Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

It's Miss Simkin back again for your next science lesson.

I hope that you've all been keeping well and you're ready to do some awesome science this morning.

Les gets started.

So far in this unit, we have been learning all about electricity.

Last lesson, we had a look at what an electrical circuit is.

In this lesson, we are going to learn how to draw diagrams to represent those circuits.

So our lesson question today is what are circuit diagrams? Before we begin, I have some really fantastic work to share with you that has been shared with me on the Oak National Twitter page.

So here are some great notes on electricity circuits and static electricity from Harishka and Neyha.

So thank you for sending those in.

I've got a wonderful diagram of how lightning occurs due to static electricity discharge from Niveya.

And I have another wonderful diagram of a lightning strike from Julia.

So thank you to those of you who have been sending your work in, and a big well done to everybody at home who's working and completing these lessons with us.

For this lesson, you are going to need an exercise book or a piece of paper to write on, a pencil, a coloured pencil if you want to mark your work in a different colour, and really importantly for this lesson, you're going to need a ruler, please.

If you don't have a ruler, can you pause the video and go and get one now? And if you don't have a ruler in your house at the moment, maybe it's broken, maybe you can't find it, you are going to need to find something that you can substitute as a ruler.

You're going to need a straight edge today because we're going to have to draw straight lines in our circuit diagrams. So please pause the video and make sure you've got everything that you need for this lesson.

Great.

These are the star words we're going to need for our lesson today.

I'm going to say them and then you're going to say them.

Circuit, component, diagram, electricity.

Great.

So, a component is a part.

So we were looking at different components of electrical circuits last lesson.

And that just means.

So, for example, one of the components we talked about last lesson was a light bulb or a lamp.

That's a part, a component of an electrical circuit.

A circuit just means a loop.

And when we were learning about electrical circuits last lesson, we learned that they need to be a complete loop.

A complete circuit in order to work.

We are going to look at what diagrams are today, but I'm sure that diagram is a word that you are familiar with because we often draw diagrams in science, which is going to learn about a specific type of diagram today.

This is the lesson structure that we're going to follow.

We're going to start with our recap like we always do.

We are going to look at what a circuit diagram is.

Then we're going to learn and draw the different component symbols.

And then we are going to draw our own electrical circuit.

So put all those steps together to draw our first electrical circuit together.

So let's begin with our recap.

Can you name these components or these parts? Write them down and tell me what they are called.

Pause the video and complete that now.

Great.

Let's see if you were correct.

A is a wire.

B is a cell.

Remember, we call it a cell in electrical circuits when there's just one of them.

It's not a battery.

It's a cell.

Don't worry if you forgot.

Just correct your answer for me now.

And C is a switch.

Here's your next question.

Here's a picture of an electrical circuit.

Can you tell me why it won't work? One of the rules has been broken here.

Have a look closely at this picture.

Why won't this electrical circuit work? Have a think.

If you figure it out, say it to your screen or point at the part that's wrong.

So this electrical circuit won't work because two of the wires are attached to the same part of one of the components.

So, you can see over here, we have two wires are in this side of our component, but we know that we need to have a wire that comes in one side and then another wire that comes out the other.

So, the second wire should be plugged in here.

That's why the circuit won't work.

Well done if you spotted that.

Okay, now we're going to have a look at what a circuit diagram is.

I have here a picture of a circuit.

So a drawing.

This isn't a diagram.

It's just a drawing.

So you can see in this circuit, we would have two light bulbs, we'd have a switch and we'd have a cell.

And you can see that there are wires that connect the circuit together.

This circuit would work.

I can tell 'cause the light bulbs are lighting up, but also because none of the rules have been broken.

So I have a complete loop.

My wires come in one side of each component and out the other.

My switch is on.

So this circuit would work.

This is an example of a circuit diagram that I have drawn.

Now, a circuit diagram or any diagram is a simplified drawing.

So when we draw a diagram, we're drawing an object, something physical or a series of objects in this, but we're making it really simple.

So instead of drawing the whole light bulb with the light coming out, the glass, a little squiggly filament in the middle of the.

I've just chosen a symbol that's really simple, a circle with a cross in the middle.

I wonder, can you figure out what each of the symbols on my circuit matches up with in this diagram? So, I told you that this is one of my light bulbs, the circle with a cross in between.

How is the switch represented in my diagram? How is the cell? Great.

So you can see that cell is represented by this symbol.

So you've got a long line and then a short line.

And my switch is represented by this symbol.

And my wires are represented just by straight lines.

So there it is again.

That's my circuit diagram.

We're going to learn now what each of the symbols needs to be in a component because I didn't just make up those symbols.

I didn't just think, "Oh, I know what will look nice as my lamp or my light symbol." These aren't specific symbols that are chosen for electrical circuits so that if I was to draw a circuit diagram, anybody who's learned about circuits would be able to understand my diagram.

They would know that this diagram is meant to look like this circuit here.

And if they just saw my diagram and they had all of the parts, they would be able to build the same circuit as me, okay? So a diagram is kind of like an instruction.

And diagrams can often be helpful when giving instructions.

It's showing somebody else or maybe even myself when I come back to it later what my circuit should look like in a really simple and clear way.

Now, let's have a look at each of our components and the symbol that we need to learn and practise drawing that represents them.

So before we begin, can you please draw this onto your piece of paper? So we're going to have a table with each of our components, and then we're going to draw into each box that symbol.

So before we continue, pause the video to get this table drawn in for me, please.

Fantastic.

Now, as I'm going through each of these symbols, I would like you please to draw them in the correct box.

You should be using pencil to do your drawings, please.

And if you want to be really neat, then if there are any straight lines within the symbol, then you should be using a ruler to draw those straight lines.

So, in fact, I'm just going to show you an example.

When I drew my cell down here and my switch and my X's inside my lamp, I used a ruler for all of those.

Okay.

This is our symbol for a cell.

So this is a cell.

And that's our symbol.

So pause the video and draw that into your table, please.

Fantastic.

Now, the next symbol is a battery.

I know that's a bit confusing 'cause I told you we don't call them batteries in circuits.

And that is correct.

This is a cell, but when we join two cells together like this, then it becomes a battery.

And you can see that that symbol makes sense then, doesn't it? Because if one cell looks like this, a long line and then a short line, a battery that's made of two cells is like two of those symbols, a long line and then a short line, a long line and then a short line, but they're connected with this dotted line in the middle, which represents the wire that's connecting them, okay? Pause the video and write down your symbol for a battery, please.

Great.

So sometimes in a circuit, we might just use a cell, but sometimes we might need a bit more power in our circuit.

In which case we might use more than one cell.

And when we have more than one, then it becomes battery.

This is the symbol for a lamp or a light bulb, but the correct term is a lamp.

So pause the video and draw in that symbol for me now, please.

Great.

So I remember that this one is the lamp symbol because lamps or light bulbs are circular.

And then I think that cross is like the light coming out of them.

Our next symbol is the buzzer.

So remember, this is what a buzzer looks like.

And when it's connected into my circuit and electricity passes through it, it makes a noise.

So this is your symbol for a buzzer.

I like to remember that this is what the buzzer symbol looks like 'cause I imagine that this is like a fly's body.

It's got little legs and then I imagine two antenna coming out of it and flies buzz.

So that reminds me the buzzer symbol is the one that looks a little bit like a fly that's lost it antennae.

Pause the video and draw your picture of a buzzer for me now, please.

Great.

So this is our next symbol.

This is a switch.

And I think this symbol is actually the one that looks most like what a switch is, okay? So you've got your two circles that represent kind of the two sides of the switch that connect to your electrical circuit.

And then you've got this actual switch bit that moves, and you can see that it's represented by a line.

This is how we draw the switch if it's open like this.

If the switch is closed, then we draw it like this.

So you can see that that kind of gate that opens and closes on the switch, we draw it differently if it's closed like that, or if it's open like that.

Pause the video and draw both your switch open and your switch closed for me into your table, please.

Great.

Okay.

I have some questions for you.

So, there are five components here that are being described.

Can you read the sentence, write down which component is being described, and then have a look at your table and draw the symbol for that component? So number one is makes a sound when electricity flows through it.

Which of our components is that? Write down the word and then draw the symbol.

Pause the video and read through these questions now.

Great.

Let's check our answers.

So, number one was a buzzer.

Well done if you got that correct.

And our symbol is this one.

A little fly that's lost its antennas.

And number two was a lamp or a light bulb you could have written.

And it's a circle with the two crosses in it.

Number three is our cell, which is represented like this.

Long line and then a short line.

Number four was a switch.

You could have drawn it either open or closed for this one.

It didn't specify.

And number five was the battery when we have more than one cell.

And we draw it like this.

Well done if you got those correct.

Give yourself a tick for each one.

If you made a mistake, that's okay.

We're meant to be making mistakes.

This is new material.

The more mistakes you make, the quicker you're going to get it right next time, okay? So pause the video and just correct any errors that you made for me now, please.

Great.

Now we're going to look at drawing a circuit.

So this is the tricky part of the lesson because we have to be very careful with how we do this.

I'm going to show you how to do it under the visualizer.

This is the circuit that we're going to draw first.

So you can see we've got a light bulb, we've got a cell, and we've got a switch that's open, and that all connected by wires.

I'm going to show you that again on the visualizer.

And I'm going to show you step by step how I would draw this circuit.

To start with, I just want you to watch.

I don't want you to draw it with me.

I just want you to listen really carefully about the steps I'm taking and what I'm thinking as I do it.

I'm going to think out loud for you.

So here's the circuit that I'm going to draw in real life.

You can see we've got an open switch, connected to a cell, connected to a light bulb.

And I have here my piece of paper that I'm going to draw my circuit on.

I'm going to use plain paper and I'm going to use pen so that it's easy for you to see.

When it comes a time for you to draw your circuits, you can use any paper that you have available.

Lined paper is absolutely fine.

And I would recommend drawing yours in pencil, okay? I'm going to use pen just so it's really clear for you to see.

Remember, this time you're just going to watch me draw my circuit.

So the first thing that I would recommend doing is just making a note of the three components that we had in our circuit and what their symbols are.

Okay, so I know that I had a switch that was.

Oops, I've spelled switch wrong.

Okay, switch that was open.

And that symbol looks like this.

So I'm not using a ruler now 'cause I'm just making a rough sketch.

So I remember when I drew my actual circuit, I will.

I also had a cell which looks like this, and a lamp or a light bulb, which looks like this, okay? So those are the three things that I'm going to have to include in my circuit.

The next step is to find your space in your page where you're going to draw a circuit.

Now, we always draw our circuits as rectangles.

So your circuit diagram is going to have four sides as a rectangle.

You can place your components anywhere along that rectangle, but it's important that you don't draw the rectangle first.

Otherwise, you'll have a big line through it and it will look really messy, okay? So we just have to imagine that rectangle.

So in this space at the top, I'm going to draw one of my components.

I'm going to draw my lamp.

And that's going to be one side of my rectangle.

Put my ruler, thus you'll see it.

That would be one side of my circuit diagram.

So, then I'm going to leave a space, and directly below my lamp, I'm going to draw another one of my components.

I'm going to draw my cell, okay? So you can see my rectangle.

My circuit is going to go like this when I draw it.

I've got one more component left to draw.

I've got my open switch.

I'm going to choose another side of the rectangle to draw on.

I could draw it on the same side over here, but it's neat if you choose a different side.

So, even with my fingers, I'm going to trace it.

My rectangle is going to look like this.

So I'm going to draw my switch around here, okay? And it's an open switch.

So I'm going draw it open like this with my ruler, okay? So now we have all three of my components in space.

I can get my ruler out and I can start joining them up.

So, I'm going to draw this bottom edge.

I'm going to see that my line is going to have to start here where my switch lines up with it.

It's going to go to my symbol, but not through it, and then out the other side, okay? And then you can start joining the sides of your rectangle up.

There we go.

Remember, it doesn't go through the switch.

It goes out on the other side just like my wires would in a real circuit.

And then I can draw this side.

And finally, I've got my last side of my circuit diagram to join up.

So you can see, I followed three steps there.

The first was to look at my circuit and write down the components that are in it.

So, switch, cell and lamp.

And I wrote those down here as a little note to myself.

Switch, cell, and lamp.

And I wrote the symbols down already.

Then my next step was to draw my three symbols in space, imagining a rectangle.

And then my third step was to take my ruler and join the sides of that rectangle up so that you have your final circuit diagram.

So, my circuit diagram ended up looking something like this.

And hopefully you can see or you could hear the steps that I took to get there.

I would like you please to have a go at drawing this circuit diagram yourselves.

I'm going to leave mine up there as an example.

Remember to use your ruler, to take your time, and follow the same steps that I did.

So, draw your symbols first, space them out, and then join them up in a quadrilateral square or a rectangle.

Remember, this is quite fiddly and quite a complex skill.

There's lots of things to think about.

If you don't get this right or isn't neat on your first try, that's okay.

Just give it a go.

Pause the video and have a go for me now, please.

Fantastic.

Good job.

This is the next circuit that we're going to have a go at drawing.

So, you can see.

Well, in fact, can you point to the screen and tell me which components you can see? Great.

So you've got a buzzer, we've got a switch that's closed, and we've got a cell, and that all joined by wires.

This time, I'm going to draw this circuit under the visualizer.

This time, I would like for you to draw it with me, please.

So we're going to go step by step and we're going to draw it together.

Let's have a go now.

So here we have our second circuit.

Just going to complete it now.

So you can hear it's working.

You can hear the buzzer.

It's because you've got a complete loop, a power supply, our switch is closed.

I'm just going to actually take it out now so that you can hear me talk.

We're going to draw this circuit as if it's connected, okay? So, this time I'm going to go through each step and you're going to draw your circuit and go through each step with me.

So remember, the first thing that we needed to do was we needed to look at our circuit and write down the components that we have.

So we've got a switch that's closed, we've got a cell, and we've got a buzzer, okay? So I'm just going to make a note of that.

We've got a cell.

Then I'm going to draw the symbol as well.

Remember, you can check your notes from earlier.

We've got a switch that's closed.

Okay? When you're drawing your components this time, you don't need to use a ruler, but when we draw them in our actual diagram, you will.

And then we've got a buzzer.

So remember, our buzzer is like a semi-circle with the letter U.

And you draw the top of it.

And it's got two sides like this, okay? So pause the video and make a note of the components that we have now, please.

Great.

Then the next thing we're going to do is we're going to find our space on our paper.

So I'm going to do it next to mine.

You might have small space below.

And we're going to place our three components roughly in a rectangle from each other, okay? It doesn't really matter which order they go in.

So I'm going to start with my cell, and I'm going to place it at the top, in the middle.

So draw your cell for me now.

Great.

Then directly below my cell, leaving some space about three fingers width, I'm going to draw another one of my components.

It doesn't matter which one.

I'm going to choose my switch.

Just realised I've made a mistake.

I've written switch closed, and what kind of switch have I drawn? Drawn switch open.

Okay.

So, this is why it's a good idea to make some notes before you start.

Well done if you spotted that.

So I'm actually just going to do a neat line through that and I'm going to draw my switch again.

So when it's closed, it should look like that, okay? So now I'm going to draw my switch closed down here.

Let me get my ruler out to make sure it's really neat.

Luckily I spotted that before I continued.

And then I'm going to draw my buzzer.

So, I'm going to choose to draw.

I can see, I don't have that much room on this side now that I've had to correct my mistake.

So, I'm going to draw my buzzer over here.

So remember, we're imagining a rectangle.

So I'm going to draw my buzzer about here.

I'm going to make another mistake on purpose here.

And I wonder if you can spot it.

What's wrong with how I've drawn my buzzer? A little bit messier than this one, but that's not the mistake.

It's the wrong way round, okay? When we have a buzzer connected in the circuit, these two little lines here, this is where my wires are meant to continue, okay? So, I'm going to show you what it would look like then if I joined this circuit up to make sure you're not doing this.

This is a mistake.

We go right through the middle of my buzzer, it wouldn't connect into my two sides here, okay? So I'm going to draw that again correctly below so you can see what it should look like.

So we've got our cell at the top, I've got my closed switch below it, and I'm going to draw my buzzer on the side, okay? To make that easier, I'm just going to turn my piece of paper like this.

Okay? Then I can turn it back.

So now you can see that I've drawn my buzzer on its side, and now I can join my circuit up as a rectangle.

Okay? So this is one, two side.

Let's join it up on this side.

There we go.

I've made a small mistake here.

If I was working in pencil like I hope you are, I'd be able just to rub out that little extra bit on the end.

So, , that's what your circuit diagram is meant to look like.

Pause the video and complete that for me now.

Fantastic.

Hopefully yours looks something like this.

Your buzzer might even have been neater than mine.

Good job.

This is the last circuit we're going to look at today.

And this time you are going to draw the diagram independently.

So remember, your first step is to look at which components you have and make a note on the side of your paper.

Then you're going to place those components around an imaginary rectangle.

And then you're going to draw the lines to complete the rectangle with your ruler.

Okay, don't make the same mistake I did.

Remember that this switch is closed.

So make sure you have the symbol for a closed switch.

Pause the video and draw your circuit diagram for me now.

Great.

And your diagram should look something like this.

So you've got a lamp, a cell, and a closed switch.

You might have had these in a different order.

That's absolutely fine if your cell is over here, your switch is over here.

It doesn't matter what order they're in.

As long as these three components are drawn and you have a straight rectangle around your components.

Well done for all of your hard work this lesson.

Before you go and do your post-lesson quiz, let's just recap our four star words for today.

So, we have been looking at circuits, the different components in our topic of electricity.

And you have all drawn really great diagrams today.

Well done.

If you would like to share your work, then you can share it by asking your parent or carer to post a photo to Twitter with the hashtag LearnWithOak or, and the hashtag ONAscience.

Well done.

And I'll see you back here for another lesson soon.

Have a great day.