Science KS 3 Unit 7J Electrical circuits

In this unit pupils:

• consolidate and extend their ideas about circuits.
• use concepts of electric current and energy transfer to explain the working of circuits.
• explain patterns in the measurements of current and voltage.
• use the concept of resistance qualitatively.
• build circuits in which current flow is usefully controlled.
• consider the hazards of electricity for humans.

In scientific enquiry pupils:

• explore early ideas about electric current.
• model current in a variety of ways.
• plan safe procedures and recognise hazards.
• use ammeters to measure current.

This unit is expected to take approximately 8 hours

OTHER RESOURCES

• battery-powered appliances, eg torch, motorised toy
• variable resistors or potentiometers, eg dimmer controls
• low-voltage model ring main and/or series lighting array
• steel wool and fuse wire
• water flow model of electrical circuit or alternative model
• secondary sources about the work of Volta and Galvani and about the use of pacemakers and defibrillators