Physical Processes 1.1 Electrcity

Sc 4: Physical Processes

1.1 Electricity

P.O.S.

Key Stage 1 Sc 4: 1a, 1b, 1c

Key Stage 2 Sc 4: 1a, 1b, 1c

Key Stage 3 Sc 4: 1a, 1b, 1c

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • To identify everyday things that use electricity
  • To know that electricity can be dangerous and some of the dangers.
  • To be able to identify everyday things that use mains and/or batteries.
  • To know that electricity can be used to produce light, heat, sound, movement.
  • To be able to make a simple circuit.
  • To be able to draw simple circuits.
  • To be able to find faults (breaks) in circuits and correct them.
  • To identify common circuit symbols – bulb, battery, wire, switch.
These are general Learning Objectives. If more specific objective are needed for medium term planning, refer to the Learning Outcomes for suggestions.
ICT
Modelling programmes e.g. Crocodile Clips /
LINKS
D & T /

VOCABULARY

Electricity, battery, hazard, danger, sockets, bulb, wire, circuit, light, connection, buzzer, conduct, filament, flow, motor, crocodile clips, brighter, dimmer, resistance, energy
ACTIVITIES
  • Discuss things that use electricity – mains and batteries – at home and school
  • Make a display of objects that use electricity (in any form).
  • Use prepared sheets/posters to discuss dangers/safety aspects.
  • Cut pictures of electrical items from magazines/catalogues and stick onto different rooms in the house (pictures cut ready or printed symbols).
  • Cut/draw pictures of things that use electricity to make sound, light, heat, movement
  • Do any rooms not have electrical appliances? (Bathroom).
  • Identify where electricity is used in the classroom.
  • Sort pictures into those that use mains, battery, no electricity.
  • Label anything in the room that could electrocute you.
  • Design a safety poster/safety list
  • Allow children to experiment to make the bulb in a circuit light.
  • Make a bulb light using a bulb, piece of foil and wire then move onto a bulb in a holder and two pieces of wire.
  • Discuss and draw attention to the connections on the bulb.
  • Give opportunities to reverse connections on batteries and wires to see if they make a difference.
  • Draw circuits and talk about how they work.
  • Install a light in a model house/lighthouse etc.
  • Allow children to experiment to make the buzzer work. Reverse the connections to see if it makes a difference.
  • Make a circuit with a light and a buzzer so they both work at the same time.
  • Draw circuits they have made.
  • Put components in different orders to see if there is any effect.
  • Reinforce the concept of a circuit – use drama/analogies to help e.g. give each child a ball (electricity) to pass round the circuit. Alter shape of circuit to show that shape makes no difference.
  • Make a simple circuit. Unclip a wire – what happens? Loosen the bulb – what happens?
  • Find as many ways as possible to stop the bulb working.
  • Give sheets of simple circuits to predict which will/will not work.
  • Set up circuits with faults (e.g. broken bulbs, bulb loose in holder, wire not fastened to battery? Bulb? Buzzer: two wires to one terminal) for children to identify and/or mend.
  • Draw wire mazes i.e. several bulbs wired correctly and incorrectly to a number of batteries. Children colour bulbs in complete circuits.
  • Reinforce the concept of a broken circuit using drama and analogies e.g. passing ball round a “circuit” – make a “break” to show that the ball cannot be passed round.
  • Ask children to show the path of electricity round a circuit.
  • Children draw circuits that will/will not work for others to try.
  • Show children a simple circuit with a knot in the wire. Use this for discussion about whether the circuit will light and a reason for their thinking.
  • Again show a simple circuit with two wires each side of the circuit and again discuss. This will help assess the children’s level of understanding.
  • Annotate or talk about circuit drawing to explain why bulb lit.
  • Construct circuits using different sized batteries and components. Ensure children use correct battery voltage for component.
  • Trace the electrical circuit inside bulbs, torches, toys.
  • Involve children in acting out electrical circuits. Balls can be used for energy – each component will use some energy. Use other analogies e.g. water, central heating, tipper trucks on a road.
  • Use photocopiable worksheets with circuits that do/do not work. Children predict first and then try.
  • Using drawings of circuits that will/will not work to sort into class sets. Discuss what they would need to do so that circuits could be swapped from one set to another.
  • Make a bulb light with a battery and no wires.
  • Discuss short circuits.
  • Brainstorm what children think may affect brightness.
  • Connect more than one bulb in a series and record what happens. Can measure brightness by counting number of sheets of paper through which bulb can be seen.
  • Make series circuits with mixtures of different components – do they all work?
  • How many bulbs? buzzers? motors? can a 4.5v battery work?
  • Make a dimmer switch using a pencil cut in half lengthways (pencils do vary so check out first). As a wire is moved along the pencil ‘lead’ the bulb becomes dimmer.
  • Make a simple rheostat by winding very thin wire round dowel. Replace bulb with other components to see affect.
  • Simply talk about what is happening. Link resistance to work on conductors and insulators and use analogies.
  • Discuss where this is used in everyday life (e.g. dimmer switches, cinemas, volume control knobs, slide controls).
  • Introduce children to conventional symbols for circuit components.
  • Draw circuits using symbols (e.g. Draw me a circuit with 1 battery 2 bulbs and a switch).
  • Make circuits and record using symbols.
  • Make circuit diagrams for other children to construct.
  • Use photocopiable worksheets/books to consolidate work on symbols.
  • Construct circuits from prepared diagrams.
  • Circus of circuits and symbol diagrams; some correctly and some incorrectly drawn. Identify them with a tick or a cross.
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RESOURCES
  • Prepared sheets from a scheme. Safety posters.
  • Magazines; scissors; catalogues. Outlines of a house and rooms. Printed symbols – cut out pictures of appliances
  • Bulbs, bulb holders, wire, crocodile clips, foil (correct voltage and bulbs for battery needed)
  • Card etc to make model house or
lighthouse.
  • Buzzers, wire, batteries, bulbs, bulb holders.
  • Bulbs, batteries, wires, buzzers, bulb holders.
  • A variety of constructed circuits.
  • Battery, bulb, 2 wires – one with knot in, 4 wires, crocodile clips, battery holder.
  • Transparent torches
  • Worksheets, bulbs, batteries, wires, buzzers, motors etc.
  • Battery with copper connections on top; bulb of correct voltage.
  • Throughout: Batteries and holders, bulbs and holders, wire, crocodile clips.
  • Pencils cut in half lengthways.
  • Long thin wire, dowel
  • Photocopiable worksheets and books.
  • Prepared diagrams
  • Circuits and diagrams of circuits
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POINTS TO NOTE
  • Switches are in KS2
  • Pupils often think that only 1 wire is needed because household appliances just have one flex.
  • Pupils often find it difficult to identify connection on bulbs and batteries.
  • Buzzers only work one way round in the circuits.
  • Ensure that pupils are aware that wires are made of metal.
  • Resist the urge to move into complicated circuits
and problem solving until pupils can make simple circuits and draw/describe what the components do.
  • Because the mechanism of a switch is usually not visible pupils are often unclear about how a switch works.
  • Do not use parallel circuits. This is KS3 work.
  • Take care that bulb voltages do not get mixed up as this can cause confusion. Even bulbs that are similar may show variation – it is worth checking before giving them to children.
  • Modern mains dimmer switches are electronic and don’t work via a
simple circuit. Radio volume control does and if
there is an old
radio about you could show this.
  • Dataloggers can be used to record changes in brightness not easy to detect by eye.
  • Emphasise that electricity is used in the home and the potential dangers.
  • Pupils have diverse ideas about where electricity comes from and may confuse it with gas.
  • Emphasise that some batteries may be safe to handle, mains electricity can be very dangerous.
  • Aspects of electrical conductors and insulators can be found in Sc3:1 Grouping and Classifying Materials

OWN ACTIVITIES
POSSIBLE INVESTIGATIONS
  • Does the colour of the wire make a difference?
  • Does the type of battery make a difference?
  • Does a shorter wire make a brighter circuit?
  • Can the wires be connected to the battery in more than one way?
  • Are all bulbs the same?
  • Does the shape of the circuit make a difference?
  • What makes the buzzer loudest e.g. type of battery, type of wire, presence of bulbs, nearness to battery?
  • Does it matter where the circuit is broken?
  • Can you make a circuit to send messages across the classroom using light?
  • Do two batteries have to be next to each other in the circuit?
  • Can you make a question and answer board game?
  • Which wire is broken? (use a box/container with separate wires passing through it – one of the wires is broken)
  • Does the position of the switch affect the bulb?
  • Can you make a burglar alarm circuit? – burglar treads on a mat or opens a window.
  • Can you make a flashing light house?
  • What affects how bright a bulb is e.g. type of bulb, numbers of bulb or batteries, type of battery, wire used etc
  • Does the thickness of the wire affect the brightness of a bulb?
  • Does the length of a wire affect the brightness of a bulb?
  • Does the type of wire affect the brightness of a bulb?
  • What is the dimmest bulb possible?

Name:

Date Record Began:

Outcomes: NC Level 1  NC Level 4

1 /
  • Takes turn in discussion.

  • Connects given components (not laid out) to light bulb.

  • Know that electricity can be dangerous

  • Can make a bulb light up

  • Can make a buzzer work in a circuit

  • Can name some appliances that produce heat/sound/light

  • Can identify something that uses mains or batteries

1+ /
  • Can demonstrate how to work the switch

  • Can connect up a circuit with a switch in it

  • Can tell you one specific danger

  • Can point out the connections on a bulb and how to light it up.

  • Can draw a simple circuit

  • Can make a bulb and buzzer work together

  • Knows that a bulb/buzzer won’t work with a break in the circuit.

  • Can detect obvious breaks in a circuit (e.g. wire disconnected).

2 /
  • Knows that electricity can have different effects

  • Can detect a break in a circuit and put it right.

  • Can describe the effect of adding extra bulbs or buzzers to circuit

  • Can make a simple switch

2+ /
  • Can explain how to connect the bulb and buzzer to make them work.

  • Can explain why an incomplete circuit won’t work.

  • Can construct circuits drawn with pictures

  • Can explain that a switch can complete or break a circuit.

  • Can tell you other sources of electricity e.g. solar, wind.

  • Can explain that something doesn’t work better if it is nearer the battery.

  • Can explain exactly what the effect will be of more batteries or bulbs.

  • Can explain that the longer the wire, the dimmer the bulb.

  • Can explain simply what resistance is.

  • Knows that more bulbs (in a series) makes them dimmer.

  • Can record their own circuits using symbols.

3+ /
  • Can explain how the switch works.

  • Knows most of the symbols for simple components in a circuit.

  • Can construct circuits drawn in symbols

4 /
  • Can record own circuits using symbols

  • Knows that wires made from different materials will affect the brightness of the bulb.

Further Comments