Year 4 · Sound and electricity

Building a circuit that works

Construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts

20 minutes4 checks6 exit questionsNational curriculum objective

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts

Key learning points

• The loop rule
• Naming the parts
• Switches are useful gaps
• Adding more cells or more bulbs

This lesson at a glance

20 minutes
19 parts to scroll through
4 quick checks
No marked quiz yet
Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

constructsimpleserieselectricalcircuit

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 19 · Discover5%

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 19

Watch first

Building a circuit that works

Feel how a vibration turns into a sound you can hear.

Do it for real

The practicals below use what the film shows, with a full method you can follow at home.

Bottles and bands: changing pitch and volume Conductor or insulator? Test ten things See a sound being made

In a nutshell

Construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts

What you already know

Part 2 of 19

Before we start

What you already know

You know a battery makes a bulb light up in a torch.

Key words

Part 3 of 19

Key words

Words you'll need today

cell: One battery — the push that makes a circuit work.
circuit: A complete loop for electricity to flow round.
switch: A gap you can open and close on purpose.
component: Any part in a circuit: bulb, buzzer, motor, wire.

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 19

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 — The complete loop

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 19

Learn

The loop rule

Electricity needs a path out of one end of the cell, through the components, and back into the other end. If any part of that loop is missing — a wire off, a bulb not screwed in, a broken filament — the whole thing stops. Nothing 'runs out' at the end of the wire; it goes round.

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 19

Learn

Naming the parts

In a simple circuit you have a cell (or a battery, which is really two or more cells), wires, and a component such as a bulb, buzzer or motor. Drawing it, we use symbols so everyone's diagram looks the same: a long and short line for a cell, a circle with a cross for a bulb.

Quick check

Part 7 of 19

Quick check

A bulb lights when the circuit is…

Quick check

Part 8 of 19

Quick check

One battery is properly called a…

Reset break

Part 9 of 19

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 19

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 — Switches and components

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 19

Learn

Switches are useful gaps

A switch is a gap you control. Closed, it completes the loop and the bulb lights. Open, the loop is broken and it goes out. Every light in your house works this way, which is why flicking a switch is instant — you are not sending electricity on a journey, you are closing a loop.

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 19

Learn

Adding more cells or more bulbs

Add a second cell the right way round and the bulb glows brighter, because the push is bigger. Add a second bulb in the same single loop and both are dimmer, because the same push is shared. If a bulb is dim, check first that the loop is tight and the cell is not flat.

Quick check

Part 13 of 19

Quick check

An open switch means the bulb is…

Quick check

Part 14 of 19

Quick check

Adding a second cell the right way round makes the bulb…

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 19

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

Thinking electricity is used up as it goes along the wire.
Thinking one wire from a cell to a bulb is enough.
Turning a cell round and expecting the same brightness in every arrangement.

Challenge round

Part 16 of 19

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

Challenge round

Part 17 of 19

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

In a ____ circuit you have a cell (or a battery, which is really two or more cells), wires, and a component such as a bulb, buzzer or motor.

Mastery quiz

Part 18 of 19

No quiz for this one

This lesson has no marked quiz attached yet.

Lesson round-up

Part 19 of 19

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

Why the school greenhouse failed

A science club grew tomato plants in the school greenhouse. In June the plants grew well: leaves were dark green and the fruit set quickly. In July the club went away for two weeks and left the greenhouse door shut. When they came back, the leaves were curled and pale and most of the fruit had dropped.

The club had a data logger inside. It showed the temperature reached 46 °C on several afternoons and the soil moisture fell close to zero. The club knew photosynthesis needs light, water and carbon dioxide, and that enzymes in a plant work best in a narrow range of temperature. Above that range the enzymes stop working properly.

The club repeated the summer with the door propped open and a water bottle drip on each pot. Temperature peaked at 31 °C and the plants survived.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

Name the variable the club changed the second time, and one variable they kept the same.
Explain, using the words photosynthesis and enzymes, why the plants were damaged in July.
Write a conclusion for the club's report, saying how far the evidence supports it.

Method and results
Writing
Write the aim, what you changed, what you measured and what you kept the same, then record your results in a table.
1 page + results table
Conclusion
Writing
Explain what your results show and why, using the scientific words from the lesson. Say how you know you can trust them.
6–8 sentences
Labelled diagram
Diagram
Draw the apparatus or the process in pencil, label it fully, and photograph it.
1 labelled diagram
Reading and notes
Reading
Read the lesson text again and write the key ideas in your own words.
Half a page of notes

Write your answer, notes or working here

Saved as you type.

Photos of paper work, diagrams or working outHow many minutes did the written work take?

Part 1 of 19 · Watch & discover

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