With the re-launch and re-introduction of Lab in a Cab to teachers we have been incredibly busy getting the equipment into Upper Basic Schools (UBS), and into the hands of learners!
First up is our visit to Gunjur UBS- one of the oldest and largest UBS in the West Coast region.
Our first venture out was a large one, and gave us an opportunity to give nearly 90 students an opportunity to get hands-on practical experience, with over 50 of those being young women!
This visit was focused on what be one of MY favourite parts of the Physics curriculum; Electricity. The electricity topic is always an exciting one in UK schools, with some of the wonder, and intrigue that comes wit being able to plug and play different components into electrical circuits, and measure the various difference outputs. Investigating the cause and effect on current and potential difference depending on the current, and type of circuit you are using. I have actually just been teaching my Year 7 group the electricity topic- so the buzz in the room it can cause is at the forefront of my brain!
Learning during this visit composed of students being able to get hands-on with the different circuit components, and increase their familiarity in being able identify and name the different components, translating their knowledge of circuit diagrams to concrete examples. This allows for further fortifying student learning, and helps them commit ideas and concepts to their long-term memory.
Once students were confident with this they then went on to explore the differences between series and parallel circuits, and the effect the different types of circuit have on these measurements- allowing students to explain how current is split in parallel, and the same in series. Whereas, potential difference is the opposite!
This finally concluded with a practical on verifying Ohm's law- giving students the opportunity explain the relationships between current, potential difference, and resistance in a circuit- how adding more components increases resistance.
Overall, it was an incredibly productive day, and the practical experiment kits were able to impact a large cohort of students. Lots of positive feedback was received from the school and students. However, turns out we were a bit short on switches! Something we'll need to put on our list for next time...
-John
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