Jim Cain

Mini Unit Overview

I suspect that the electricity and magnetism unit will be a very challenging
unit to teach to a grade 5 class. Electricity and Magnetism will initially be invisible,
nebulous, concepts to a young student. The first order of business is to instill a
sense of safety, since electrical potential is invisible the students must appreciate
the danger inherent in electrical devices. The next step is to familiarize the students
with the basics of an electrical circuit, although this step is not explicitly mentioned
in the program of studies, it is a crucial step to instill understanding. After the basics
are covered one can then proceed onto the meat and potatoes of the unit: the
relationship between current and magnetic flux.
From an assessment point of view the students are largely expected to
display lower level outcomes. A breakdown of the program of studies follows:

The specific verbs to be used for assessment purposes are hard to determine
without practical experience. Similarly the amount of emphasis to place on each
area is not set in stone, although from a practical viewpoint I am fairly confident in
the current emphasis allotment. Many ideas will be further reinforced throughout
the unit, and throughout the students education.

Jim Cain
One element that will need to be further integrated is literacy. The subject
matter of the unit, combined with its difficulty does not lend well to a substantial
integration of much literacy related activities beyond nomenclature. Important
elements such as 2 dimensional cross sections of magnetic fields do not lend
themselves well to verbal description. Some areas such as explaining the
relationship between electricity and magnetism involve a small amount of writing,
however the nature of the material requires more emphasis of the higher
understanding centers and less of the writing etiquette skillset.