Insulators and Conductors

Today was our last day to work with electric circuits.  The students really seemed to get into learning about insulators and conductors.  It was fun to get to test different items to see if their light bulb would light up.  Here are a few pictures of what they did as well a sample of the Recording Sheet for the students' data.

One of the objects that produced mixed results was the pencil.  The students concluded that a pencil could be a conductor or an insulator depending on where the wires are placed.  If placed on the lead part, the pencil is a conductor, but if placed on the wood part, it would be an insulator.

Students made predictions before testing their objects and noted them on their Recording Sheet.  They also included their actual observations and made connections between objects that were insulators and objects that were conductors.  It was a nice way to end the unit.  The students are ready for their test tomorrow.