In order to preassess students' knowledge and understanding of electricity, the teacher should conduct a whole class discussion in KWL format. First, tape a large piece of butcher paper to the chalkboard. Then, divide the sheet into three sections: What we Know about electricity, What we Want to know about electricity, and What we Learned about electricity. Have the class spend roughly 25-30 minutes filling in the first two sections of the chart. Ask open ended questions about electricity to guide children through their thinking. For example, "What do you know about electricity? How do you use electricity? What is it? How does it work? Does anyone know anything about conductors? insulators? currents? circuits?"
Once children have explored everything that they know about electricity, ask them to think about what they would like to know or learn about electricity in the next couple of weeks. This information will help determine what the students are most interested in learning and help the teacher adapt the curriculum to meet those needs and interests. Leave the last section of the chart blank. Save and use the chart again when the unit is finished. Have children reflect on what they learned and how their ideas and thoughts might have changed over time.
Another method of preassessment for this unit is to have children keep a running log or journal of the things that they use in their home that are run by electricity as well as how often they are used. Give this assignment to students at least one week prior to the beginning of the lesson. The information that they obtain during this exercise will be used later in another lesson, and will provide the teacher with a written assessment of each child's understanding of the concept of electricity. This assignment will also help students see the relevance of electricity in their everyday lives, regardless of their gender or background knowledge of electricity.
After collecting the results from the preassessment, evaluate and categorize the studentsŐ responses according to three questions: What did the children know littlest about? What did the children know well? What were their misconceptions? Design the concept building lesson to build on what the children already know and understand about electricity. Since this lesson has not been taught in the classroom and prior conceptions will differ among various groups of children, one can only speculate what the results from the preassessment might be. More than likely, children at this age group will know most about how electricity relates to their lives personally. Children will probably have a good understanding of things that they use around the house which are run by electricity. This background knowledge will be expanded upon in the conceptual building lesson of this unit.
The area where children may have the most misconceptions or know littlest about is the scientific explanation or definition for electricity. Children will probably be unfamiliar with terms such as conductor, insulator, static electricity, current electricity, circuits, etc. They will also be confused as to how electricity works in the home. Some of these concepts will be the focus of the conceptual change lesson of this unit.