English National Curriculum Science - Previous Lessons Science

3. Describe the basic parts of a circuit

Mission Objectives

Identify common electrical appliances

Construct a simple electrical circuit

Identify and name basic parts of a circuit

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Keywords

Words and meanings to learn

electric circuit

An unbroken path between the positive and negative terminals on the battery.

wire

A thin piece of metal which electric currents flow through, usually covered in plastic.

electrical appliance

Any tool which is powered by electricity and uses a plug or battery.

bulb

The glass housing that contains the filament of an electric lamp.

battery

Container made of cells in which chemical energy is converted into electricity for a source of power.

This lesson has been written by

Jonathan Badgery

Jonathan is a leading science writer and presenter. Having attended military school in the UK, Jon attended the University of East Anglia in the UK, where he gained his BSc in Chemical Physics. Following this, Jon completed his PGCE (Post-graduate Certificate of Education), teaching science and leading physics in large city secondary schools in the UK.

Jon is a passionate scientist and specialises in science communication; delivering CPD workshops, science lectures, shows and community science days.

Paul Usher

Paul studied English Literature at Nottingham Trent University and gained his PGCE (Post-graduate Certificate of Education) at the University of East Anglia. Following this, Paul had a successful teaching career, leading English across two large secondary schools and then becoming Vice Principal. He has led several schemes in cross-curricular literacy and has also led teaching and learning in a school, overseeing teacher training and development. Paul has also lectured at universities for graduate teachers.

At Developing Experts, Paul oversees the strategic direction of the curriculum and uses his creativity to structure the teaching and learning strategy. He also edits for accuracy in literacy and liaises with translation services to ensure a high-quality end product.

Mike Linley

Mike studied zoology and botany at Durham University and followed this with 3 years of postgraduate study at Bristol University with the Science Research Council.

Mike uses his vast experience to add knowledge and engagement to Developing Experts, particularly within the disciplines of biology and zoology. He has over 20 years TV production experience, including writing and producing nature programmes for the Disney channel and, for a period of time, was Sir David Attenborough’s scientific advisor.

Heather Bingham

Heather qualified with a first-class honours degree in climate science from the University of East Anglia. Since, she has joined Developing Experts as a writer and presenter, specialising in earth and environmental sciences.

She is also an internationally published science author, having written a series of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) digital textbooks aimed at improving learners’ understanding of English whilst igniting an interest in science.

Required Resources

Fruit Power Battery 
Lemons (the bigger and juicier the better).   Pennies / Copper Coins
Zinc-galvanised nails - these should be blunt and not too long (they must not be able to touch the penny on the other side of the lemon).  
Sets of alligator clips 
LED lights
Kitchen knife (responsible adult use)

Handout

*Most LEDs will work for this experiment. However for the best results use low voltage LEDs, anything between 1.5V to 2.25V should work.

Red LEDs will be more reliable than other colours are these require less overall power to run. The higher the voltage on the LEDs the more lemons you would need in order to power them.

Remember LEDs have a positive and negative terminal, so if they fail to light first check the orientation of the LED.

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