Open the Physical sciences strand with a hook: hold up a battery, a globe and some wire and ask "What do I need to connect, and how, to make this globe light up?" Establish the core idea: a globe only lights when there is a complete (unbroken) loop from one end of the cell, through the components, and back.
Model each circuit component and its job: the cell (the energy source), wires (carry the energy), the globe (where we see the energy doing work), and the switch (opens or closes the loop).
Introduce the conventional symbols scientists use to draw circuits, and read this diagram together:
Finally, model the energy story using the right words: the cell stores energy; that energy is transferred around the circuit; and at the globe it is transformed from electrical energy into light (and a little heat).
Hand each pair a circuit kit. Build a working circuit together, step by step, with the whole class following along:
- connect cell → wire → globe → wire → back to cell, and confirm the globe lights;
- break the loop (remove a wire) and observe the globe go out — establishing "complete circuit";
- add the switch and open/close it, naming what the switch does to the loop.
Pause to ask: "Where is energy being transformed, and into what?" Then model drawing the built circuit on the board using the conventional symbols from the diagram above.
Pairs work through the circuit worksheet:
- build a circuit that lights the globe and demonstrate it to the teacher;
- draw their circuit using the conventional symbols (cell, switch, globe, wires);
- label each component with its job;
- write one sentence describing the energy transformation at the globe.
Circulate to verify each pair's working circuit and check their diagrams use correct symbols.
Exit ticket: complete the sentence — "The globe lights because the circuit is ___, and at the globe electrical energy is transformed into ___."