Mississippi Science PHS.9.4
The Standard
- PHS.9
- Students will explore basic principles of magnetism and electricity (e.g., static electricity, current electricity, and circuits).
Use an engineering design process to construct and test conductors, semiconductors, and insulators using various materials to optimize efficiency. *
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Electricity
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students build a battery, resistor, and LED circuit, then test copper, steel, and plastic in a gap. They reverse the LED, cover bare connections, and compare voltage drops to choose a connection that wastes less energy.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student predicts which materials will complete the circuit and explains why a reversed LED stays dark. They measure voltage drop across two metal connections, choose the lower-loss one, and place tape where bare contacts might touch.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may call a reversed LED an insulator instead of checking its direction. They may put tape between contacts, then wrongly conclude that the metal beneath it does not conduct. Some judge efficiency by LED brightness alone without measuring voltage drop.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: In a battery, resistor, and LED circuit, a copper link drops 0.05 V and a steel link drops 0.30 V. Which link wastes less energy, why might the LED stay dark when reversed, and where would you put tape to prevent a short?
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Build a 9 V battery, 470-ohm resistor, and LED circuit; swap copper foil and steel strips at one gap and measure voltage drop.
Ask: Why does the LED go dark when you turn it around, even though the wires and battery stay the same?
Give pairs cards labeled copper, plastic, and LED; have them place each as a bridge, cover, or one-way component on a circuit diagram.
Show a cutaway drawing of a light-up USB cable; students label its conducting wires, insulating jacket, and semiconductor LED.
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Printable PHS.9.4 Worksheet
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