echoesof.science · Ages 6–7
Electricity: making a bulb light up
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Electricity makes lamps shine, toys move and phones work. Some things get their electricity from a battery, others from a plug in the wall.
Electricity needs a path to travel along, all the way round from the battery and back again. This path is called a circuit. If there is a gap, the electricity stops and the lamp goes out.
A switch opens and closes the gap. Click it on, the circuit is complete and the lamp lights up. Click it off, there is a gap and the lamp goes dark.
Electricity from the wall is much stronger than a battery and is dangerous. Never put fingers or anything else into a socket, keep electrical things away from water, and never touch them with wet hands.
Experiment: Make the bulb glow
- Look at the battery: one end has a + and the other a −.
- Clip one wire from the + end of the battery to one side of the bulb holder.
- Clip the second wire from the other side of the bulb holder to the − end. Does the bulb light up?
- Undo one clip. What happens to the bulb?
- Optional: put your paper-clip switch in the circuit and switch the bulb on and off.
| What I did | Did the bulb light? (yes/no) |
|---|---|
| Full loop | |
| One clip undone | |
| Switch on | |
| Switch off |
Questions
Draw a battery, a bulb and two wires joined in a loop so the bulb lights.
🍎Will the bulb light if there is a gap in the circuit?
yes / no
Write one rule for staying safe with electricity.
Sources for every fact on this sheet: echoesof.science/school/electricity/sources/