Mrs Harris from South Craven joined Class 4 today as we started our science topic on ‘Electricity’. We learnt that electricity is an energy source which can be used to power electrical items such as toasters, kettles, cookers, televisions and computers. Electrical energy is created by electrons (the particles in atoms) flowing around the circuit as current. Standing in a circle, and squeezing the hand of the person next to us, we illustrated how electricity travels around a circuit.

We learnt that electricity can be stored in batteries which are also called cells. Using kits containing wires with crocodile clips, bulbs, a switch, a motor and a buzzer, we assembled simple series electrical circuits. Such circuits allow the electricity to flow from the battery, through the wire, to the bulb, and back to the battery pack. We established that these were simple series circuits because they were composed of a single wire running from a battery to a bulb and back to the battery in one loop.

Our next project was to match pictures of electrical circuit components with the scientific representations of each one.