How Motos Work
Sixth grade Physics lesson
Liaison:
Date:
Group Members: Aaron Parsons, Jose Sandoval
School: Tobin
Teacher: Phyllis Kalowski
Materials:
Compasses (the direction finding kind)
Wire (insulated)
Batteries
Nails
Switches
Procedure:
We previously covered how one goes about making electro-magnets. Although how electro-magnets work is a difficult theoretical concept, the kids can build them easily, and they work, so that's mostly sufficient for their understanding. Earlier, we had also dissected a motor to find that there were coils of wire and permanent magnets involved. So for this lesson, we put a permanent magnet (the compass) in the center of a group of 4 kids who each had an electro-magnet (wire wrapped around nail) hooked to a battery, with a push-button switch to connect the circuit. Using the motor as a model, we set each kid up around the compass with his/her electro-magnet pointed with one of its poles at the compass. We then let them figure out on their own how to squence turning their magnets on and off to get the compass needle to spin. We suggested they have somebody count out loud to pace them. The group which could get the needle to spin the fastest was the winner. As theoretical preparation, we had 4 kids stand around one kid in the middle who would pretend he/she was a permanent magnet. The other kids would turn on or off, and the kid in the middle would turn accordingly. We also did things like turn multiple kids on at once to see what the kid in the middle would do. Anyway, the "motor" we ended up building out of this compass and electromagnets functions exactly the same as a step-motor, only electronic circuitry takes the place of the kids and the switches.
Evaluation:
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