Circuits
Developed by Lisa Stowell (Gouverneur ES) through a grant provided by the Title ll – Part B Math/Science Partnership
and in collaboration with Sheri Amsel and www.exploringnature.org
Goals:
Students will be able to:
1) Describe how energy is transferred from batteries by wires into light (in the form of a bulb) and/or heat.
2) Describe the parts of a circuit (including the open and closed switch).
3) Describe the difference between a series and parallel circuit.
4) Build a simple series and parallel circuit using components such as wires, aluminum foil, batteries, and bulbs.
5) Describe the qualities of materials that would make them conductors of electricity or insulators, based on
their experiments.
Focus Questions:
1) What is electricity?
2) What is a conductor?
3) What is an insulator?
4) What is a circuit?
5) What is the difference between a series circuit and a paralle circuit?
6) What would be the disadvantage of wiring a whole house using a series circuit?
Introductory Exploration Activity (Assessing Prior Knowledge):
Electricity Word Merge - Students define ELECTRICITY, using their own words.
1. Write ELECTRICITY on the board and let students take turns writing what they think it means.
2. Also ask them to name something that uses electricity.
3. Discuss everyone’s thoughts about electricity and the devices that use it.
4. Encourage them to think about devices that use electricity that they may not expect, like the room clock, the
morning announcements, the drink cooler, the lit exit signs, etc.
ELECTRICITY
Introductory Activity: Electricity Role Play
Objective: Demonstrate the behavior of an electrical current when it comes in contact with a conductor versus
when it comes in contact with an insulator. For an electrical
circuit to work, it must be continuously conducted from the
power source to the device its powering. If the circuit is broken
orblocked by an insulator, the power cannot get through.
Procedures:
1. Have the students stand in a continuous line side-by-side.
Students will by putting their arms around each other’s
shoulders.
2. The first person in line starts a wave by bending over and
then standing back up. This will sequentially pull everyone
else in the line over too, simulating electricity flowing
through a conductor.
4. Next students will simulate an insulator. Repeat the line
of students with their arms around each other’s shoulders,
but this time have one student in the middle drop their arms
to their sides. They should still be next to the other students,
but not linked to them. Again, the first person in the line
bends over at the waist and stands up. What happens?
4. Discuss with the students what happened this time. (The
bending wave stopped at the unattached student.) This
simulates the effect of an insulator (the unattached student),
which is a material that does not allow electricity to easily
flow through the it.
5. Point out that a good conductor is a poor insulator and a
poor conductor is a good insulator. Brainstorm two lists with
the students – one of objects that they think would be good
conductors and those that would be good insulators. Ask
them how they would find out which was which.
6. After completing your lesson on electricity and circuits,
revisit this hypothesis with the students to see if their
experiments with insulators and conductors confirmed or
refuted their predictions.
©Sheri Amsel
www.exploringnature.org
The word circuit literally means a route that
starts and finishes at the same place. An
electrical circuit has a source of power (the
battery), the connecting wires (the conductors),
and the device that is collecting the electrical
power (the load). For the load to receive the
electricity the circuit must be continuous. If
the circuit is broken the power cannot get
through to power the load.
Circuits
light
bulb
“load”
closed switch
conductors
Controlling the Electrical Current:
In an electrical circuit, there needs to be a way
to control when the power will flow through it
and when it won’t. That is the job of the switch.
A switch can be open or closed. A closed switch
keeps the flow of electricity flowing through the
circuit to power a device. An open switch creates
a gap in the circuit, so electricity stops flowing to
the device. It “breaks” the circuit. A switch can
also be used to change the pathway of electricity
in a parallel circuit to power a different devise.
Another way electrical current has been
controlled is through fuses. A fuse will literally
melt down if too much current is forced through
it, creating a circuit gap – which stops he flow of
electricity. This was meant to stop electrical fires,
but requires replacing the burned out fuse with a
new one each time to get the current going again.
battery
light
bulb
“load”
open
switch
conductors
battery
A newer current protection device is the breaker. A breaker or circuit breaker is a switch that is designed to
activate and break the flow of electricity when too much current is flowing through the system to prevent an
electrical fire. It can be reset by hand, so does not have to be replaced each time like a fuse.
Instead of simply stopping the flow of electricity, it is sometimes necessary to just decrease how much current
a device is getting. This is done by resistor. A resistor can lower the current that is flowing into more fragile
devices like a computer circuit board.
©Sheri Amsel
www.exploringnature.org
Circuits – Vocabulary Assessment Quiz
The word circuit literally means a route that starts and finishes at the same place. An electrical circuit has a
source of power – the ______________________________________, the connecting wires – the
____________________________________________________________, and the device that is collecting the
electrical power – the ________________________________________. For the device to receive the electricity
the circuit must be continuous. If the circuit is broken the power cannot get through to power the load.
In an electrical circuit, there needs to be a way to control when the power will flow through it and when it won’t.
That is the job of the switch. A switch can be open or closed. A _________________________ switch keeps the
flow of electricity flowing through the circuit to power a device. An ___________________________ switch
creates a gap in the circuit, so electricity stops flowing to the device. It “breaks” the circuit. A switch can also be
used to change the pathway of electricity in a parallel circuit to power a different device.
Instead of simply stopping the flow of electricity, it is sometimes necessary to just decrease how much current a
device is getting. This is done by a _______________________________________________ that can lower the
current that is flowing into more fragile devices like a computer circuit board.
There are three kinds of electrical circuits. A ____________________________________ circuit has a just one
device that gets its electricity from the power source and sends it along the conductors in the circuit to touch
the power source’s opposite end (terminal). A _______________________________________ circuit has more
than one device (component loads) that are joined end-to-end by connecting wire (conducting wire). If there is
a break anywhere in the wire (conductor), all the devices will lose power, because the circuit has been broken.
A ____________________________________________________ circuit has branching paths to each device
(component loads) that is getting electricity. If the wire (conductor) to one device (component load) is broken in
a parallel circuit, the other devices will still get power. This makes a better circuit for wiring a house.
©Sheri Amsel
www.exploringnature.org
Simple Circuit Poster
An electrical circuit has a source of power (the battery), the connecting wires (the conductors), and the device
that is collecting the electrical power (the load) – the light bulb. For the bulb to receive the electricity, the circuit
must be continuous. If the circuit is broken (open switch), the power cannot get through to power the load.
light bulb
“load”
closed switch
(current is flowing
to the load)
conductors
battery
(wires that carry the
electrical current)
(power source)
battery terminals
light bulb
“load”
open switch
(current is blocked)
battery
(power source)
©Sheri Amsel
www.exploringnature.org
battery terminals
conductors
(wires that carry the
electrical current)
Types of Circuits
There are three kinds of electrical circuits we will look at: simple circuits, parallel
circuits, and series circuits.
• A simple circuit has a just one device (component load) that gets its electricity
from the power source and sends it along the conductors in the circuit to touch
the power source’s opposite end (terminal).
• A series circuit has more than one device (component
loads) that are joined end-to-end by connecting wire
(conducting wire). If there is a break anywhere in the
wire (conductor), all the devices will lose power,
because the circuit has been broken.
simple
circuit
• A parallel circuit has branching paths to each device
(component loads) that is getting electricity. If the wire (conductor)
to one device (component load) is broken in a parallel circuit, the
other devices will still get power. This makes a better circuit for wiring a house.
parallel
circuit
series circuit
©Sheri Amsel
www.exploringnature.org
Simple Circuit Making Activity
Goals:
1. Learn about the parts of a circuit.
2. Understand how the flow of electrical current moves between the
power source and device and the role of the conductors.
3. Learn about which materials conduct electricity and which do not.
Materials for Each group:
• 1 D-cell or C-cell battery
• 4 strips of aluminum foil, about 1cm (1/2 inch) wide and 12-15 cm (5-6 in.)
• 1 flashlight bulb (1.5 - 3-volt)
• sturdy rubber band
• 1 alligator clip for each group
• 1 square card board (can be cut from a cereal box)
• scissors
• tape
• penny
• pencil
• plastic pen
• metal pen or spoon
Directions:
1. Each group should layout their 4 strips of tinfoil in a square and fold the corners together (see diagram).
2. Using your scissors, cut the left side strip in the middle, fold up each end into a flap and fit the battery between
the flaps. Tape the tin foil in place (see diagram).
3. Using the rubber band, secure the folded ends of the tin foil against the battery terminals at each end.
4. Now cut the bottom strip in the middle and fold up the flaps. This represents an open switch.
5. Now cut the right strip in the middle. Tape down the top end (see diagram).
6. Pinch the metal bottom of the bulb securely in the alligator clip. Then wrap the flap of the bottom end of the
right strip around the alligator clip (see diagram).
7. Set the bulb onto the top end (see diagram).
8. Using your fingers pinch the two flaps of the bottom strip together. This will close the switch.
9. What happens? Explain this in terms of an active electrical circuit on the data sheet.
10. Connect the bottom flaps through each of the test conductors (penny, pencil, plastic pen, metal pen or
spoon) and record whether they are conductors.
11. Label the Simple Circuit Diagram with the proper names of each part of the circuit.
©Sheri Amsel
www.exploringnature.org
Simple Circuit Diagram
1. aluminum foil
2. flashlight bulb
3. battery
4. gap in foil
Using the vocabulary learned in the simple circuit text, name the parts of the simple circuit shown above.
1. __________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________
©Sheri Amsel
www.exploringnature.org
Name ____________________________________________________ Date ___________________________
Simple Circuit Making Activity Data Sheet
Explain how the simple circuit you build worked using the proper terms.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Describe what happened when you used other conductors:
1. Penny __________________________________________________________________________________
2. Plastic Pen ______________________________________________________________________________
3. Spoon __________________________________________________________________________________
4. Pencil __________________________________________________________________________________
Others? ___________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Electricity and Circuits – Comprehension Quiz
©www.exploringnature.org
Name: _________________________ Date: __________ Class: _________________
1
In an electrical circuit, the
wires are the:
5
A has branching paths.
B is joined end to end.
C won’t lose power to all devices if
there is a break in the line to one load.
D is how they wire most houses.
A power source
B conductor
C insulator
D switch
E load
2
In an electrical circuit, the current will
reach the device if:
6
Decreasing electrical current for fragile
devices (without breaking the flow of
power) is done by a:
7
A simple electrical circuit needs
all of these components
except:
A power source
B conductor
C fuse
D load
In an electrical circuit, the
bulb is the:
A power source
B conductor
C insulator
D switch
E load
A switch
B conductor
C insulator
D resistor
4
Which material would make
the best conductor?
A wood
B metal
C plastic
D rubber
A the switch is open
B the switch is closed
C there is an insulator
D there is an activated
circuit breaker
3
The difference between a series and a
parallel circuit is that the series circuit :
8
Which of the following devices does NOT
need electrical
current to work?
A TV
B computer
C flashlight
D battery clock
E wind up clock
Circuits – Vocabulary Assessment Quiz KEY
battery
conductors
load (or light bulb)
closed
open
resistor
simple
series
parallel
Simple Circuit Diagram KEY
1. conductor
2. load
3. power source
4. open switch
Electricity and Circuits – Comprehension Quiz KEY
1. B
2. B
3. D
4. C
5. B
6. B
7. E
8. E
Next Generation of Science Standards (NGSS)
Performance Expectation
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
4-PS3-2. Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by
sound, light, heat, and electric currents. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative
measurements of energy.]
4-PS3-4. Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to
another.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of devices could include electric circuits that convert electrical
energy into motion energy of a vehicle, light, or sound; and, a passive solar heater that converts light into heat.
Examples of constraints could include the materials, cost, or time to design the device.] [Assessment Boundary:
Devices should be limited to those that convert motion energy to electric energy or use stored energy to cause
motion or produce light or sound.]
Disciplinary Core Ideas
PS3.B: Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer
Energy can also be transferred from place to place by electric currents, which can then be used locally to produce
motion, sound, heat, or light. The currents may have been produced to begin with by transforming the energy of
motion into electrical energy.
PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
The expression “produce energy” typically refers to the conversion of stored energy into a desired form for
practical use.
ETS1.A: Defining Engineering Problems
Possible solutions to a problem are limited by available materials and resources (constraints). The success of a
designed solution is determined by considering the desired features of a solution (criteria). Different proposals
for solutions can be compared on the basis of how well each one meets the specified criteria for success or how
well each takes the constraints into account. (secondary)
Crosscutting Concepts
Energy and Matter
• Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects.
Connections to Nature of Science
Science is a Human Endeavor
• Most scientists and engineers work in teams.
• Science affects everyday life.
Science and Engineering Practices
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to the use
of evidence in constructing explanations that specify variables that describe and predict phenomena and in
designing multiple solutions to design problems.
• Apply scientific ideas to solve design problems.