Tuber-lar Lighting

Challenge
Did you know there was a period of mass starvation, disease, and emigration in Ireland between 1845 and 1852 all caused by potatoes? This period of time is referred to as the Irish Potato Famine. Nearly two-fifths of the population was dependent on this crop year-round for food. The cause of the crops being destroyed was the potato blight, which makes the plants wither and decay. Approximately two million lives were altered in Ireland all due to the potato.
 
What else could be done with potatoes? Do you think you could make a light bulb shine by using the potatoes as a battery? That is exactly your task! Using the potatoes and other materials, create a circuit to make a LED light up.

Materials

• 2 potatoes
• small LED light
• 4 pennies
• copper wire/alligator leads
• 4 galvanized metal pieces (washers or nails)

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Hints and Tips for Success

1. Use the website, http://interactivesites.weebly.com/electricity-and-energy.html to introduce circuits to students to practice the flow of electricity.
2. The more potatoes, the brighter the light and higher voltage the light can be.
3. This video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFuF2Tsg, or article, http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z86syrd, will help provide an answer to the challenge. They can be used to provide hints to students if needed.
4. Challenge the students to use the potatoes to power another electronic device and discuss why or why not it would work. Also, problem solve to discuss how they could make it work.
5. Connect to Social Studies by further discussing the concepts of the Irish Potato Famine, immigration/emigration, supply and demand, farming, or social classes.
6. Integrate ELA and Distance Learning by registering for the video conference where classes will read the book Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato by Tomie dePaola and collaborate with another classroom to follow directions by making each other’s potato creation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4ojoQjB0LU2ZmNxblpiTjZseDQ/view?usp=sharing