Making A Lemon Battery

Here's how you can use a source of food to create a source of electricity with the children in your class!

Pass the lemons out. Have the children soften them up a little by squeezing them or rolling them on the desk like a rolling pin.
Pass out one zinc nail (this is the negative: -) and one cooper nail or copper penny (this is the positive) as they do this.
Model then ask the children to insert the cooper and the zinc into the lemon (one on each end).These are the electrodes.
Pass out the crocodile clips to each group and have them start connecting their lemons together. Remind the students that the electrons flow because of the difference between the metals. Therefore, the “battery” will work if they attach a brass nail to a brass nail.
Here is a diagram of how the lemons should be connected

Pass out the LED lightbulbs and ask children to connect their clips to this.

Turn out the lights and see if the lemons have managed to become a battery! The more lemons you use, the brighter the light. Try using more lemons or join the groups together to make a bigger circuit!