Year 4: Science
Taking Charge with Electricity
This resource can be used to plan an individual Science lesson or a unit of work
combining Science and Design and Technology. The suggested activities can be
used in the order presented here, or they can be adapted for your teaching plan and
classroom.
CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES
VIDEO
Science / Year 4 / Electricity
Pupils should be taught to:
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identify common appliances that run on electricity
construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts, including cells, wires, bulbs, switches and buzzers
identify whether or not a lamp will light in a simple series circuit, based on whether or not the lamp is part of a complete loop with a
battery
recognise that a switch opens and closes a circuit and associate this with whether or not a lamp lights in a simple series circuit
recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors.
CURRICULUM CODES IN THIS TEACHER PACK
Science / Year 4 / Electricity
Design and technology / Key Stage 2 / Technical knowledge
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ACTIVITY
RESOURCES
Activity 1: Introduction
OBJECTIVE
Science / Year 4 /
Electricity
Timeframe: 20 minutes
List items in our environment powered by electricity, e.g. lights, toaster, computer, torch, digital
tablet, digital watch.
Classify these according to their electricity source, i.e. mains or battery. Describe each source
and exemplify their use (i.e. using a transformer and a battery).
Students should record these in their workbook. For homework, ask students to itemise their
electric goods at home and classify them similarly.
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ACTIVITY
RESOURCES
OBJECTIVE
Activity 2: Simple Circuits
Alligator clips
Timeframe: 40 minutes
25 x AA battery
holders
Science / Year 4 /
Electricity
Prior to constructing circuits, demonstrate behaviours that ensure safe use of electricity, e.g.
turning off electricity at the power point when unplugging a device.
Deconstruct a simple electric object, like a buzzer or a torch, to demonstrate to students how
circuits are designed.
60 x 6.3V
Miniature Edison
screw globes
Design and
technology / Key
Stage 2 / Technical
knowledge
60 x globe holders
Model the construction of a simple circuit using a battery as a power source. To do this you will
need to connect an alligator clip to the end of each wire protruding from your battery holder, and
then connect the other end of the clips to either side a miniature globe. Students are to then
construct their own simple circuit in groups of four.
50 x AA batteries
Identify common features, e.g. wires to carry the current, power sources. Identify safety features of
electrical goods, e.g. insulating wires.
Jointly construct a labelled diagram of the circuit, using appropriate pictorial representations.
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ACTIVITY
RESOURCES
OBJECTIVE
Activity 3: Insulators and Conductors
See Activity 2 for
circuit components
Science / Year 4 /
Electricity
Erasers
Design and
technology / Key
Stage 2 / Technical
knowledge
Timeframe: 40 minutes
Explain to students that they will need to reconstruct the simple circuit learnt in the previous
lesson. To do this they will need to connect an alligator clip to the end of each wire protruding from
their battery holder, and then connect the other end of the clips to either side a miniature globe.
Students are to insert different objects along the circuit. To do this, they will need to remove one
alligator clip from the miniature globe and attach it to the object. The other end of the object should
then be re-connected to the globe using a new alligator clip. The objects used might include: an
eraser, a key, a piece of glass, a piece of paper, a stick of graphite, copper wire, etc.
Ask your students to hypothesise which objects will be conductors and which be insulators. They
should record this in a table like the one below.
Keys
Pieces of glass
(rounded edges for
safety)
Graphite sticks
Copper wire
Students observe how each object performs and record their observations to complete the table.
Expected
Insulator
Conductor
Key
Glass
Observed
Insulator
Glass
Conductor
Key
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ACTIVITY
RESOURCES
OBJECTIVE
Activity 4: Switches
See Activity 2 for
circuit components
Science / Year 4 /
Electricity
Timeframe: 30 minutes
Switches
Turn the light off then on again in your classroom. Ask your students how they think this is
possible, given what they have learnt about electricity so far.
Record students’ theories.
Design and
technology / Key
Stage 2 / Technical
knowledge
Ask students to construct a simple circuit and insert a switch. Prompt students to revisit their
explanations and identify those that can be eliminated based on their current observations.
Ask students to draw conclusions about why a complete a circuit is necessary for the light bulb to
work. Students are to a record a diagram of their circuit independently.
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ACTIVITY
RESOURCES
OBJECTIVE
Activity 5: Cardboard Circuit
Worksheet –
Cardboard Circuit
Science / Year 4 /
Electricity
Split pins
Design and
technology / Key
Stage 2 / Technical
knowledge
Timeframe: 1 hour
Make a cardboard circuit (use the worksheet provided to assist students with its construction)
Ask students to observe the differences between a cardboard circuit and the simple circuit made
previously. What is acting as the conductor? What is acting as the switch?
Observe that paper clips do not have insulators. Ask students to discuss whether this circuit
would be safe if it were plugged into the mains.
Paper clips
LEDs
Duct tape
AA battery holders
Nails (to puncture
holes)
Alligator clips
Perforated cardboard
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ACTIVITY
RESOURCES
OBJECTIVE
Activity 6: Power-Up
See Activity 2 for
circuit components
Science / Year 4 /
Electricity
Timeframe: 1 hour
Ask students to hypothesise what will occur if multiple batteries are added to the circuit and
record it in the workbooks.
Ask students to record their observations of when 1, 2, and 3 power sources are added to a
simple circuit in a table, like the one below. They should also draw accurate diagrams of each
configuration.
Design and
technology / Key
Stage 2 / Technical
knowledge
Encourage students to share their conclusions with the class.
Students should record their conclusions in their workbooks.
Number of power sources
1
2
3
Brightness
First light bulb is brighter than the others.
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