Subject Science
Module 2 -Year 8
Electricity and Magnetism, Sound and Light
Length of Module/Topic – how m any hours w ill this m odule last
7 weeks- 3 weeks per topic plus assessm ent week.
Questions for Learning – state the m ajor and m inor questions for
Learning w hich w ill be answ ered in this m odule
Electricity and Magnetism
Describe how charged objects interact.
Describe what is meant by current and how it is measured
Describe how to measure potential difference.
Describe differences between series and parallel circuits.
Calculate the resistance of a component and a circuit.
Describe the Earth’s magnetic field.
Describe how to make an electromagnet.
Describe some uses of an electromagnet.
Sound and Light
Know what a wave is.
Explain how we hear sound.
Explain how we see objects.
Know the structure of the eye and the ear.
Objectives: Learners w ill know the follow ing things by the end of
this m odule/topic
Electricity and Magnetism
Know that electric charge can either be positive or negative. Similar charged
particles repel each other whilst opposites attract.
Know that everything is made up of atoms. The nucleus of an atom consists
of protons and neutrons. Electrons are found on the outer shells.
Know that overall atoms have no charge as they have the same number of
protons and neutrons.
Know that an electric field surrounds all charged particles.
Know that current is the amount of charge flowing per second. When you
press a switch you are closing the circuit and allowing current to flow.
Know that the job of the cell or battery is to push charge around the circuit.
The push is called potential difference.
Know that potential difference is measured using a voltmeter and the units
are volts.
Know that there are 2 types of circuits- series and parallel. Series circuits are
in one loop and parallel circuits comprise of more than one branch.
Know that each circuit component has a different resistance. Resistance is
measured in ohms. Resistance can be calculated by dividing the potential
difference by current.
Know that metals are good conductors and have a low resistance.
Know that plastics are good insulators and have a high resistance.
Know that a magnet has a north pole and a south pole. When placing
magnets next to each other, similar poles repel while opposites attract.
Know that magnets exert a magnetic field. This can be seen using iron filings.
Know that the Earth has a magnetic field.
Know that an electromagnet can be made, by using a circular loop of wire
around a magnet and passing an electrical current through it.
Know that electromagnets can be made stronger by making more turns on
the coil of wire, allowing more current to flow through and using a magnetic
material for the core.
Know that electromagnets can be used in scrap yards and in door bells.
Sound and Light (Activate 1)
Know that a wave is an oscillation or vibration of energy.
Know that waves have 3 important features, amplitude, frequency and a
wavelength.
Know that there are 2 types of waves, transverse and longitudinal.
Know that waves reflect of surfaces.
Know that vibrations produce sound waves. Sound needs to travel through a
medium such as a solid, liquid or gas. It cannot travel through a vacuum as
there are no air particles to vibrate.
Know that light travels faster than sound.
Know that if a microphone is plugged into an oscilloscope than you can see
the sound of your voice.
Know that a loud sound has a bigger amplitude than a soft sound.
Know that the pitch of a note depends on the frequency.
Know that your ear detects sound waves. Sound waves travel down the
auditory canal towards the ear drum. Your ear drum vibrates and passes the
vibration onto the ossicles which pass it onto the cochlea and down the
auditory nerve to your brain.
Know that sound is measured decibels (dB).
Know that when sound reflects of a surface is produces an echo.
Know that when lots of echos join together they produce a longer sound
called a reverberation. This can be reduced by covering the walls with soft
materials and putting carpet on the floor.
Know that Ultrasounds can be used to by doctors to make images of unborn
babies and by ships to detect sea beds.
Know that light reflects of an object into our eyes.
Know that something that gives out light is called luminous. Objects that are
transparent such as glass mean that we can see through them.
Know that light can travel through a vaccum as it does not need a medium to
travel through. Light travels as a wave.
Know that images can be seen through a mirror as light is reflected. The ray
that hits the mirror is known as the incident ray. The ray that reflects is
called the reflected ray.
Know that if the direction of light changes from one medium to another it is
called refraction.
Know that in your eyes you have 2 lenses which help you to see an object.
Know that when light enters your eye it travels to the pupil, than the iris and
finally the cornea which forms an image in your brain.
Know that the retina contains photoreceptors called rods and cons. When
light hits these cells an electrical impulse travels up the optic nerve to the
brain.
Know that white light is made up of a spectrum of colours. A prism can be
used to help split white light into a spectrum. This is called dispersion.
Know that filters can be used to absorb colours.
Objectives: Learners w ill be able to use the follow ing skills by the
end of this m odule/topic
Electricity and Magnetism
AO1 Recall, select and communicate their knowledge and understanding of
science:
Know the symbols and names for all electrical components.
Recall examples
Draw circuit symbols
Explain the importance of each in a circuit
AO2 Apply skills knowledge and understanding of science in practical and
other contexts:
Carry out practical to show differences between a series and parallel circuits.
Describe some uses of an electromagnet.
AO3 Analyse and evaluate evidence, make reasoned judgments and draw
conclusions based on evidence:
Calculate the resistance of a component and a circuit.
Carry out an experiment to determine the resistance of current in a wire ,
change it and make a conclusion.
Explain what is needed by magnets and electricity.
Sound and Light
AO1 Recall, select and communicate their knowledge and understanding of
science:
Write a paragraph to explain what is meant by waves.
Give suitable examples and draw examples of waves to illustrate your answer.
AO3 Analyse and evaluate evidence, make reasoned judgments and draw
conclusions based on evidence:
Evaluate the impact on the environment of burning hydrocarbon fuels.
Create a poster to show how burning fossil fuels effects the environment.
Objectives: Learners w ill understand the follow ing concepts by the
end of this m odule/topic and be able to com plete an independent
piece of work using the concepts
Advanced: making series and parallel circuits. Explaining how current flows
through them. Understanding the key differences between them.
Secure : making series and parallel circuits. Explaining how current flows
through them.
Entry Level making series and parallel circuits
Objectives: Learners w ill know and be able to use the follow ing
key subject vocabulary by the end of this m odule/topic
Electricity and Magnetism
Electric charge- A property of a material or particle that can be positive or
negative.
Proton- A positively charged particle found in atoms.
Neutron- A neutral particle found in atoms.
Electron- A negatively charged particle found in atoms. Electrons flow
through a wire when a current flows.
Atom - A neutral particle; everything is made of atoms.
Current- the flow of electrical charge (electrons) around a complete circuit
per second.
Am m eter- A device for measuring electric current in a circuit.
Potential difference - A measure of the push of a cell or battery, or the
energy that the cell or battery can supply.
Voltm eter- A device for measuring voltage.
Series- A circuit in which components are joined in a single loop.
Parallel- A circuit in which there are two or more paths or branches for the
current.
Resistance- How difficult it is for current to flow through a component in a
circuit.
Insulator – A material that does not conduct electricity or transfer energy
well.
Conductor- A material that conducts charge or energy well, such as a metal
or graphite.
Magnetic field – A material that is attracted to a magnet, such as iron,
steel, nickel, or cobalt.
Electrom agnet- A temporary magnet produced using an electric current.
Relay- Electrical device that uses current flowing through it in one circuit to
switch on and off a current in a second circuit.
Sound and Light
Oscillation- swinging from side to side, as a pendulum does.
Vibration-When an object or substance vibrates, it produces sound. The
bigger the vibrations the louder the sound.
Amplitude- the maximum displacement of a wave from its undisturbed
position.
Frequency - the number of waves produced by a source each second. It is
also the number of waves that pass a certain point each second.
W avelength-The wavelength of a wave is the distance between a point on
one wave and the same point on the next wave
Peak-A point of maximum displacement.
Crest- Highest amplitude value.
Trough -Lowest amplitude value which can be negative.
Transverse-In transverse waves, the vibrations are at right angles to the
direction of travel.
Longitudinal-In longitudinal waves, the vibrations are along the same
direction as the direction of travel.
Reflection-when light or sound waves hit a reflective surface the angle of
incidence equals the angle of reflection
Incident wave-The ray of light hitting the mirror is called the incident ray.
Reflected wave- The ray of light bouncing off is called the reflected wave.
Medium - the type of material the ray of light passes through
Vacuum - a space where there is no matter
Pitch- how high or low a sound is. A high frequency vibration produces a
higher pitch sound than a low frequency vibration.
Loudness-The amplitude of the vibration.
Oscilloscope- An oscilloscope is a voltm eter that shows you how
voltage varies with tim e by it plotting a voltage against time graph on
the screen.
Audible range-the range of frequencies that can be heard by humans or
other animals.
Infrasound-sound with a frequency too low to be heard by humans, less
than 20 Hz.
Ultrasound- sound with a frequency too high to be heard by humans, with a
frequency greater than 20,000 Hz.
Auditory canal-The auditory canal is a tube that connects the fleshy outer
visible part of the ear and the eardrum.
Eardrum - the ear drum is a thin membrane which picks up the vibrations of
sound waves to enable hearing.
Cochlea- is a long coiled tube in the inner ear filled with fluid - it picks up the
vibrations and changes them to electrical signals
Auditory nerve-connects the inner ear to the brain - it carries the electrical
signals from the cochlea
Decibel-what sound is measured in
Am plifier- increases the amplitude of a sound
Echo-an echo is a reflection of sound, arriving at the listener some time after
the direct sound.
Reverberation- the persistence of sound after a sound is produced.
Transm itter – Signals are sent from a transmitter to a receiver. Before a
sound or piece of information is transmitted, it is encoded in the transmitter.
Em it- to release (a sound).
Reflect- to cast back (light, sound) from a surface.
Absorb- to retain (light, sound) without transmittance or reflection.
Lum inous- radiating light
Transm it- to cause light or sound to pass through a medium
Transparent- having the property of transmitting rays of light through its
substance so that bodies situated beyond or behind can be seen
Translucent-permitting light to pass through but diffusing it so that
persons, objects, etc., on the opposite side are not clearly visible:
Opaque-light is not allowed to pass through
Vacuum - space where there is no matter
W ave- an oscillation that travels through space accompanied by a transfer of
energy.
Incident ray – the ray of light striking the surface
Reflected ray- the ray of light bouncing back of the reflected surface.
Diffuse scattering- rays of light bent away from a straight path due to
particle obstruction in a medium.
Refraction-change in direction of a wave due to the medium through which
it is passing.
Convex-curving outwards.
Converging-light rays coming together.
Focal point-the point where converging light rays meet.
Retina –the lining at the back of the eye which contains photoreceptor cells.
Light entering the eye is focused onto the retina.
Iris-the coloured disk surrounding the pupil which is responsible for the size
of the pupil.
Cornea –the transparent front part of the eye covering the iris and pupil.
Photoreceptor- There are 2 types of photoreceptor cells. Rods which
detect black and white and cones which detect coloured light.
Prism -A prism is a block of glass with a triangular cross-section that
separates white light.
Spectrum -The spread of white light into its coloured components is called a
spectrum.
Dispersion- the separation of light (as it passes through a prism).
Frequency-how often something occurs per second.
Filter-A medium which absorbs a certain frequency of light.
Prim ary colour-Red, yellow and blue are primary colours so can’t be formed
by mixing with another colour.
Secondary colour –Mixing 2 primary colours makes a secondary colour.
Enrichm ent Activities
Research Project
Assessm ent
Extended pieces of writing/ AFL tasks
End of unit test.