Lesson video

Hello, everybody.

Hello from me and from Charlie.

Oh, he's off outside, it's too sunny for him.

Today we are doing our next lesson in our unit and I'm really excited to get started, so let's begin.

Our lesson question today is what are electrical insulators and conductors? Those are two new words that I will explain in the lesson.

For this lesson, you are going to need a piece of paper, a pencil, a colouring pencil, and a ruler.

A ruler is important 'cause we'll be drawing diagrams. So if you don't have any of those things, could you pause the video and go and grab them for me now, please? Fantastic, these are our star words for today so we're going to practise saying them.

I'm going to say them when I point to me, and then when I point to the screen, you're going to say them.

Circuit, component, electricity, conductor, insulator.

Great.

This is what we're going to do in today's lesson.

We are going to start with a bit of quick recap then we're going to look at what conductors and insulators are, and then the lesson question will make a bit more sense then we're going to do an investigation into different types of materials and then we're going to write a method for that investigation so that somebody would be able to repeat the investigation that we've done this lesson.

Let's start with our recap.

Okay, nice and quick one to begin with.

Can you name all three components on the screen? You can either write them down or you can just point to the screen and say them.

Pause the video and do that for me now, please.

Great, we've got a wire, a cell and a switch.

Remember that one in the middle is called a cell if it's just singular, it's a cell, if we have two of them in the circuit joined up together, then we'd call it a battery.

Okay, little bit trickier, can you remember the symbols for these three components? So we've got a cell, a lamp or a light bulb and a closed switch.

Can you remember the symbols? How do we draw them? So it's a bit tricky.

Just have a go and if you can't remember that's okay 'cause I'm about to show you the answers in a second.

Pause the video and see if you can remember now.

Okay, let's see.

So this was our symbol for a cell, one long line, a short little stubby line next to it.

This was our symbol for a lamp, I keep saying our symbol, this is the symbol that everybody uses.

It's important that we all use the same symbols in science, otherwise your diagram will only be able to be understood by you and not by everybody else.

Here's our lamp symbol which is a circle with a cross in between it.

And then this is a closed switch.

So you've got the two cycles and then the switch closed over the top.

If it was open, it would be the same symbol, except that line in the middle of the two cycles would be open like this, like an open door.

Well done if you got those correct.

You're going to need these symbols in a moment so if you made a mistake here, it's not a problem, but could you just pause the video and with different coloured pencil could you just correct your answer now, please.

Great, okay last bit of recap.

This time, I would like you to take a look at the picture of a circuit on the screen.

And I would like you please to draw this circuit, not draw me a lovely picture, draw me a circuit diagram.

So this is what we looked at last lesson.

If you're not sure what I'm talking about, then you might want to go back to the last lesson and have a look, okay? When we're drawing a circuit diagram, these are the steps we need to follow.

First of all, have a look and see which components you've got in your circuit.

So you can see there's a lamp there, there's a cell there, and there's a switch that's open.

Luckily those are the symbols we drew on the last slide, apart from, remember your switch needs to be open this time, okay? And then you need to draw those symbols around an imaginary rectangle.

So imagine a rectangle on your page you can even trace it with your fingers.

If you've got lined paper, then some of the lines are there for you.

And around that rectangle, you need to draw your components.

Once you've drawn your components, you can then get your ruler and you can join up the rectangle so it's not imaginary anymore.

Making sure you don't, go straight through your components.

Can you please pause the video and have a go at drawing this circuit diagram for me now, please.

Fantastic, let's see how you did.

So this is my version, it looks like this.

Now you might not have drawn your components in the same order as me, that's completely fine, but we should have the same three.

So a lamp, a circle with a cross through it and an open switch and a circle and joined with a neat line in between.

If your circuit diagram looks really different to mine, or you forgot to use a ruler, then now would be a good time to pause the video and just correct your work and have another go.

Okay, when you're ready, we'll move on to our new learning.

So we are going to learn about conductors and insulators today.

This is a picture of an electrical wire.

So, so far in electricity, we have in this unit, we've seen the electricity flows around a circuit through pieces of wire and move through components, such as buzzers or bulbs in order to make them work.

All of the wires have a metal core, so you can see that metal sticking out there and they have a layer of plastic around the outside.

So that plastic can be different colours.

And in the examples that we've been using before, they've been red.

It's important that wires have a plastic coating for three reasons, the first is that it stops the metal from being damaged, secondly, it stops the electricity from transferring to another material, so it keeps it inside that circuit, and thirdly, it stops someone from getting an electric shock.

Can you remember those three reasons why we have plastic coating on wires? Pause the video and write them down now, please.

If you can't remember that's okay, just go back and watch that bit of the video again.

Fantastic, let's check your answers.

Number one, it stops the metal inside from being damaged, number two, it stops electricity from escaping or transferring through another material and number three, it prevents someone from getting an electric shock.

Well done if you've got those correct.

Give yourself a tick in a different colour, if not, no problem at all, just correct your answer now.

Great, so here are our wires again.

Let's talk about what insulators and conductors are.

So plastic is good to use around the outside of a wire because it is an electrical insulator.

This means that it doesn't allow electricity to pass through it.

Whereas metals such as copper, which is the metal in this wire are a good material to use for that middle part of the wire, because they are electrical conductors.

And this means that they will allow electricity to pass easily through them.

And this is important for the middle part of the wire because it's main purpose is to let electricity flow through it, okay? So we have insulators, which stop the flow of electricity, they don't let electricity pass through them and we have conductors, which do let electricity flow through them, okay? So if we were to put an action to each of those, maybe insulator would be that it blocks the electricity from flowing through, and conductor would be that, because it flows.

So can you show me those actions now, insulator and conductor.

Great, one more time.

I'm not going to do the actions this time.

Insulator.

Great, conductor.

Brilliant.

Here are some examples of conductors and insulators, these are all insulators.

So you can see here, we've got plastic, wood and rubber are all really good insulators, blocking the flow of electricity.

Then here's some examples of conductors.

So sea water, salty water is a good conductor and copper wires and lots of types of metal, including silver, gold, things like that are all good conductors.

Now we are going to complete our investigation into which materials are conductors and which are insulators.

So the first thing I'd like you to do please, is to draw this table on your piece of paper.

So you've got three columns, material, does the bulb light up, and then is it an electrical conductor or insulator? You don't have to write that whole question in the last column, you can just write a conductor or insulator? Can you pause the video and use your ruler to draw this table for me now, please.

Great, okay.

This is a diagram that shows you how I'm going to set equipment up in order to test the materials.

So you can see I've got two cells joined to each other, so I'm going to have a battery.

I've got a lamp or a light bulb and then I've got a gap where I'm going to insert different materials for the crocodile clip each time.

If that material is a conductor, then it will be like completing the circuit and the light bulb would light up.

If it's an insulator, it's going to block that flow of electricity.

And when the flow of electricity can't go all the way around the circuit then the light bulb won't light up.

I'm going to show you under the visualizer what that looks like now.

So let me show you how the equipment is set up, you can double check that it looks the same as the diagram, and I'll show you the different materials that we're going to be testing.

So here's our equipment set up.

We've got our two cells, which are connected together to form our battery, then we've got a wire that comes outside to the side of the screen, but it's a full loop connected to our light bulb and then the wire, comes around and I've got my gap here with my two crocodile clips.

Now, if I touch my crocodile clips together, then I complete the circuit and you can see my light bulb lights up.

So it's important to test that before you begin, okay? And then in between these two crocodile clips is where I'm going to put my material that I am testing to see if it's a conductor or an insulator.

These are the materials that we're going to test.

So you can see we've got a plastic ruler, we've got a metal fork, we've got a fabric, a piece of ribbon, we've got two coins, a silver one, and a copper one, a metal screw, a piece of paper, a wooden pencil, and a piece of cardboard.

So considering what we've learned already, I wonder if you can make a prediction about which of these objects are going to cause our light bulb to turn on and so be conductors, which ones of our objects? Pause the video and have a think and maybe jot your ideas down for me now.

Okay, let's have a go at doing our tests then and see if you were correct.

So this light bulb is where you need to watch, okay? Because when it lights up, it will look like that.

Hopefully that's nice and clear.

So let's start with our first material.

I need to clip both of the crocodile clips then like so, so now the circuit is complete.

Has the light bulb lit up? This is what you need to write in your table.

So you're writing plastic ruler and is the light bulb lit up? Pause the video and fill in those bits for me now.

No, it has not lit up.

So then in our third column, does that mean that it's a conductor or an insulator? It means it's an insulator.

The electricity is not flowing through this plastic ruler.

Let's try our next item.

So now let's try with our metal fork so write metal fork in your table, then let's have a look.

Is the light bulb going to light up? Yes, it's lit up.

So is that a conductor or an insulator? In your third column you should have written conductor.

The electricity is flowing through the metal fork causing a complete circuit and the light bulb to light up.

Okay, let's try now with our piece of fabric ribbon.

Is the light bulb lighting up? Is it a conductor or an insulator? Write your results in your table.

And let's try our next material.

Okay, we're going to have a look at one of the silver coins.

So this is a 10p coin.

There you go.

Is the light bulb lighting up? Is it a conductor or an insulator? Write it in your table now.

Okay, our next item is a piece of paper.

Here you go.

Is your light bulb lighting up? Is that conductor or an insulator? Okay, let's try our copper coin now, what'd you think is going to happen this time? There we go, conductor or insulator? Great, okay we've got.

Oops, sorry.

When I touch these together it lights up, gives you a little surprise.

We've got our wooden pencil now.

So make sure you write down the material as well as the object, so wooden is the material there.

Is the light bulb lighting up? Conductor or insulator? Okay, let's try the next object, this time we've got cardboard.

Is my light bulb lighting up? Conductor or insulator? Okay, and last object is my metal screw.

Sorry, wobbly this time, just building the suspense for the last one.

Is it going to light up? Let's see.

Ah, there we go.

Has the light bulb lit up? Does that mean it's a conductor or an insulator? Pause the video and complete your video now.

So complete your table now.

If any parts of that were too fast, then just go back and watch it again and make sure you've got down a result for all of the materials that we tested.

Great, now we're going to have a go at writing a method for that investigation.

A method in science is like a set of instructions.

You've just watched me do that demonstration so you know what to do, but if you wanted to tell somebody else how to do that investigation, or maybe you wanted to try that investigation in a year's time when it's not so fresh in your memory, you'd need a list of written instructions to tell you what to do, and that's what a method is.

So I'm going to show you an example of a method that is for a completely different investigation first.

So this is actually a method for making your own paper.

So we'll read it together.

So step one, rip up the old newspaper into very small pieces.

Step two, leave the ripped up paper in warm water for a few hours.

Step three, after a few hours, squeeze out the water from the paste.

Step four, place the pulp onto aluminium foil, tin foil in a rectangle to make your sheet of paper.

Step five, place more foil on top of your paper and push down on it.

And step six, take the top layer of foil off and leave it somewhere to dry overnight.

So what is good about that method? What do you think? Have a think with me.

Well, it's got clear steps, so it breaks it down into steps.

You can do one thing at a time.

It's very clear instructions.

They're quite short, they're quite succinct.

They tell you except you what to do.

There's no kind of extra information in there, but there's just enough so that you know what it is that you need to do.

How do you think this could be better? How could this method be improved? What would help you to follow these instructions? Have a think with me.

Well, I think there's a couple of things.

The first is that it could have an equipment list.

So often when we're writing a method, the first thing we have is a list of all the equipment that you'll need, kind of like we have at the beginning of these lessons.

So you know that you've got everything ready before you start it.

Otherwise you might get to step five and realise you need something and then have to go run around looking for it.

Okay, so an equipment list would improve it.

Something else that would improve it is maybe a diagram.

Diagrams can be really helpful to add to your methods because they can show somebody exactly what you're doing.

So when we write up our method for our investigation with the conductors and insulators, we're definitely going to include a diagram because as I showed you before I started, circuit diagram was really helpful for me knowing how to set up my equipment.

Now you are going to have a go at writing your method.

So the first thing I would like you to do please, is to write your equipment list.

So can you write down all of the equipment that we needed? Pause the video and complete that for me now, please.

Great, okay.

So your equipment list should look something like this.

We had two cells, one bulb, three wires, two crocodile clips.

These are the crocodile clips, the thing I was clipping the material into, and then I'd just written different materials to test.

You might have written exactly the materials that we use for our investigation, that's fine.

However, if somebody is repeating this, they wouldn't necessarily have to use the same materials we did, so having different materials to test is fine that's enough detail.

If you need to edit your equipment list, just pause the video and do that for me now, please.

Great, okay.

The next thing I would like you to do please, is to draw a diagram.

So can you draw a circuit diagram to show how our equipment was being set up? If you need some help with this, you can go back in the video and find either watch the investigation again and double check how the equipment was set up, or if you need even more help than that, you can go back and have a look at the diagram that I used before I started.

If you think, ah, I got it, I can remember or you just want a challenge, then go and try for me now.

Remember place the components in an imaginary rectangle and then use your ruler to join them up.

Pause the video and complete that for me now, please.

Great, it should look something like this, okay? So you've got your battery, which is your two cells joined together, you've got your lamp and then they join round in a rectangle until that gap where you're going to put the different materials.

If you would like to redraft your diagram using the one on the screen, then that's fine, pause the video and do that for me now, please.

Great, okay.

That brings us to our method.

Now we're going to write it in steps and I'm going to give you a hint, I think that there are three steps in this.

The first step is all about setting up and another hint is that you don't need to write a single step for every single material.

So it's not like step four, test the paper, step five, test the fork, step six.

You can just have one step that says, test each of your materials, okay? I would suggest writing your instructions and then reading through them carefully and thinking, hmm, if I hadn't watched Miss Simkin do this experiment, would I be able to repeat it just using these instructions? You might even if you have an adult in your house who's got a bit of time give your instructions to your adult and say, do you think these are clear? Do you understand what I'm telling you to do? Pause the video and write your method for me now, please.

Great, let's see if you wrote something like me.

Now, you don't have to have the exact same wording as my method, this is just an example of a good method.

Number one, set up your equipment as shown in the diagram.

So remember you've already told them the equipment that they need, you've already drawn a diagram so you can just say set up your equipment as shown in the diagram above.

If you've just written set up your equipment, can you add in as shown in the diagram above for me with your different colour now.

Step two, for each material you want to test, clip the crocodile clips on to either end of the material.

And then step three, note down whether the light bulb lights up or not.

If it lights up, then it's an electrical conductor.

Like I say, you don't need to use those exact same words, however, if you'd like to edit your method that you've written using the one on the screen, then you can pause the video and do that for me now.

Great, that brings us to the end of the lesson.

Well done for all of your hard work today, we covered a lot in this lesson and I hope you're really proud of the work that you've done.

If you would like to share work, then you can ask a parent or a carer to share photos of your work on Twitter with the #LearnWithOak or the #ONAscience and then I will be able to see it.

I hope you have a fantastic rest of your day and I will see you back here, hopefully for another science lesson soon.

Bye everybody.