Conductors and Insulators

Ask the children to make a circuit following the diagram on the worksheet.

Ask them to predict whether the bulb will light. If they predict it won’t light, ask why not, and what they need to do to make it light. They might join the two crocodile clips. Ask them what would happen if they clip one of the pieces of test material in the gap. They can then test their prediction. Ask them if electricity passed through the material. Tell them that materials that let electricity pass through them are called conductors and materials that do not are called insulators.

They should continue in the same way, predicting and then testing each material and noting whether the bulb lit and whether the material was therefore a conductor or insulator.

Ask what they notice about all the conductors (They are all metals). Ask the children what they notice about materials that conduct electricity. They could suggest ways in which insulators are useful for safety.