Lesson Plan | Active Learning | Electricity: Coulomb's Law

Assumptions: This Active Lesson Plan assumes: a 100-minute class, prior student study with both the Book and the start of Project development, and that only one activity (among the three suggested) will be chosen to be conducted during the class, as each activity is designed to take up a significant portion of the available time.

Objectives

Duration: (5-10 minutes)

This stage of the lesson plan is crucial for establishing a solid foundation of theoretical understanding, which will be essential for subsequent practical activities. By clearly defining the objectives, students will be better prepared and motivated to engage in the proposed activities, knowing what is expected of them and what they need to achieve by the end of the session.

Main Objectives:

1. Deeply understand Coulomb's Law, focusing on the relationship between the magnitude of charges, the distance between them, and the resulting electric force.

2. Apply Coulomb's Law to calculate the force between two point charges in different scenarios, developing practical problem-solving skills.

Side Objectives:

1. Develop analytical and critical reasoning skills when manipulating formulas and variables.
2. Encourage discussion and critical thinking about how different factors influence electrostatic interactions.

Introduction

Duration: (15-20 minutes)

The Introduction phase is designed to engage students and review essential concepts before diving into practical activities. The problem situations are created to activate students' prior knowledge and prepare them for more complex applications, while the contextualization highlights the relevance of studying Coulomb's Law, connecting theory with practice and awakening students' curiosity about the historical and practical aspects of the topic.

Problem-Based Situations

1. Imagine two small charged spheres, one with a positive charge and the other with a negative charge, separated by a distance of 1 meter. What would be the attractive force between them if one of the charges were doubled?

2. Consider two identical charges, each with a positive charge of 2μC, that are a distance of 5cm apart. How would the repulsive force between them change if the distance were reduced by half?

Contextualization

Coulomb's Law is not just a mathematical formula, but a fundamental explanation of how charged objects interact in the real world. For example, it is crucial for understanding how electronic components in smartphones calculate and respond to touch. In addition, stories like that of Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, who discovered the law in the 18th century, show how curiosity and scientific rigor can lead to discoveries that shape our understanding of the universe.

Development

Duration: (65-75 minutes)

The Development stage is essential for solidifying students' understanding of Coulomb's Law through practice. In this section, students apply theoretical knowledge in challenging and contextualized situations, which not only reinforce learning but also encourage teamwork and critical thinking. The proposed activities are designed to be engaging and playful, facilitating a deeper and more memorable learning experience.

Activity Suggestions

It is recommended to carry out only one of the suggested activities

Activity 1 - Charge in Motion: An Electrifying Race

> Duration: (60-70 minutes)

- Objective: Apply Coulomb's Law in a dynamic and competitive scenario to better understand the relationship between force, charge, and distance.

- Description: In this activity, students divided into groups of up to 5 people will simulate a race of charged particles where the electric force affects the particles' speed. Each group will receive cards representing different charges and distances. Students will calculate the resulting force between the charges and decide which moves to make to reach the end of the course as quickly as possible.

- Instructions:

• Divide the class into groups of up to 5 students.

• Distribute to each group a set of cards representing different charges and distances.

• Explain that each charge card can be positive or negative, and each distance card represents the space between two charges.

• Groups must use Coulomb's Law to calculate the force between the charges and decide their moves on the raceboard.

• The goal is to reach the end of the course as quickly as possible, maximizing attractive forces and minimizing repulsive forces.

• Each round of the game simulates a time interval where students must calculate new forces and move their charges on the board.

Activity 2 - Mystery of the Lost Charges

> Duration: (60-70 minutes)

- Objective: Use Coulomb's Law to solve a practical location problem, reinforcing theoretical understanding through practical application.

- Description: Students will unveil a mystery in which they must use their knowledge of Coulomb's Law to discover the location of hidden charges on a map of the room. Each group receives a set of clues and must calculate the forces involved to deduce where the charges are hidden.

- Instructions:

• Organize students into groups of up to 5.

• Hand each group a map of the room with possible markings of where the charges could be hidden and a set of clues.

• The clues are problems that, when solved using Coulomb's Law, indicate the direction and distance of the hidden charges.

• Students must solve the problems, calculate the forces, and use the information to deduce the exact location of the charges.

• The first group to accurately locate all the charges wins.

Activity 3 - Electric Field Builders

> Duration: (60-70 minutes)

- Objective: Visualize and build a physical model of the electric field, reinforcing the understanding of Coulomb's Law and its implications in a three-dimensional context.

- Description: In this activity, groups of students are challenged to build a three-dimensional model of an electric field using materials such as wool and balloons. They need to calculate the forces between multiple charges and represent this in a model that shows how the electric field lines would be affected.

- Instructions:

• Form groups of up to 5 students.

• Provide each group with materials such as balloons (electrically charged), wool, and wooden sticks.

• Groups must calculate the forces between the balloons, which represent electric charges, using Coulomb's Law.

• Based on the calculations, students must position the balloons and use the wool to represent the electric field lines.

• The goal is to create a model that clearly visualizes the interactions between charges and how they influence the electric field around.

Feedback

Duration: (15-20 minutes)

The purpose of this stage is to consolidate students' learning, allowing them to reflect on the content explored during the practical activities and share insights and challenges. This discussion helps reinforce their understanding of Coulomb's Law concepts, as well as develop communication and critical thinking skills. It also facilitates the identification of areas that may need additional review, ensuring that all students have grasped the fundamental concepts before moving on to future evaluations.

Group Discussion

Start the group discussion by reminding students of the practical activities they performed and encouraging them to share their experiences, focusing on how they applied Coulomb's Law and the impact of distance and magnitudes of charges on the resulting force. Ask each group to present a brief summary of their discoveries and challenges encountered during the activities. Encourage them to discuss the strategies used and what they learned about the interactions between electric charges.

Key Questions

1. How did the alteration of the distance between the charges affect the electric force in the activities you performed?

2. What was the biggest challenge in applying Coulomb's Law in the practical activities, and how did you overcome it?

3. How can you apply the knowledge gained about Coulomb's Law in real-life situations or in other areas of science?

Conclusion

Duration: (5-10 minutes)

The purpose of this stage is to consolidate the knowledge acquired during the lesson, highlighting the integration between theory and practice and the relevance of studying Coulomb's Law for everyday applications. It also aims to provide students with a clear understanding of how the concepts learned can be seen and applied in the real world.

Summary

To conclude, it is essential to reinforce that Coulomb's Law is fundamental for understanding how electric charges interact. During the lesson, we explored how the magnitudes of charges and the distance between them affect the resulting electric force, applying these concepts in practical and theoretical activities.

Theory Connection

Today’s lesson connected theory and practice by allowing students to apply Coulomb's Law in various situations, from particle races to the construction of electric field models. This approach helped solidify theoretical understanding through real and interactive applications.

Closing

Coulomb's Law is not just a scientific concept; it has important practical applications in our daily lives, especially in technologies involving the manipulation of electric charges, such as in the operation of electronic devices and in advanced physics research.