Skip to main content
LessonGrades 3 - 5

Circuits: One Path for Electricity

Students begin to make sense of the phenomenon of electricity through learning about circuits. Students use the disciplinary core idea of using evidence to construct an explanation as they learn that charge movement through a circuit depends on the resistance and arrangement of the circuit components. Students also explore the disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts of energy and energy transfer in the context of energy from a battery. In one associated hands-on activity, students build and investigate the characteristics of series circuits. In another activity, students design and build flashlights.

Two images show a circuit with a 1.5 volt battery and a light bulb. The above image shows an open switch in the circuit. Current does not pass through the open switch and therefore the light bulb does not light up. The below diagram shows a complete circuit with a closed switch. In this case current runs through the entire circuit and lights the light bulb.Electrical current must be able to follow a complete path through a circuit to light a light bulb.

The circuit diagram is the language of electrical design and engineering. These diagrams are maps that anyone can read to see how to build the circuit. When engineers design or build any electrical circuit they either create a new circuit diagram or use an existing one. Interpreting circuit diagrams is an essential skill for electrical and many other types of engineer. Once built, these electrical circuits are used to light our houses, power computers, run cars, and pretty much every modern device that uses electricity.

After this lesson, students should be able to:

  • Describe how current changes in a series circuit when a light bulb or battery is added or removed from the circuit
  • Understand that chemical energy in a battery is converted to electrical energy in a circuit, which is converted to thermal energy and light in a light bulb. Also, sound energy can be produced from electricity, by way of a moving speaker cone. For this example, electricity is converted to mechanical motion (to move the speaker), which then produces sound energy in the form of moving waves of air.
  • Describe the connections among representations of circuit symbols.
  • Find the voltage of batteries connected in series by summing the individual batteries' voltages.

More Like This