Content Videos (Lectures and animations to supplement lessons):
- Electromagnetic Induction
- Faraday
- Lenz’s Law
- Alternating Current Generator
- Direct Current Generator
- Flemings’ Right Hand Rule
- Transformers & Applications
Interactives (Online activities for student interaction & practice with content):
- Electromagnetic Induction (We use electromagnetic induction every day, but do you have any idea what it is? In this animated tutorial, students learn about this everyday phenomenon, the factors that affect its strength and its most common applications)
- Faraday’s Electromagnetic Lab Simulation (students play with a bar magnet and coils to learn about Faraday’s law. Move a bar magnet near one or two coils to make a light bulb glow. View the magnetic field lines. A meter shows the direction and magnitude of the current. View the magnetic field lines or use a meter to show the direction and magnitude of the current. You can also play with electromagnets, generators and transformers!)
- Faraday’s Law Simulation (students light a light bulb by waving a magnet. This demonstration of Faraday’s Law shows you how to reduce your power bill at the expense of your grocery bill!)
- Magnets & Electromagnets Simulation (students explore the interactions between a compass and bar magnet. Discover how you can use a battery and wire to make a magnet! Can you make it a stronger magnet? Can you make the magnetic field reverse?)
- Magnetic Induction Experiment (students can see this experiment in two different views; the link it to the “real world” experiment, but be certain to have students click “X-Ray Vision?” at the top of the screen to see explanations of the invisible fields and forces)
- Lenz’s Law (This interactive tutorial illustrates the directional relationships between induced magnetic fields, voltage, and current when a conductor is passed within the lines of force of a magnetic field)
- Mutual Induction (Every day we make use of a special case of electromagnetic induction known as mutual induction. In this animated lesson, students explore this special phenomenon and how it is used in many common devices)
- Alternating Current: Definition, Advantages & Disadvantages (interesting online student reading that defines AC, discuss its history (Edison vs. Tesla!), advantages and disadvantages, and provides a short quiz)
- AC/DC: What’s the Difference? (There is more than one way to produce electricity. In the late 1800s, Thomas Edison’s direct current power plants prevailed. Shortly after, however, alternating current took hold. This animated essay from the American Experience: “Edison’s Miracle of Light” Web site describes and illustrates the similarities and differences between these two forms of electricity.)
- DC Circuit Builder (the DC Circuit Builder equips the learner with a virtual electronic circuit board. Add resistors, light bulbs, wires and ammeters to build a circuit, Explore Ohm’s law. Compare and contrast series, parallel and combination circuits. Use a voltmeter to measure voltage drops)
- Flemmings’ Right Hand Rule (online graphic of the right hand rule)
- Transformer Virtual Lab (in this virtual lab, students learn why transformers are important for the use of electricity in homes, calculate and select the correct ratio of turns of wire between the primary and secondary coil of a transformer in order to supply the correct voltage to an electric device, and explain how a transformer can increase or decrease the voltage of an alternating current)
Games (Online games for students to apply & test their content knowledge):
For Teachers 