Conference moira::parenting

    
    When my daughter was that age, I just said electricity was
    a form of energy that flowed in metal wires like water in a pipe;
    and they were different ways to make this electricity. She was
    happy with that for a while ;-) 
    
    Eva
    

>    When my daughter was that age, I just said electricity was
>    a form of energy that flowed in metal wires like water in a pipe;

    Great start!  Have kids play with Magnets....explain that
    electicity and magnetism are really the same...one can create the
    other.  I think that kids can handle the concept of 'atoms'...and
    that they consists of lots of small things (mainly protons and
    electrons) and that electricity can be thought of as electrons
    jumping from one atom to the next.  there are lots of neat
    'examples' you can give for how this works....like kids on
    equipment in the playground.  And when the ice cream truck
    comes round, that's the 'force' that attracts the kids, and
    they all start moving in that direction.

    (or whatever you want to make up).

    The hard concept to get kids to understand are the forces that make
    it go...positive and negative charges.

    Magnets are really magic....create magnets using a battery (and a
    nail and wire).  If you got one,  show how a battery can make a motor
    spin, and spinning the motor will generate electicity.  For example,
    hook two motors together, and spin one..the other will spin!  Nice
    motors are the little DC motors that come in toy cranes, etc.

    You can also talk about batteries...making electricity from chemicals.
    make a battery from a potatoe....

    There are good books in the library for all this stuff.
    bob

    A friend had a great book for this: How things work .
    Great pictures too.

>                              -< How things work >-
>
>    A friend had a great book for this: How things work .
>    Great pictures too.

    That's by David McCauly (sp?)....REALLY a great book.
    Lots of adults have found our copy fascinating....starts with
    simple levers, with lots of examples, gears, more complex
    mechanical objects....(like how does a standard and automatic
    car transmission work).  How does a piano key work....a can opener,
    etc. etc.....

    Some of this about electricity and magnets reminds me of a couple
    we met recently.  He's in some scientific field, I'm not sure 
    exactly what, and had shown his 4 year old some interesting thing
    with some chemical (something you can pour out and it "disappears").
    Only thing was, she then asked what was the difference between science 
    and magic, and they had a hard time explaining :-).
  
    Leslie

    someone pointed me to 'bill nye, the science guy' on pbs, 5:30
    pm/boston area.
    
    wonderful show. 1/2 long. they did electricity of wednesday but we
    missed it. friday we saw a show on buoyancy...next week shows include
    eyes, fire, the seasons, chemical reactions, the food chain.
    
    great pace...it really held my son's attention.

There is show similar to this called "Beakman's World".  I don't know which
came first but they are very similar and both do a good job (I think!) of 
explaining science to a young child.

They are today's Mr Wizard (am I dating myself?) - but since they have to 
compete with Donky Kong they have spiced things up a bit - and no where near 
as much "try this at home kids" stuff.

bjm

I think the difference between science and magic
is pretty simple:

If you understand how it works, it's science.  If
you don't, it's magic....


Pat

    son:   dad How does electricity work?

 Enterprising
   Father: Well Son,   let me demonstrate with these marbles and this 
           christmas wrapping tube.

           First we put all the marbles in the tube and lie if flat on
           the table,  -   nothing happens right?

           but if we lift one end of the tube,  all of the marbles roll
           out of the tube!   Why is that?

    son:   'cause you picked it up!

     EF:   yes, (somewhat frustrated)  I picked it up, but why should they
           roll out?

    Son:   'cause this end is lower?

     EF:   Well,  now we're getting there,   Yes  because one end is lower
           than the other.    This difference in the heights of the tubes
           ends creates 'potential'.   Do you know what potential means?

    Son:   uh, um  different hieghts?

     EF:   well, it's a difference,  almost any difference can create
           potential,  in fact the concept is often termed 'potential
           difference'.

    Son:   yeah, but how does electricity work?

     EF:   Well inside the wires of the lights, and other electrical equipment
           are tiny little things called 'electrons',  these electrons move
           through the wire when there is a difference of potential between
           the two ends of the wire.

    Son:   You mean someone picks up one end of the wire and the extrons
           roll out the other end?   How does the light go on?

     EF:   No.  potential is not just a difference in heights,  it can
           be almost any type of difference.   Think of two things that
           are different...

    SOn:   Hot and Cold?

     EF:   Excellent example  son.  Differences in temperature or how hot
           or how cold two things are creates potential.   When you open
           the refrigerator all the cold air comes rushing out and the warm
           air inside the house goes rushing into the refrigerator, this is
           a result of the difference between the two temperatures, or the
           amount of potential difference.

     Son:  Oh (a little confused)

      EF:  Back to our electricity,  no one is picking the wire up and no
           one is making one end hot or one end cold,  but there is a diff
           erence between the two ends, some potential, that makes the 
           electrons move.   It  has it's own name,  it's called VOLTAGE.

     SON:  Voltage,  - isn't he an American Gladiator...

      EF:  Just a conincidence son if there is,  anyway this difference
           in Voltage can cause the electrons to move...

     SON:  Oh (still a little confused)

      EF:  Rather than the ends being hot or cold,  or up versus down,  
           we use the words positive and negative.

           How much more positive or how much more negative one end is
           versus the other, will control the amount of electrons that
           move through the wire,  kinda like changing the hieght of
           the tube, or the temperature in the frig...

     Son:  Oh,  well thanks dad.   Gee and to think that Tommy's dad
           thinks that electricity comes from something called 'generators'.
           Wait till he hears that it's one of the gladiators...



    

RE -1

HAHA.  I really enjoyed your story ... so true too, I can really picture
the conversation exactly as you described!

Leslie

    re -2...excellent...printing it out...taking it home.

Reading this I can't help but think of the example of the child who asked 
where babies come from.  The panicked parent was all sweaty over the impending 
explanation of the facts of life, when the age-appropriate answer was "from 
their mother's abdomen".   

Now, having a 17 month old, I have no idea what is age appropriate for a 6 year 
old.   But there are some pretty technical answers going on here, including 
electrons, magnetic fields, and potential/kinetic energy.  


How about:  

Well, son, think about water for a minute.  You know how there is always water
in the pipes, and when you turn on the faucet, the water comes out?      

Well, electricity is made by generators.  Generators put the electricity in
the wires.   It is there waiting, and when you turn on the light or a stereo,
the electricity comes out of the wire into the light or stereo, making it work. 

You can even throw in: 

That's why we never play around electrical plugs or wires, because the 
electricity is always in there, and if we give it the opportunity to come out 
by touching it, it can hurt us very seriously.  



When that sinks in and he's ready to ask about how generators make 
electricity, he'll come back.   

My two cents.  

    Little Girl:  Mommy, where did I come from?
    Mommy: Nervously, explains the facts of life, and how babies are
    created, etc etc etc
    Little Girl: Oh.
    Mommy: Why do you ask?
    
    Little Girl: Because today, Sarah told me she came from Baltimore ...
    
    ...or something like that.