Over the past few weeks, the Year 4 students have been focusing their attention on electricity. They have done several investigations and observations to guide their understanding of what electricity is, the different sources of electricity as well as safety guidelines to follow when using electricity.
Electricity is amazing stuff. It can power everything from your iPad, a car, a sports stadium, a remote toy or a cell-phone. However, it can also be dangerous. Electrical hazards can cause burns, shocks and electrocution. Electrical incidents injure or kill many adults and/ or children each year. In many cases, these incidents are preventable.
The students were able to take a virtual tour of a house and identify some dangers that were noticed. They were engaged in discussions about the issues discovered and what they could do if they saw these dangers in their own home. It was an intense discussion and the class was quick to share how the problems could be fixed.
The most interesting part was putting them into groups and having each group choose one of the dangers observed from the virtual tour. They were given instructions to create an electrical safety poster that would be on display and judged by our Year 6 teacher, Mr. Jason. Each group was very responsible and smart as they worked together, sharing ideas and creating the best poster they could.
The safety issues that each group worked on, came from one of the following topics:
- not overloading plugs;
- not using anything with broken wires;
- don’t leave wires trailing across the floor;
- don’t touch electrical things with wet hands;
- avoid using liquid near electrical devices.
The groups worked hard on choosing where the words would go, what they would say, where the pictures would go and the colours they would use. Powerful language was also used to make an impact on their audience.
Although it was a bit of a competition, students from different groups moved around the class looking at the other posters and giving positive feedback and suggestions to their classmates. It was a great learning experience and valuable information was shared, that will help students to become more aware when they come in contact with electricity.
Electrical safety for children is very important. They don’t always understand its dangers, so it’s important to teach them how to take charge of their electrical safety.
Here are a couple of websites aimed at helping children learn about electricity:
http://www.switchedonkids.org.uk/
http://energysafekids.org/electric-safety/electric-safety-poster/
