Teachers' TV Lesson Plan
Title
Electricity and Circuits
Lesson Plan Author
Zoe Lowe
Associated Teachers’ TV Programme
KS2 Science: Electricity: Circuits / Electricity: Lesson Review
Programme Description
Matching circuit digrams with actual components and transferring those skills
to building with circuit boards
Note to Teachers
This lesson plan was not created by Teachers' TV but the author has allowed us to publish it here to be
used for educational purposes.
Science lesson plan
Electricity and Circuits
Year 6
Number of pupils 24: Mixed ability class
1 Teaching Assistant = 1:1 scribe to aid poor literacy skills
1 Teaching Assistant to support science (small group)
Resources
Matching circuit symbol cards
Whiteboards/pens
Electrical circuit equipment
Circuit boards if available
Learning Objective
(Possibility of three according to outcome of elicitation activity in starter)
1. Recognise and understand circuit symbols
Play fish with matching cards in main activity—record successful
picture, symbol and definition in books
2. Recognise circuit symbols and construct circuits accurately
Construct circuits using equipment, following circuit diagrams drawn
on the board
3. To explain findings when exploring electrical circuits
Construct circuits and explore results of adding components
Text to put up on the board
 What I’m looking for in this lesson:
 Symbols identified correctly
 Circuits drawn carefully—ruler/pencil/no gaps
 Using names of components in discussion
Starter questions
 Why do we need symbols? Why not just have drawings of electrical components?
 Discuss importance of safety using equipment.
 Ask children what they could do if, when constructing a circuit, they found
components that didn’t work
 Discuss expectations of putting equipment away
Starter: 10 minutes
In pairs, pupils attempt to match the picture, symbol and definition of electrical parts.
1. Teaching assistants should focus on language with pupil with literacy difficulties. They
could also do the same activity with a small group with a big set of cards discussing choices
made and getting children to justify choices in a small group. This is good for building
confidence for sharing ideas
2. After pairs have made choices, they share choices with another pair and justify them by
comparing cards. Pick out one or two pairs to show their choices and explain to the class
what they’ve chosen.
Are there any symbols you weren’t sure of?
How did you decide what it was matched with?
Could you work any out using keywords/clues?
3. Tidy cards away. Make pupils aware of the three questions you will be asking in the
plenary. They will need to report back on their partner’s understanding.



Tell your partner one thing you have learnt today
Tell your partner about 1 thing you found difficult
Tell your partner what you want to know next
4. Drama activity—Get a small group of children out to the front. Give them each a
component part/card. Give the student that is the ‘cell’ the tennis balls. The balls represent
the electrical current. The ‘cell’ passes the current through the circuit with each component
reacting accordingly.
Discuss what happens when a full circuit is created and when a gap appears in the circuit.
1/2/3: MAIN ACTIVITY
(Contains three activities. Use according to student knowledge and understanding)
[White boards needed]
Starter questions:
 Draw me a bulb symbol please
 Show me what a cell symbol looks like
 What would an open switch look like?
 Draw and keep answer to yourself
1: Continue with focus on symbols. Play fish in pairs with matching cards again. Record
symbols, picture and definitions in books.
Model how to draw a circuit, emphasising need for accuracy, use of a ruler, no gaps etc.
Ensure pupils are aware that this is how it needs to be done.
2: List components on whiteboard for pupils to construct using the equipment. They must
record two circuits drawn accurately in their book.
3: Pupils should investigate circuits. Explore the circuits and try to arrive at statements of
things they have discovered during their exploration. Give one pupil the over head
transparency and pen to record findings to use later in plenary activity.
PLENARY (objective: to assess understanding and progress made.)
Refer back to the three questions on board. Give pupils 30 seconds to discuss, then select
three or four pupils to report their partner’s responses. Answer (if possible) any questions
asked.
Put up overhead transparency from exploration activity as final discussion point. The next
step is to put it into the Big Picture. Say something like:
What we will be doing next is putting this knowledge into practice to allow us to investigate
circuits and plan, carry out and record findings. What happens if we….
Teaching Assistants
One to one support ensures recording of information does not hold up progress in terms of
lesson objective.
With small groups
Using sticky notes with symbols on (or matching cards). Work in small groups to construct
circuits and record circuit drawings on large sheets of paper. Each pair in a group of four
should have electrical equipment but record together on sheet. Teaching assistants can
control difficulty of circuits with number of components. Teaching assistants can also ensure
drawings are accurately done. Each child should have the opportunity to record their results
to allow an assessment to be made of individual progress.
Note to teachers
This document was not created by Teachers TV but the author has allowed us to publish it
here to be used for educational purposes