Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you today?

I hope you're feeling really good.

My name is Ms. Afzal and I'll be your teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling really pleased about that because I'm interested in our topic.

We're going to be exploring electricity.

In particular, we're looking at insulators and conductors.

I wonder if you've heard of those.

Do you know what they are?

Do you know what they mean?

Don't worry whether you do or not, we're gonna be getting right into it today.

Our lesson is called Choosing and Using Electrical Conductors and Insulators, and it comes from the unit of work, Changing Circuits.

So if you are ready with some energy, focus, and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.

The outcome of today's lesson is, I can explain the difference between electrical conductors and insulators and can identify where each type of material should be used.

I hope that sounds of interest to you.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

I'd like us to go through them one at a time, my turn, your turn.

Let's say them out loud.

Electricity, electrical conductor, electrical insulator, appliance.

Great to hear those words loud and clear.

Now, I'd like you to turn to the person next to you.

Have you heard of any of these words before and do you know what they mean?

Please share.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's find out what these keywords mean.

Electricity is needed for lighting, heating, and making machines and appliances work.

An electrical conductor is a material that allows electricity to pass through it easily.

An electrical insulator is a material that does not allow electricity to pass through it easily.

An appliance is a device or piece of equipment designed to perform a specific task.

These are our keywords.

Let's look out for them.

Let's listen out for them.

They're gonna be coming up in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called Choosing and Using Electrical Conductors and Insulators, and it has two learning cycles.

First of all, conductors and insulators.

And next, choosing the right materials.

Let's begin by exploring conductors and insulators.

For electrical circuits to work, electricity must be able to flow around them.

Here's Aisha.

I know that some materials allow electricity to pass through them easily and some do not.

What are the names of each of these types of materials?

Do you know?

Pause here and share with someone.

What are the names of these types of materials that allow electricity to pass through easily and those that don't?

Thanks for sharing.

An electrical conductor is a material that allows electricity to pass through it easily.

I wonder if that's what you said.

And an electrical insulator is a material that does not allow electricity to pass through it easily.

Perhaps you came up with this idea as well.

Here's Lucas.

I can't remember which materials are electrical conductors and which are electrical insulators.

We could test different materials using a simple electrical circuit to find out.

Great idea, Aisha.

What might Lucas and Aisha do to test the materials?

Pause here and share with someone.

What do you think?

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of the circuits shown below would you use to test whether a material conducts electricity?

Would you use circuit A, circuit B, or circuit C?

Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected circuit C.

This would be a great circuit to test whether a material conducts electricity.

Here's Lucas.

I'm using a buzzer in my circuit to test whether materials are electrical conductors or electrical insulators.

Lucas draws a circuit diagram.

He adds different materials to the circuit, one at a time, and records when the buzzer makes a sound.

If the material is an electrical conductor, the buzzer will buzz.

And there, we have a conductor.

And so, there, the buzzer is making a very nice buzz sound.

Electricity will be able to pass through the conductor, completing the circuit.

If the material is an electrical insulator, the buzzer will not buzz.

There, we have an insulator, and so, the circuit is not complete.

Electricity will not be able to pass through the insulator, creating a gap and making the circuit incomplete, so we have no sound.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of the following types of materials allow electricity to pass through them easily?

Is it A, electrical conveyors, B, electrical convectors, or C, electrical conductors?

Pause here while you decide which types of materials allow electricity to pass through them easily.

Well done if you selected answer C.

Indeed, it's electrical conductors that are the types of materials which allow electricity to pass through them easily.

Let's have another check for understanding.

True or false, electrical insulators allow electricity to pass through them easily?

Pause here while you decide.

Is this statement true or false?

Well done if you selected false.

And now, I'd like you to justify your answer by choosing from one of these two statements, either electrical insulators do not allow electricity to pass through them easily or electrical conductors do not allow electricity to pass through them easily.

Pause here while you decide which of these statements justifies your answer.

Well done if you selected statement A.

Indeed, it's electrical insulators that do not allow electricity to pass through them easily.

And now, it's time for your first task.

We've got three statements here, very confidently-spoken.

Here's Aisha, "Metals are the best electrical conductors.

" Lucas, "Only metal conducts electricity.

" And Alex, "Only non-metals conduct electricity.

" Hmm, who do you agree with and why?

And you could use Lucas's circuit to test this out.

So pause here while you have a go at this task of discussing who you agree with and why and possibly testing this out using Lucas's circuit.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

And who was correct?

It's Aisha who said that, "Metals are the best electrical conductors.

" Hopefully, you came up with this answer as well and perhaps you even tested it out using a circuit.

And now, we're onto our next learning cycle, Choosing the right materials.

All metals are electrical conductors, but some metals are better conductors than others.

A pylon is a tall structure made of steel used for carrying electricity cables high above the ground.

Perhaps you've seen a pylon somewhere.

Pause here and share with someone if you have seen an electricity pylon.

Thanks for sharing.

The cables are made from aluminum and steel, which are good electrical conductors.

So on this image, we can see the cables, which are hanging down, and we can see them being supported by the structure of the pylon.

We need electrical insulators too.

Pause here and share with someone.

Why do you think we need electrical insulators?

Any ideas?

Thanks for sharing.

Electrical insulators help keep us safe from the dangerous effects of electricity flowing through conductors.

Perhaps you came up with this idea.

To avoid the metal cables conducting electricity into the steel pylons, insulators made from porcelain, toughened glass, or rubber are used to attach the cables to the pylon.

And there we can see those insulators on the pylons.

And I would encourage you to keep your eyes out.

Next time you see a pylon, can you have a look out for the insulators that are attaching the cables to the pylon?

Which materials are often used to make electrical wires?

Pause here and share with someone.

What do you think?

Thanks for sharing.

Copper is a good electrical conductor, which is why it is often used to make wires for electrical circuits.

To help keep us safe from electrical shocks, wires are covered by electrical insulators made from plastic or rubber.

And we can see some copper wires there in plastic casing.

Not all non-metals are electrical insulators.

Pause here, do you know of a non-metal which is not an electrical insulator?

Thanks for sharing.

I wonder if you knew that water is not a good insulator because there are sometimes minerals dissolved in it, which conduct electricity.

Materials made from electrical insulators help keep us safe from electric shocks when using electrical appliances that involve water.

Minerals dissolved in water can conduct electricity.

Let's have a check for understanding.

How can electrical insulators help protect us from electric shocks?

Choose from these options.

A, they can keep us warm.

B, they can keep us safe from the dangerous effects of electricity.

C, they can reduce the force needed to do work.

Pause here while you decide how electrical insulators help protect us from electric shocks.

Well done if you chose answer B.

Indeed, electrical insulators can help to protect us from electric shocks as they keep us safe from the dangerous effects of electricity.

Scientists and engineers need to choose the materials to make electrical appliances carefully to help keep us safe from electric shocks.

They must select the right electrical conductor to make the equipment work, but also choose the best electrical insulator to help keep us safe when using it.

And we can see there's someone there assembling plastic-coated electrical equipment in a factory.

Engineers design electrical appliances so that they can be used safely without giving us electric shocks.

Here's Lucas, "I'm not sure which parts of electrical appliances need to be good conductors and which need to be good insulators.

" Can you help?

Take a look at this blender.

So here are all the different parts of the blender and I'd like you to talk to someone nearby and have a discussion about which of these parts need to be good conductors and which need to be good insulators.

Pause here while you do this.

Thanks for having that discussion.

The electricity must be able to pass through the components in the circuit and the cable that leads to the plug and the mains electricity.

So here, we can see the circuit inside the casing needs to be made from conductors.

In terms of the switch, it's an insulator on the outside, but it needs to be a conductor on the inside.

So that's quite an interesting difference there.

And the cable, which is going to the plug and the mains electricity, has a conducting wire inside an insulating case.

The electricity must not pass through the parts we touch or which water touches.

So the lid needs to be an insulator.

The handle needs to be an insulator.

The jug needs to be an insulator and the casing needs to be an insulator.

Well done for having this discussion around insulators and conductors.

And I think it'd be quite interesting to look around you at different appliances and have a think about which parts are conductors and which parts are insulators.

Lucas wants to apply his understanding of insulators and conductors to design and make a buzz-wire game.

Oh, I love these.

He has to carefully move a loop from one end of a wobbly wire to the other, without touching the wire.

If the loop touches the wire, a buzzer will make a sound.

Lucas knows that he has to choose different materials to solve this problem.

"I should make the buzz-wire game using only electrical conductors because the loop and the wobbly wire need to connect to complete the circuit and make the buzzer buzz.

" What do you think?

Do you agree?

Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's have a check for understanding.

How do engineers use their knowledge of insulators and conductors?

Choose from these options.

A, they sell electrical appliances in shops.

B, they set up investigations to find out which materials are transparent.

C, they choose the right materials to solve problems involving electrical equipment.

Pause here while you decide how engineers use their knowledge of insulators and conductors.

Well done if you chose answer C.

Indeed, they choose the right materials to solve problems involving electrical equipment.

That's how engineers use their knowledge of insulators and conductors.

And now, it's time for your task.

I would like you to become an engineer and use your knowledge of insulators and conductors to design and build a buzz-wire game.

So first of all, draw and label a diagram to show which parts of the game should be made using an insulator and which should be made using a conductor, including the stand, the wobbly wire, the loop and loop holder, where to connect your simple circuit.

And then, next, build the game, test it, and explain how it works.

So pause here while you have a go at this task.

Enjoy designing and building your buzz-wire game and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task?

Engineers using your knowledge of insulators and conductors to design and build a buzz-wire game.

So perhaps you have a design like this.

So we've got a wire frame made of metal to conduct electricity.

The wire is pushed through the stand to fix it in place.

There's a buzzer, metal wire to conduct electricity.

We need a cell to give us the power.

Polystyrene packaging stand, an insulator to support the metal frame.

Great thinking there.

And then, to play the game, we need our wire loop and handle.

So the wire loop, made of metal, to conduct electricity and the handle is a plastic spoon taped to a metal wire made of insulator to protect the user.

What a fantastic design.

And how did you get on with building the game, testing it, and explaining how it works?

Let's share this response.

My simple circuit is connected to the wire loop and also to the wobbly wire frame, which are both electrical conductors.

When the wire loop makes contact and touches the wire frame, this completes the circuit and the buzzer will buzz.

What a fun game and fantastic way to learn about conductors and insulators.

Well done for having a go at this task.

In our lesson, Choosing and Using Conductors and Insulators, we've covered the following.

An electrical conductor is a material that allows electricity to pass through it easily.

An electrical insulator is a material that does not allow electricity to pass through it easily.

Electrical insulators keep us safe from the dangerous effects of electricity flowing through conductors.

Scientists and engineers choose conductors and insulators to solve problems.

Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson.

It was so great to explore electrical conductors and electrical insulators together and to find out why it's important that we have insulators to keep us safe.

And then, how wonderful to create your own design and perhaps even your own buzz-wire game to see conductors and insulators in action.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.

I've really enjoyed teaching you and I'm looking forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.

Until then, stay curious.