PARISH INSTITUTE

OUR LADY OF UNITY

FOURTH GRADE 2022

ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT PROJECT

Grade: 4th

Topic: Materials and electricity.

Content: Materials conduct electric current. Good and bad drivers. Assembly of

electrical circuits (simple, series and parallel).

Goals:

-Identification of the typical elements of an electrical circuit.

-Exploration of different conductive and insulating materials for electric current.

-Discussion about the conditions required for a circuit to work and the results in

different situations: simple circuit, series and parallel.

-Approach to the idea of Electric Power.

- Identification of the necessary care for the manipulation and preparation of electrical

circuits.

-Assembly of simple circuits using a battery, cables, switch and a light bulb.

Foundation:

This sequence will seek, based on the students' prior knowledge and exploration, to

investigate the topic in greater depth: materials and electricity. As proposed in

Curriculum Design (2012), in fourth grade students are expected to work on the

differences between conductive and insulating materials of electric current, propose

experiences with electrical circuits (assembly of simple circuits using a battery, cables,

switch and a light bulb ), the recognition of the different parts that compose them, the

discussion about the conditions that are required for them to work and the

anticipation of results in different situations.

Starting from the basic idea: “Materials conduct electric current. Some materials are

good conductors and others are bad conductors” (2012, p.205) throughout these

classes we will seek to work on all the issues mentioned above, trying to achieve

systematic knowledge on the part of the students, that is, that which exceeds the

spontaneous and dispersed knowledge they possess, organizing their knowledge and

categorizing it.

Additionally, for the assembly of circuits, it will be explained to the students that the

circuits with which they are going to work are always assembled with batteries and

that under these conditions the material can be manipulated without any risk. And at

the same time it will be noted that none of these experiences can be repeated with the

electrical network, as proposed by the Curriculum Design.

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CLASS 1

Materials and electricity

To begin class, students will be presented with the following problematic situation:

● Look at the following plan and answer:

a) In this house there are objects that need to be plugged in to work. Why do you
think they only work that way? List some of the objects you identified.
b) And how do the ones that don't need to be plugged in work? Make at least 2
examples.

Once the activity is over, a sharing will be carried out so that the idea arises that
objects that only work when plugged in need electricity to work. Next, you will ask
yourself: What do you think the word electricity means or means? Some student
responses will be recorded on the board.

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To test the hypotheses, students will be asked to read page 203 of the book,
underlining the main ideas.

Then, we will go back to work with the house plan. In this regard it will be said:

● Now that we know what electricity is, if we look at the clock on the map, does
this object need electricity to work? Why?
● What does the watch need to work?
● The batteries will have an electrical charge. Why?
● How will the batteries generate the movement of the clock?

It is expected to reach the conclusion:

“There are objects that need electrical energy from the electrical grid and others that
use cells or batteries that provide the electrical charge they need to function,”
recording this idea in the folders.

CLASS 2

The electric energy

The following starting activity will be proposed to students:

● Julieta drew some objects that you can find in her house. Observe them and
solve:

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 a) Record in the following table those appliances that you consider need
electricity to operate and those that do not:

They need electricity to function They don't need electricity

b) Once the objects that need electricity to function receive it, what happens to
them? What movements or actions do they perform?

This activity aims to reinforce what was worked on in the previous class and with an
upcoming sharing, to build the idea that electricity generates movement or a change in
objects.

Next, the following problematic situation will be presented:

2) A classmate of Julieta maintains that objects that need electricity to function

transform that electricity into a movement or action. Do you agree? Because?

In relation to this question, students will be asked to think of a possible answer in pairs
and record it in the folder.

After sharing the students' answers, it will be explained to the students:

“ Electrical energy can be transformed into many other forms of energy, such as light
energy, mechanical energy, and thermal energy.”

They will record this idea in the hornets tas.

CLASS 3

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 Electrical circuit

The teacher will begin the class by asking the students the following situation. Students
will be given a copy:

● Read the following problematic situation and make a hypothesis:

“ Yesterday the power went out in my house at night and I used a flashlight to
illuminate it. Today when I was coming here I had a question: Why will the flashlight
give light? How is it formed? What makes it work? How will it work?” .

HYPOTHESIS:

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
________________________

After reading the situation, the students will be asked what they think about it and
they will propose writing on the photocopy the hypotheses or possible answers to
their unknowns. To do this, he will give them, divided into groups, flashlights so that
they can investigate how it works. As the students answer.

Once all the hypotheses have been expressed, it is expected that some of the typical
elements of a simple circuit will emerge: source (battery), conductors (cables),
resistors (filament of the light bulb), switch (some key).

Once some of the elements of this electrical circuit have been recognized, the students
will be asked:

● What would happen if we removed any of the elements that make up the
flashlight. Would it continue to work?

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 ● Why wouldn't it work?
● What function will each of the elements that we recognized have? The
functions that the students consider each of the elements to have will be noted
on the blackboard.

Next, students will read the text on page 206 of the book . At the end of the reading, a
sharing will be carried out where the name of each of the elements that make up the
electrical circuit of the light bulb can be recognized.

Then the following table will be drawn up together. It will be reflected in the students'
folders. s.

1) Complete the following table with the help of the book and what you worked
on in class.

Simple electrical circuit

Items Description

Fountain

Drivers

Endurance

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 switch

Once the table is finished, the following fragment of the text read previously will be
reread. and:

“For a circuit to work, it must be closed, that is, it must not present interruptions or
openings. In your house, for example, when you “turn on the light” you are precisely
moving the knob of the switch so that the circuit is closed and the current circulates.
to".

Then the students will be asked :

● What other electrical circuits with these elements do you know?

● Do you use them daily?
● Why can they claim that they are electrical circuits? In the case of a flashlight or
light switch, electrical energy is transformed into light (light energy).
● Do the electrical circuits that were named transform electrical energy into
another type of energy? In which one/s?

By way of closure, the following activity will be proposed:

2) I wrote a list of household devices that use electrical energy and described
what other types of energy they transform into.

CLASS 4

electrical network

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We will begin the class by asking a question that will guide us throughout the class:

● Where does the electrical energy that we have in our homes come from and that
allows us to operate the different circuits that we were naming?

To answer this last question, read the text on page 208 of the book , which very briefly
explains the generation, route and distribution of electrical energy.

Once the reading is finished, the students will be shown an Edesur invoice, and it will be
explained to them that this is the name of one of the power plants that distributes electricity
to a large number of people in the City.

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Students will be given the following text:

Electricity in homes

As you read in the book, energy is neither created nor destroyed, but is transformed into
another type of energy .

Electrical energy is provided in our homes by a source or power plants, which also represent or
quantify the consumption of electrical energy .

Electricity consumers pay for this service. The amount to be paid depends on the energy
consumed, represented by a unit of measurement of electrical voltage called kilowatt-hour
(kWh) . This is the amount of electrical voltage consumed in the home per hour. You can find it
on the bills from the electric service company.”

To end the class the following activity will be proposed:

1) Look at the following electricity consumption bills and respond:

Electricity consumption of Electricity consumption of

Camila in 58 days Damián in 58 days

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 a) Who do you think consumed the most electricity in 58 days? How did you
realize?

2) With the help of page 208 of the book and what you worked on in class, make
an Infographic with a partner explaining how the electrical grid reaches our
homes.

Students will be presented with some examples of infographics and the Canva
application will be used to carry out the activity.

Template models

https://www.canva.com/es_es/plantillas/EAE-morM0-g-infografia-tormenta-de-
ideas-moderna-estilo-doodle-amarillo-y-azul/

https://www.canva.com/es_es/plantillas/EAE6lDmJsHs-infografia-cronologica-
elementos-3d-violeta/

https://www.canva.com/es_es/plantillas/EAE0CEdrrZ8-infografia-process-
ilustrado-verde-y-rojo/

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CLASS 6

Good and bad conductors of electricity

To begin the class, the students will be shown the following electrical circuit, about
which they will be asked:

● What would happen if we incorporated another material such as paper, metal,

copper, wood or rubber into an electrical circuit?
● Is the electric current going to circulate the same? Because?

Next, students will be asked:

● What would happen if we incorporated another material such as paper, metal,

copper, wood or rubber into an electrical circuit?
● Is the electric current going to circulate the same? Because?

The teacher will divide the students into small groups and ask them to complete the
following table, expressing the hypotheses of what would happen to the circulation of
electric current when incorporating different materials:

1) Complete the following table by making your own hypotheses:

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 Different materials Does it circulate or not?
Eraser (for example, an eraser)

Paper (for example, a ticket)

Copper (for example, a coin)
Metal (for example, a paper clip)
Graphite

In order to check what could happen, each student will be given a computer on which
a circuit construction simulator will be open that has all the materials mentioned
above. Each group must put together some circuits and write down the result on the
next sheet that will be given to them.

https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/circuit-construction-kit-ac/latest/circuit-
construction-kit-ac_es.html

2) Create two different circuits that include each of the materials in the previous
table. The circuit must also have a conducting medium (cable), a source
(battery) and a resistance (lamp).
3) Write down the results obtained in each circuit:

Circuits Does electric current

circulate?
With rubber
With Paper
With Copper
With Metal
With Graphite

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Students are expected to build circuits like the following:

Before starting to use the simulator, the teacher will briefly explain how to use it,
showing each of its functions.

Once the explanation is finished, students will be allowed to express doubts regarding
the use of the simulator. As the students use the simulator, each of the groups will be
monitored, guiding the assembly of the circuits. The next class will continue with the
assembly of circuits.

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CLASS 7

Conductors and insulators

What was worked on in the previous class will be resumed in relation to the electrical
circuits assembled with the simulator:

● What results did they obtain?

● Why wouldn't electric current have circulated through all the circuits?
● Why would some materials have generated that?

To find possible answers to these questions, read the text on page 207 of the book,
which lists some of the materials that are good conductors of electricity and others
that are not.

At the end of the reading, the following table will be prepared, where the materials
will be classified into two groups: conductors and insulators. It will be copied to the
folders.

1) Classify the materials of the assembled electrical circuits by completing the

following table:

Electricity
Insulating materials Conductive materials

To finish the class, the students will be proposed to build circuits in the next class. To
prepare it, students will be invited to think about the possible materials with which a
circuit could be built, such as a lamp.

A list of the necessary materials will be prepared, recovering what was seen in class 1
with respect to the typical elements of a circuit. Once the materials have been

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selected, we will think about how to make the circuit work and allow an electric
current to circulate through it.

The ideas that arise will be written down on the blackboard and will be captured in the
folder to be retrieved in the next class.

Finally, the students will be divided into groups and each one will be asked to bring the
following materials to the next class:

-3 Batteries

-1.5m cables

- 5 Lamps

-Lamp holder

CLASS 8

Building simple circuits

To begin the class, the list of materials prepared in the previous class will be recovered,
as well as the ideas that arose regarding the assembly. Next, the students will be
divided into groups, each group will have the requested materials.

Each group will be given the following instructions:

1) Observe the following electrical circuits and answer:

a) Do all three circuits emit the same amount of light?

b) Which will emit the most light? And minor? Why do you suppose this happens?

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2) Select an electrical circuit from point 1 and do it in a group with the materials they
brought.

Before beginning the assembly , it will be made clear to the students that the circuits
with which they are going to work are always assembled with batteries and that under
these conditions the material can be manipulated without any risk. They will also be
warned that none of these experiences can be repeated with the electrical network .

Final product

Another alternative for class 8 is to assemble electrical circuits

that represent the good and bad conductors of electricity, as
was worked on in classes 6 and 7.

Each teacher will select which of these two experiences will be

carried out. The elaborate circuits will be presented in an
exhibition as the final product of the project.

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