A Peek Into the Classroom: Grade 7 Students Take Fidget Spinners to a New Level

On a Wednesday morning, groups of three and four students sit at lab tables at North Hills Middle School, holding very deliberate discussions. Mrs. King’s grade 7 science students are exploring renewable energy and how they can generate electricity. Today they are testing turbines that spin a generator to produce electricity. The question of the day: which variables will cause the fidget spinner (turbine) near the copper coil (generator) to light up the bulb? 

Each table has a set of materials, including two fidget spinners, each with different size magnets glued to them, and two different size copper coils attached to a light bulb. Each spinner is attached to the top of an empty plastic bottle. The students hold the bottles upside down and spin the fidget spinners as fast as possible (many students have much experience with this!), creating mechanical energy. Then the students test different sets of variables to see which conditions generate the most electricity (electrical energy) to light up the light bulb when they place the spinner near each coil. The students must determine which set of variables are better at making the bulb light up. 

Gabriel Dwaik explains it by saying, “We’re trying to prove the best way to get a generator to light a light bulb. So, how to get the best electric current. If you point the magnet down, it’s brighter, if you touch them to each other, it’s brighter. Stronger magnets, the faster you spin it, and the closer the magnets are to the coil, the brighter the bulb lights.” Gabriel spins the spinner, holds it close to the coil, and asks his lab partners to help determine which creates a stronger reaction: the spinner over the center or over the side. 

The students use their observations to answer the rest of the lab questions, which includes depicting diagrams. Lillian Corbin illustrates images of the experiment, and makes an unexpected connection to everyday life. “I’m trying to draw a picture of the fidget spinner on its side, but it’s looking like a fried egg on rocks.”

Mrs. King describes how teaching these concepts provides general knowledge to every student, so even if kids don’t want to go into the science field, it makes them better critical thinkers to understand how our world works. 

As class comes to an end, students gather their belongings. Whatever is not complete is assigned for homework, and they are on to their next class!