Science grade 5

Some kinds of atoms lose their electrons more easily than others, and these
materials conduct electricity better than those whose electrons are not lost as
easily. Copper is a well-known example of such a material. This is why we use
copper wires to carry or conduct electricity in a circuit.
Charged particles are inside the copper wires, but we need something to push these
particles around the circuit. This is where the cell comes in. We use the term ‘cell’
rather than ‘battery’ in this course. Strictly speaking, a battery is a collection of
cells. The cell contains chemicals which react with each other and give off
chemical energy. This energy provides the ‘push’ to move the charged particles
around the circuit.

How electricity moves in a circuit

Materials such as copper metal that conduct electricity (allow it to flow freely)
are called conductors. Materials that don't allow electricity to pass through
them so readily, such as rubber and plastic, are called insulators. What
makes copper a conductor and rubber an insulator?

A current of electricity is a steady flow of electrons. When electrons move

from one place to another, round a circuit, they carry electrical energy from
place to place like marching ants carrying leaves. Instead of carrying leaves,
electrons carry a tiny amount of electric charge.
Electricity can travel through something when its structure allows electrons to
move through it easily. Metals like copper have "free" electrons that are not
bound tightly to their parent atoms. These electrons flow freely throughout the
structure of copper and this is what enables an electric current to flow. In
rubber, the electrons are more tightly bound. There are no "free" electrons
and, as a result, electricity does not really flow through rubber at all.
Conductors that let electricity flow freely are said to have a
high conductance and a low resistance; insulators that do not allow
electricity to flow are the opposite: they have a low conductance and a high
resistance.

For electricity to flow, there has to be something to push the electrons along.
This is called an electromotive force (EMF). A battery or power outlet
creates the electromotive force that makes a current of electrons flow. An
electromotive force is better known as a voltage.
WORKSHEET 2

Conductors Insulators
Worksheet 5.3
Make a clothes peg switch
You will need:
a wooden or plastic clothes peg
15 cm lengths of plastic-covered wire
a sharp knife or wire strippers.

Remove the plastic from 2 cm of each end of

each piece of wire. Be careful if you are using a sharp knife. Cut on a hard surface.
Always cut away from you.

Wrap the bare end of one piece of wire tightly around one of the legs of the
clothes peg. Do the same with the other wire on the other leg of the clothes peg.

Use your fingers to push the legs of the clothes peg together to open it. The legs
and wires are squeezed together. This closes the switch.
WORKSHEET 1
1. Electricity is made when … are moving.
A. Atoms
B. Electrons
C. Charge
D. Electricity
2. Everything in the world around us is made of … .
A. Protons
B. Particles
C. Neutrons
D. Atoms
3. These particles called…
A. Protons, Particles, Atoms
B. Objects, Atoms, Electricity
C. Electron, Protons, Neutrons
D. Magnetics, Protons, Neutrons
4. When the two objects are rubbed together they create … .
A. Frictions
B. Protons
C. Neutrons
D. Atoms
5. Static electricity is…
A. If two objects have opposite charges
B. B. the resistance of motion
C. C. Objects that have the same charge will repel each other
D. D. the imbalance of positive or negative charges between objects
WORKSHEET 2

Conductors Insulators