on the blackboard what is happening to the electrons in the balloon and the wall. This is
called $tatic Electricity.

ontent $tep II: Electric harges Time: 30 min
Now we are going to do a few more labs to experiment with charges and electrons. Break into
your groups and follow the instructions on andout Two.
Answers for the Lab
$tep One: Remember opposites attract and likes will repel. (both are the same charge Ior
the leIt one and the right one should have opposite charges)
$tep Two:Rubbing the balloon moved electrons Irom your hair to the balloon. The
balloon had a negative static charge. The neutral cereal was attracted to it. When they
touched, electrons slowly moved Irom the balloon to the cereal. Now both objects had the
same negative charge, and the cereal was repelled.
$tep Three:The balloons should imitate the same behavior seen in step two.
$tep Four: For a Iinal experiment have the kids set up a !lexiglas bridge as seen below.
!lace two books on either side oI a small pile oI cereal and place the !lexiglas over the
top. Rub the glass with the wool and watch what happens to the cereal.



These experiments we have been doing are static electricity experiments. Can anyone give me an
example of static electricity? When you rub your shoes on the carpet then you touch a doorknob
and it hurts. That is static electricity charging your body and escaping through your hand when
you get close enough to the doorknob.

Now static electricity is completely harmless right? Not so fast. Lightning is static electricity.
Air rubs together and builds so much charge that eventually the electric potential difference
becomes so great it takes the shortest path to the ground to release its charge. Does anyone
know what thunder is? When the lightning streaks through the air it heats up the air and it
expands super fast. Once the lightning is gone the air comes crashing back together and when
the walls of air hit each other they make the sound of thunder.

#eview $tep
Review what we learned and how electricity is involved in our daily liIe.

Q: What is electricity
A: Electricity: the movement oI electrons Irom an area oI high potential (area with a lot oI
electrons) to an area oI lower potential (area with les electrons). Teach Back

Q: What is an electron
A: Atomic particle that has a negative charge.


$ession 3: urrent

Overview

Materials
O attery; light bulb and stand
O arn; Water; TinIoil; !encil; !lastic; !aperclip; Nail; anana; $alt; !encil Lead;
!enny
O !etri dish and salt

#eview $tep: Time: 5 min
What did we learn yesterday?

Q: What is electricity
A: Electricity: the movement oI electrons Irom an area oI high potential (area with a lot oI
electrons) to an area oI lower potential (area with les electrons). Teach Back

Q: What is an electron
A: Atomic particle that has a negative charge.

ontent $tep I: urrent Time: 20 min
Before we start we are going to need to review a little bit more. As we learned before, all
materials are made up of (atoms) and an atom is made up of (protons, neutrons
and electrons). Circling around the nucleus are smaller particles called electrons.

Now for some new stuff. Electric current flow is created when an electron can be removed. The
atoms in a material are bonded together by the outer orbit of electrons. This means that each
atoms outer orbit shares the outer orbit with the atom next to it. This bonding of atoms in a
material creates a sharing of electrons between the atoms. Some materials will easily let an
electron go from this bonding when an energy source is supplied to it, while other materials will
not easily let an electron go.

Materials that easily let electrons go are good conductors of electricity. Materials that dont
easily let electrons go are bad conductors of electricity.

onductor: a material which contains movable electric charges.
Insulator: are non-conducting materials with Iew mobile charges.

Now we will break up into our groups and start discussing conductors and insulators that we can
in the class room. reak up into your groups and begin working on andout 3.

ApprenLlces wlll learn abouL currenL conducLors lnsulaLors and how elecLrons flow
SLudenLs wlll experlmenL wlLh dlfferenL maLerlals and see whaL makes a good conducLor
and a good lnsulaLor and why
$tep 1: iscuss what conductors and insulators are used Ior. Wires have an insulating
plastic coating. Men working on power poles use heavy gloves to protect them Irom
electricity. The Iilament in a light bulb is a conductor that gets hot and emits light. Wires
transIer electricity. Coax cables transmit electric pulses that can be translated into TV
shows, voice, or transmit inIormation.


ontent $tep II: urrent Time: 25 min
The amount electricity flowing through a material is called current and it is measured in Amps
(the symbol is. I). An amp is a count of the number of electrons moving through a material in a
second. Can anyone guess how many electrons must move through a material in one second fust
to make one amp? (Closest guess gets a star) 6.28x1018 A billion billion electrons passing a
point in a second.

urrent: The amount electricity Ilowing through a material and it is measured in Amps (I).

A car battery typically puts out about 20-40 amps.
The ouble A battery`s in your remotes or toys typically put out .5 1 amp.
The amount oI amps required to stop your heart .1amps. Luckily your body has a very high
resistance and it would take a very large voltage to send a current through your heart.

Now begin working on the step two oI the lab. iscuss with the kids how they can test
something to see iI it is conductive by creating an open circuit with a battery and light bulb and
touching the two leads to a material to close the circuit.

$tep 2: iscuss which were good conductors and which were not. Typically metals have
a lot oI exposed electrons and they make good conductors.

ontent $tep III: urrent and Water Time: 20 min

Now we are going to learn about the effect that water has on conductors and insulators. Water is
a good conductor of electricity right?

$tep 3: ave the teams decide iI water is a good conductor oI electricity and write their
answers on the board. Next instruct them to Iill in their tables with the Iollowing items

Item !rediction (C/I) Result (C/I)
1)Inside oI the banana


2)Water

I
3)Wet $tring

C
4)$alt Water

I

Talk about what happened and what their results were.

Water is not a great conductor of electricity. It is made of hydrogen and oxygen and they have
the perfect number of electrons to complement each other and not a lot of extras to share. There
are actually computers that are designed to be cooled by water and have perfectly clean water
flowing over the electronic components.

There was once a professor who was going to demonstrate to his class how water is a bad
conductor and he filled a fug of water and put an extremely large voltage across it. Then he put
his hand in the water to show that water is really an insulator. Can anyone tell me what
happened? e got a massive electric shock because the sweat from his hand and the salt and dirt
mixed with the water which added electrons to the water making it a much better conductor.
When something is dissolved in water it breaks apart and splits into positive and negative parts
which becomes a good conductor. What we did with the salt and water is mix two insulators to
make a conductor. That is also why it is dangerous to handle any electronics when you are wet.
Perfectly clean water is very hard to make and maintain.

#eview $tep
Review what we learned and what conductors and insulators are.

Q: What is current
A: urrent: The amount electricity Ilowing through a material and it is measured in Amps (I).

Q: What is a conductor
A: onductor: a material which contains movable electric charges.

Q: What is an insulator
A: Insulator: are non-conducting materials with Iew mobile charges.

$ession 4: #esistance

Overview

Materials
O M&Ms and !VC tubes oI varying diameter
O $top watch or clock

#eview $tep: Time: 5 min
What did we learn yesterday?

Q: What is current
A: urrent: The amount electricity Ilowing through a material and it is measured in Amps (I).

Q: What is a conductor
A: onductor: a material which contain movable electric charges.

Q: What is an insulator
A: Insulator: are non-conducting materials with Iew mobile charges.

ontent $tep I: urrent Time: 20 min
Today we are going to learn about Joltage and Resistance.

#esistance: The measure oI how diIIicult electric Ilow is through a material. Measured in Ohms
and its symbol is .

So lets talk a little about what we did yesterday. We learned about conductors and insulators
and now we are learning about resistance. Resistance is the measure of how difficult electric
flow is through a material. The higher the resistance the more difficult it is for electricity to
move. So do insulators have high resistance or low resistance and what about conductors?

raw on the board a picture oI a wire and some electrons and discuss how the electrons travel
through a wire. The larger the wire the more room they have to move. As electrons bump into
protons and other things it causes heat.

These bump together and generate more heat. eat is one of the biggest problems that electrical
engineers have to deal with. eat can cause wires to melt through the insulators and cause fires.
ave you ever noticed that you computers or games consoles get hot as you play them? This is
because of resistance of the wires and computer chips in the games causing the electrons to
bump into things which causes heat.
So that was resistance now we are going to learn about voltage.
ApprenLlces wlll learn abouL volLage and 8eslsLance SLudenLs wlll experlmenL wlLh candy Lo
undersLand how reslsLance lmpacLs currenL flow AddlLlonally Lhe sLudenLs wlll work wlLh
waLer Lo beLLer undersLand volLage

'oltage: The diIIerence in electrical potential between two points which is a Iorce that is
measured in Volts and its $ymbol is V.

If you didnt have any voltage you wouldnt have any force to move the electrons and they would
stay still. The higher the difference in potential or the higher Joltage the more force pushing
electrons through the circuit. So now instead of having fust a couple electrons shooting through
the wire you have a bunch.

ave the kids take turns guessing the amount oI volts that each oI these items have.
O Double A battery 1.5J
O The Square battery and 9 volts
O A car battery has 12J
O The voltage in a standard power outlet 120J
O The voltage of a transmission line 110kJ
O The voltage of a police taser 200-300kJ
O The voltage of a lightning bolt several hundred million volts
O The approximate voltage required to kill 200J

ontent $tep II: urrent Lab Time: 20 min
Instruct the kids to get into their groups and begin the lab. Instruct them that their Iirst station the
hypothesis is a guess but as the tube size changes and they have more inIormation they should
get better at guessing the amount oI time.

AIter they have completed the lab and they have all oI the time and average blocks Iilled in take
some time to discuss what happened. ow did you make your hypothesis. id your hypothesis
get better aIter each station that you went to

$tati
on
Hypoth
esis
Time
1
Time
2
Time
3
Time
4
Aver
age
#esist
ance
A
(.5)

80.
4
B
(1)
80. 2

(2)
80. 1
D
(4)
80. 5
Note: These averages are made up because I have not completed the lab yet.

Now can anyone explain to me what happened and why the M&Ms took longer the smaller the
tube got? The smaller the tube gets the higher the resistance is. The gravity pulling the M&Ms
down is like voltage. When they are at the bottom of the tube there is no voltage so they dont
move. When you bring them to the top gravity acts as a voltage forcing them to move.

The pull of gravity is not changing but the resistance is. Because the resistance is going up less
M&Ms can travel the same distance so the current is smaller thus the amount of time required
for all the M&Ms to travel goes up.

A Man named George Ohm developed a mathematical equation that explained this relationship
called ?

Ohms Law: A mathematical equation shows the relationship between current, voltage, and
resistance. V I*R

Ohms Law tells us that the current in a circuit will equal the voltage in the circuit divided by the
resistance in the circuit. This is important because it allows us to design electrical circuits that
are safe. If you know the voltage that the circuit uses and you measure the resistance of the
circuit, you can calculate the amount of current that will flow through the circuit.

#eview $tep

Q: What is Resistance
#esistance: The measure oI how diIIicult electric Ilow is through a material. Measured in Ohms
and its symbol is .

Q: What is a Voltage
'oltage: The diIIerence in electrical potential between two points which is a Iorce that is
measured in Volts and its $ymbol is V.

Q: What is ohms law
Ohms Law: A mathematical equation shows the relationship between current, voltage, and
resistance. V I*R

$ession 5: ircuits

Overview

Materials
O Lab oards and work papers
O attery
O Light bulbs


ApprenLlces wlll learn abouL ClrculLs SLudenLs wlll experlmenL wlLh all dlfferenL Lypes of
clrculLs serles parallel open closed and shorL AddlLlonally Lhe sLudenLs wlll demonsLraLe
Lhelr knowledge Lo solve a problem and make a Lwo way swlLch
#eview $tep: Time: 5 min
What did we learn yesterday?

Q: What is Resistance
#esistance: The measure oI how diIIicult electric Ilow is through a material. Measured in Ohms
and its symbol is .

Q: What is a Voltage
'oltage: The diIIerence in electrical potential between two points which is a Iorce that is
measured in Volts and its $ymbol is V.

Q: What is ohms law
Ohms Law: A mathematical equation shows the relationship between current, voltage, and
resistance. V I*R

ontent $tep I: ircuits Time: 20 min
Today we are going to learn about circuits. We are going to define four of the main types of
circuits that you can

O Open - An open circuit is one where there is not a conductive path that connects the
high potential area to the low potential area. There Ior the electrons cannot move.
O $hort - A short circuit is one where there is a direct conductive path with very little
resistance that connects the area oI high potential to the area oI low potential. The
electrons are lazy and they all rush to take this 'shortcut.
O $eries - A series circuit is a circuit that has only one path Irom the high potential area
to the low potential area. All electrons must Iollow the same path and any break in the
path will stop all electrons Irom traveling.
O !arallel - A parallel circuit is a circuit that has more than one path. Electrons split up
and take every path available. II there is a disruption or a break in any one path the
electrons will simply take another.

$eries ircuit: (Teach ack)
!arallel ircuit: (Teach ack)