Why Does Electricity Flow?

Topic 1: What is current electricity and how is it made?

What you need

Key language
electron

ow

nuclear ssion

circuit
shaft

battery
copper coil

generator

A copy of the worksheet

Vocabulary for every
child.

A copy each of the

two worksheets How
current electricity is
made in a traditional
power station and How
electricity is made in
a wind farm for every
child, plus A3 copies for
yourself.

turbine

power line

First ideas
See Introduction for suggestions on how to introduce the Factbook for
the rst time.

Mixed ability teaching

See Introduction for suggestions on how to use the activities identied by
the
and
icons.

Before reading
Worksheet: Vocabulary
Tell the children that they are going to read about electricity and give out the
worksheet, which introduces some of the key vocabulary. The children should be
able to guess all the correct answers. Ask the children to check their answers with a
partner before you go over them with the whole class. Get the children to circle the
correct pictures and to read out the correct denitions aloud.

Answers:
1b, 2a, 3b, 4c, 5a

Reading
Read pages 4 and 5 of the Factbook, pausing to discuss and explain the
concepts, for example, by getting the children to point to the correct denitions
and pictures on their worksheets as you come to those words. Alternatively, play
the CD (track 33) instead of reading, pausing where necessary.
The children could then reread the sections to themselves or in small groups.
Ask some of the more condent children to read a short section aloud to
the class.

After reading
Worksheets: How current electricity is made in a traditional power
station and How electricity is made in a wind farm
Give out Worksheet 1: How current electricity is made in a traditional power
station. The children look at the sentences at the bottom of the page and copy
them onto the appropriate place on the diagram. Display your A3 copy of the
diagram to go through the answers with the children.
Repeat with Worksheet 2: How electricity is made in a wind farm.
Go through the answers with the children rst, using your A3 copies of the
worksheets, before asking them to copy the sentences.
White out some of the words before photocopying the worksheets for the
children. Write the words on the board and ask the children to write the labels
on the diagrams and ll in the gaps.
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Answers:
1d, 2b, 3a, 4e, 5c

Answers:
1d, 2c, 3b, 4a, 5e

Additional activities
Simplified questions and answers (page 69): See Introduction for suggestions
on how to use these.

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Name

Worksheet: Vocabulary
Guess what the words mean. Circle a letter.
1. An electron is:
a. a monster from the planet Electrica.
b. a little bit of an atom that carries a negative electrical charge.
c. a kind of police ofcer.
2. An electrical circuit is:
a. a path that that can carry electricity. It can have branches,
but it must be closed somewhere.
b. the money we pay for our electricity.
c. a kind of circus.
3. A turbine is:
a. a large animal that lives in the sea.
b. a motor that turns a shaft.
c. a kind of plant.
4. An electricity generator is:
a. a kind of sh.
b. a kind of soldier.
c. a machine that makes electricity.
5. A coil is:
a. something such as wire that goes round and round like this.
b. a bottle of oil.
c. a very nice phone.

Cambridge University Press 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE

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Name

Worksheet 1: How current electricity

is made in a traditional power station
Write the sentences.
1.

4.

2.

3.

5.

a. The turbine turns a shaft.

b. The steam then turns the turbine.
c. Power lines carry the electricity to our homes.
d. Oil, gas, coal or nuclear power are used to make steam.
e. The shaft turns a magnet round a copper coil. This makes electricity.

Cambridge University Press 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE

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Name

Worksheet 2: How electricity is

made in a wind farm
Write the sentences.
1.
3.

2.

4.

5.

a. The shaft turns a magnet round a copper coil. This makes electricity.
b. The movement of the blades is used to turn a shaft.
c. The wind turns the blades.
d. The wind blows.
e. Power lines carry the electricity to our homes.
Cambridge University Press 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE

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Topic 2: Static electricity and current electricity

Note: This follows on from Topic 1.

What you need

Key language
occur naturally

ash

spark

build up of electrical charge

gigantic electric spark
gain/lose something

static electricity

electrons

Some inated balloons.

Three pieces of paper

about 10 cm by 15 cm
for each child.

A copy each of the

worksheets Static
electricity and current
electricity and More
facts about static and
current electricity for
every child.

opposite charge

release energy
stick up

First ideas
See Introduction for suggestions on how to introduce the Factbook for the
rst time.

Mixed ability teaching

See Introduction for suggestions on how to use the activities identied by
and
the
icons.

Before reading
Review the meaning of electron and circuit from Topic 1.
Here are examples of how you might introduce some of the key language,
writing new vocabulary on the board throughout:
Pass the balloons round the class and encourage the children to run them
over their hair as fast as they can. Ask Why is our hair sticking up? to elicit
or introduce static electricity.

Reading
Worksheet: Static electricity and current electricity
Give out the pieces of paper and ask the children to write True on one, False on
the next and Dont know on the third. Put the children into pairs and give out
the worksheet. Ask them to go through the sentences and decide whether they
think they are true or false. Encourage the children to discuss the sentences.
When everyone is ready, read out the sentences one by one and ask the children
to hold up their True, False or Dont know signs.
Read pages 6 and 7 of the Factbook, pausing to discuss and explain the
concepts, for example, contrasting the opposite charges that cause lightning
with the same type of charge that causes our hairs to repel each other when we
brush electrons into our hair with the balloon. Alternatively, play the CD (track
34) instead of reading, pausing where necessary.
Read through the true or false sentences and get the children to vote again.
Give them the correct answers and get the children to make any corrections on
their worksheet.
The children could then reread the sections to themselves or in small groups.
Ask some of the more condent children to read a short section aloud to
the class.

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Answers:
1. T
2. T
3. F. (It is about 9.65 km
long.)
4. T
5. F. (You brush electrons
onto it.)

After reading
Worksheet: More facts about static and current electricity

Answers:

Give out the worksheet. The children write S or C by each sentence. If you like,
ask the children to write S on the back of one of their pieces of paper and C on
the back of the other. To go over the answers, read out each sentence in turn
and ask the children to hold up their C or their S. Give the correct answer and
get the children to make any corrections on their worksheet.

1. S

Additional activities
Simplified questions and answers (page 69): See Introduction for suggestions

5. S

2. C
3. C
4. S
6. C

on how to use these.

7. S

Further reading: You could now read Lightning strike on page 14 of the

8. S

Factbook.

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Name

Worksheet: Static electricity

and current electricity
Are the sentences true or false? Write T or F.
1. Lightning is caused by static electricity.

2. A stroke of lightning is hotter than the surface of the Sun.

3. The average stroke of lighting is about a kilometre long.

4. In current electricity, the electrons ow around a circuit.

5. When you run a balloon over your hair, you brush little wires onto it.

Cambridge University Press 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE

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Name

Worksheet: More facts about

static and current electricity
Here are some facts about static and current electricity, but they are all mixed up.
Write S for static or C for current.

1. It is caused by a build up of electrons.

2. It is the kind of electricity in a battery.
3. It needs a closed circuit to ow.
4. It stays in one place until it jumps to an object.
5. It causes lightning.
6. It powers computers, fridges, lights and TVs.
7.

It doesnt need a circuit.

8. Its the kind that gives you a shock when you walk across a rug and
then touch a door handle.

Cambridge University Press 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE

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Topic 3: Batteries
Note: This follows on from Topic 2.

What you need

Key language
store something
huge

battery

chemical reaction

immediately

A watch (battery
powered).

A mobile phone.

A laptop (on battery

power).

A lemon.

A galvanised nail.

A copper coin.

tiny

go at

First ideas
See Introduction for suggestions on how to introduce the Factbook for the
rst time.

Mixed ability teaching

See Introduction for suggestions on how to use the activities identied by
and
the
icons.

Before reading
Here are examples of how you might introduce some of the key language,
writing new vocabulary on the board throughout:
Show the children your watch, mobile phone and laptop and ask What makes
these things work? What do they all have inside them? to elicit or introduce
batteries. Brainstorm and write on the board all the things you and the
children have at home and at school that are powered by batteries, using a
bilingual dictionary or little sketches for unknown vocabulary. Decide with
the children which of the things have tiny batteries.
Also mime trying to make a call on a mobile phone but failing because the
battery has gone at.

Reading
Read pages 8 and 9 of the Factbook, pausing to discuss and explain the
concepts, for example, by guessing how big the battery that runs an electric car
is. Alternatively, play the CD (track 35) instead of reading, pausing
where necessary.
The children could then reread the sections to themselves or in small groups.
Ask some of the more condent children to read a short section aloud
to the class.

After reading
Demonstrate how to make a battery from a lemon. See page 9 of the Factbook
and also Useful link.

Additional activities
Simplified questions and answers (page 69): See Introduction for suggestions
on how to use these.

Further reading: Read First electric car on page 12 and Electric force: Alessandro
Volta on page 16 of the Factbook.

Useful link
http://www.nuffy.net/articles/lemon-battery.html
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Simplified questions and answers

Q: What is electricity?

A: Electricity is a type of energy produced

by the movement of electrons.

Q: Why does electricity ow?

A: Electricity ows when there is a source of

electrical energy (such as a battery or a
generator) connected into a circuit.

Q: How is electricity made?

A: There are many different ways to make

electricity. Each method uses a turbine
which turns a shaft and moves a large
magnet around a copper coil. This
movement creates electricity in the wire.

Q: Does electricity occur naturally?

A: Lightning is a natural form of electricity.

This ash of heat and light is created by
static electricity.

Q: Whats the difference between static

electricity and current electricity?

A: Static electricity is when electric charges

build up but are not owing. Current
electricity has a steady ow of electrons.

Q: What do AC and DC mean?

A: The current that is made by a generator

and is carried inside power lines is
Alternating Current (AC) electricity.
When the power comes from a battery,
the current only moves in one direction
and is called Direct Current (DC).

Q: Can you store electricity?

A: Electricity can be stored in batteries,

but not in power plants.

Q: Why do batteries go at?

A: Batteries go at when the chemicals

inside them can no longer make
electrons ow.

Q: Why do circuit-breakers trip?

A: Circuit-breakers trip because they get

too hot when too much power is going
through them.

Q: Why does my mp3 player need an AC

adapter?

A: An AC adapter changes the powerful AC

electricity from the wall socket to the
less powerful DC electricity that an mp3
player needs. The adapter also recharges
the mp3 players internal battery.

Cambridge University Press 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE

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Its quiz time! ideas and answers

You will nd a quiz on pages 2023 of the Factbook. Here are some ways you could use the quiz:
 Take each activity in turn, with the children working in pairs or threes, checking the answers as a class
before going on to the next activity either immediately or in a future lesson.
 The children work in small mixed ability teams to complete as many of the answers in the entire quiz
as they can before checking the answers as a class and seeing which team has won keeping this as
light-hearted as possible, of course!
 The children work in pairs or threes to complete as many of the answers in the entire quiz as they can
before checking the answers as a class.


The children work individually on the entire quiz and then compare their answers in pairs or threes
before checking them as a class.

Exploit the quiz as extension activities for your fast nishers.

Answer key
Activity 1
2. F
You have more chance of being struck by lightning than winning the lottery.
3. F
The average stroke of lightning is about 9.65 kilometres long.
4. F
Electricity was rst used in homes in the late 1800s.
5. T
6. T

Activity 2
2. Alessandro Volta
3. Michael Faraday
4. Thomas Edison

Activity 3

Activity 4

2. Nikola Tesla
3. Alessandro Volta

1
2

4. Nikola Tesla

g
e

a
5

t
r

c
u
r

The mystery word is energy.

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