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something else, such as water flowing through pipes or traffic moving along roads (Asoko, 1995). No model is perfect. They will usually fall down on some aspect of what actually happens inside a circuit, but the shortfalls could be discussed with the pupils. You could try using a string loop model. Ask pupils to sit in a circle on the floor. Use a loop of string (or a hoop) to play the role of the electrons inside the wire. Ask the children to hold their hands out so that the string can pass between I t is hard to imagine our modern world without electricity. After all, it’s all around us, powering our lights, heating and much of our entertainment. To most of us, life would be unthinkable without electricity. It’s a tricky topic to teach, though, because it is an abstract concept. We can see its effect on something like a light bulb, but it is very hard to explain what is actually happening inside a circuit, particularly at primary school level. The nature of electricity is hard to visualise, and when asked to draw what is going on inside a wire, children often produce waves or sparks (Kibble, 2002). Another common misconception that children have is that the current is used up as it travels around the circuit, and that there is more current in the wire before the bulb and less current in the wire after the bulb. In reality, there is the same current at every point in the circuit. In primary, children don’t need to know the difference between series and parallel circuits, but they do need to understand that for electricity to flow, a complete circuit is needed. Models and analogies To help children understand what is going on, it can be useful to use a model or an analogy, bringing in a different frame of reference to describe what is happening. For example, many people think about electricity in terms of their thumb and forefinger. One child can then act as the battery and start moving the string (electrons) around the circle. The movement of the string is the current, flowing around in a circuit. We need to take care with this model to avoid giving the misconception that it is the wire that is moving, but it’s a good starting point. For more ideas for models, see the IOP website at tinyurl.com/ tp-IOPcircuitmodels Application of electricity By the time they get to Year 6, as stated in the national curriculum, ‘Pupils should construct simple series circuits, to help them to answer questions about what happens when they try different components, for example, switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors.’ In lower years, pupils are expected to simply draw Super CIRCUITRY Add a spark to science lessons and help pupils comprehend how electricity works, with these hands-on activities... “Electricity is a tricky topic to teach, because it is an abstract concept” DANNY N I CHOLSON 42 | www.teachwire.net