Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8

Year 4 · Sound and electricity

Conductors and insulators

Recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors

20 minutes4 checks6 exit questionsNational curriculum objective

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors

Key learning points

  • • How to test a material
  • • What the results usually show
  • • Careful with 'it is metal-ish'
  • • Why wires are built the way they are

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

commonconductorsinsulatorsassociatemetals

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 19 · Discover5%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 19

Watch first

Conductors and insulators

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 volumeConductor or insulator? Test ten thingsSee a sound being made

In a nutshell

Recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 19

Before we start

What you already know

You can build a simple circuit with a cell, wires and a bulb.

3

Key words

Part 3 of 19

Key words

Words you'll need today

conductor
A material that lets electricity flow through it.
insulator
A material that does not let electricity flow.
metal
A shiny material that usually conducts well.
test circuit
A circuit with a gap you drop materials into.
4

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 19

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 — Testing materials

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

5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 19

Learn

How to test a material

Build a circuit with a cell and a bulb, but leave a gap with a crocodile clip on each side. Clip a material across the gap. If the bulb lights, the material completed the loop, so it is a conductor. If not, it is an insulator. Use the same cell and bulb every time so the test is fair.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 19

Learn

What the results usually show

Metals — copper, steel, aluminium, a coin, a paperclip, scissor blades — conduct. Plastic, wood, rubber, glass, card, dry cloth and the paint on a paperclip do not. Pencil lead is unusual: it is graphite, not metal, and it conducts.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 19

Quick check

A material that lets electricity through is a…

8

Quick check

Part 8 of 19

Quick check

Which is an insulator?

9

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
10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 19

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 — Why it matters

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

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 19

Learn

Careful with 'it is metal-ish'

A painted paperclip may not work until you scratch the paint, and a rusty nail can be poor. Water is another surprise: pure water conducts badly, but the tap water on your hands conducts well enough to be dangerous near mains electricity. That is why you never touch a switch with wet hands.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 19

Learn

Why wires are built the way they are

A wire is copper inside — a good conductor to carry the electricity — with a plastic coat outside — a good insulator to keep it in and keep you safe. Plug pins are metal, plug cases are plastic. Once you know the two words, you can explain almost any electrical object in your house.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 19

Quick check

Which non-metal conducts?

14

Quick check

Part 14 of 19

Quick check

Why is a wire copper inside and plastic outside?

15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 19

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • Assuming anything shiny conducts — shiny plastic does not.
  • Thinking all non-metals are insulators, forgetting pencil graphite.
  • Changing the cell part-way through a test, so results cannot be compared.
16

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

17

Challenge round

Part 17 of 19

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____ — copper, steel, aluminium, a coin, a paperclip, scissor blades — conduct.

18

Mastery quiz

Part 18 of 19

No quiz for this one

This lesson has no marked quiz attached yet.

19

Lesson round-up

Part 19 of 19

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

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

  1. Name the variable the club changed the second time, and one variable they kept the same.
  2. Explain, using the words photosynthesis and enzymes, why the plants were damaged in July.
  3. 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

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 19 · Watch & discover

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