Hello, everyone! Mr. James here, ready to do some science, and I hope you are too.

I hope you're feeling curious, and I hope you're full of questions and ready to go.

Let's start.

And here's our learning outcome.

Will you be able to sort materials into electrical conductors and insulators? I think you will.

I have every confidence in you.

Let's start learning.

First things first, we're going to need some keywords.

These are our keywords today.

I'll say them.

You can repeat them.

Material, electrical conductor, electrical insulator, mineral.

And on the screen now are the meanings of these keywords.

I'm gonna ask you to pause the video so that you can read them.

Great.

It's important to get those words under our belt.

So, today's lesson, we're going to start by talking about electrical conductors, and then we'll go on to think about electrical insulators, and then we'll think about how we might use electrical conductors and insulators.

For electrical circuits to work, electricity must be able to flow around them.

The electricity must be able to pass through the components, so these need to be made from the right type of materials.

Do you know what type of materials allow electricity to pass through them? Take a moment to discuss that with a partner.

Pause the video now.

Electrical conductors are materials which allow electricity to pass through them easily.

That's what an electrical conductor is.

Aisha is thinking about this.

"I wonder which materials are electrical conductors." How could she demonstrate that a material is an electrical conductor? "I'll need to follow the safety rules when investigating electricity," she remembers, importantly.

Aisha puts the material on top of the cell and uses a hand lens to observe if electricity is passing through it or not.

Will that work? What do you think? Tell your partner.

Pause the video now.

No, we cannot see electricity passing through materials.

Aisha decides to build a simple circuit.

Here it is.

Once she knows it works, she'll include different materials in the circuit to test whether or not they are electrical conductors.

Here we are.

Here's an electrical circuit, and it's got a material included in it, the test material.

If the material is an electrical conductor, will the buzzer buzz? Thumbs up for yes, thumbs down for no, and twiddle your thumbs if you're not too sure.

Yes, it will.

If the material is not an electrical conductor, the buzzer won't buzz! Even though the loop looks complete, the electrical circuit is incomplete.

If electricity can't flow, it's the same as having a break in the circuit.

Can you help me to decide what word is missing from this sentence? An electrical, hmm, is a material that allows electricity to pass through it easily.

What do you think? Can you shout the word out? That's right, it's a conductor.

An electrical conductor is a material that allows electricity to pass through it easily.

Why won't the bulb light up in this circuit? Is it A, because there's a gap in the circuit? Is it B, because the test material is not an electrical conductor? Or is it C, the bulb's connected the wrong way round.

Take a look at the circuit in the picture.

Decide A, B, or C.

Hands up for A, hands up for B, hands up for C.

I'll show you the correct answer.

Yes, it's B.

The test material is not an electrical conductor, and that's why the bulb isn't lighting up.

The children were given two materials to try in a circuit, material A and material B.

When material A was included in the circuit, the buzzer buzzed.

When material B was included instead, the buzzer did not buzz.

Aisha thinks, "Material A must be an electrical conductor." Jacob thinks, "Material B must be an electrical conductor." And Sam says, "The buzzer didn't buzz from material B because it was broken." Who do you agree with, and why? Have a think.

Talk to a partner.

Pause the video now.

Aisha's correct.

Material A must be an electrical conductor.

The buzzer buzzed when material A was included in the circuit.

This means that this material allows electricity to pass through it, so it's an electrical conductor.

Now we'll talk about electrical insulators.

"An electrical conductor is a material that allows electricity to pass through it." "So what do we call a material if it does not let electricity pass through it? A non-conductor?" What do you think? Materials which do not conduct electricity easily are called electrical insulators.

Electricity is dangerous, so we do not want to come in contact with it.

If electricity passes into our bodies, we get an electric shock.

These can make us very unwell and can even kill us.

Jacob is thinking about this.

"Why don't I get an electric shock when I use the vacuum cleaner?" What do you think? Again, pause the video now and talk to your partner.

Share your ideas.

Scientists and engineers design electrical appliances so that they can be used safely without giving us electrical shocks.

The electrical circuits and appliances are made from materials which are electrical conductors.

The parts of the appliances which we touch are made from, that's it, electrical insulators.

The outside of this vacuum cleaner is made from plastic, which is an electrical insulator.

This helps to keep us safe.

Jacob and Aisha want to investigate which materials are electrical conductors and which are electrical insulators.

They plan to use their test circuit again, but this time, they will use it to test a range of different materials.

You can see where they're going to include the test material in their circuit.

So, again, help me to fill the gap.

An electrical, something, is a material that does not allow electricity to pass through it easily.

You can shout it out again.

One, two, three! Fantastic.

Yes, it's an insulator.

An electrical insulator is a material that does not allow electricity to pass through it easily.

What type of materials should the buttons and handles on electrical appliances be made from? Is it A, electrical conductors, or B, electrical insulators? This is the material for the handles on electrical appliances.

Hands up if you think A, conductors.

Hands up if you think B, insulators.

Fantastic.

You're doing really well.

The buttons and handles on electrical appliances should be made from electrical insulators so that we don't get electric shocks.

Task B, electrical insulators.

Make a simple circuit and use it to test a range of materials to see which are electrical conductors and which are electrical insulators.

Record your results in the table, noting the object you use and the material that it's made from.

Do you notice any patterns in your results? Pause the video now.

I'm sure you enjoyed that investigation.

So, your results.

You might have found something a bit like this.

Here we have some electrical conductors, a metal spoon, a metal paperclip, a metal split pin, and here we have some electrical insulators, a plastic spoon, a wooden lolly stick, a strip of leather, some paper, and some wool.

Do you notice a pattern? Yes, all the objects which conducted electricity were made of, that's it, metal.

Now it's time for us to move on to the last part of our lesson, using electrical conductors and insulators.

Aisha noticed that out of the materials she tested, the electrical conductors were all metal.

"That must mean that all electrical conductors are metal." Do you agree? Pause the video for a moment so you can talk to your partner.

Aisha is not quite right.

Metals are the best electrical conductors, but some non-metals can conduct electricity too.

"My dad says not to use electric appliances in the bathroom because electricity can flow through water," Jacob remembers.

"Does this mean that water is an electrical conductor?" "Hmm," thinks Lucas.

"Does this mean that our bodies are electrical conductors too?" Sam says, "But water and humans are not made from metal!" Minerals, when dissolved in water, can conduct electricity and can be found in both the water in our surroundings and in our bodies.

Why is this important when we think about safety with electricity? Pause the video now and talk to your partner.

Compare your ideas.

Using water near to electrical appliances is very dangerous and could cause us to get an electric shock.

Here's a warning sign about electricity and water.

We should never use electrical appliances near water.

Metals are the best electrical conductors, but does this mean that all other materials are electrical insulators? Most non-metals are electrical insulators.

They do not allow electricity to pass through them easily.

Examples of electrical insulators are plastic, rubber, air, wood, and glass.

Which of the following materials are the best at conducting electricity? I want you to give me a wave like this with two hands if you think the material that I read out is going to be good at conducting electricity.

Here we go.

Plastic, wood, metal, fabric.

Yeah, metal is the one out of those materials that is going to be best at conducting electricity.

Which of the following can conduct electricity when dissolved in water? Again, get ready to wave.

Is it vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, or liquids? And the answer is minerals.

Well done.

Which of the following are examples of electrical insulators? Again, double hand wave.

Here we go.

Plastic, metal, tap water, rubber.

Let's have a look.

There were two.

Plastic and rubber are both examples of electrical insulators.

Task C now, using electrical conductors and insulators.

You're part of an engineering team designing a new washing machine.

You need to choose materials based on their properties for each of the parts of the machine, labelled on the next slide.

Explain your choices.

So, you need to think about the electrical circuit.

That's the bit that controls the wash type.

It's inside the machine.

Two, the buttons.

These are pressed to select the wash type you want to use.

Three, the handle.

This is used to open the door to the drum.

Four is the inside of the wire to connect it to the mains electricity.

And five is the casing of the wire.

Right, your turn to decide.

Here's a table for you to record your answers.

Pause the video now.

How did you get on? The circuit.

A material for this would be metal.

It's a conductor to make the circuit complete.

The buttons.

Plastic would be a good idea.

An insulator so people don't get electrical shocks.

The handle.

Also plastic.

Again, an insulator so people don't get electric shocks.

Inside the wire.

Well, that would need to be metal, a conductor to get electricity to the machine.

And the casing of the wire.

Plastic, an insulator, once again, so people don't get electric shocks.

Time to think about all that we've learned in our lesson today.

An electrical conductor is a material that allows electricity to pass through it easily.

An electrical insulator is a material that does not allow electricity to pass through it easily.

Metals are the best materials for conducting electricity.

There are minerals that can conduct electricity when dissolved in water, and they can be found in both the water in our surroundings and in our bodies.

Examples of electrical insulators are plastic, rubber, wood, glass, and air.

Well done for all the learning that you've done today, and don't forget all the safety points as well.

Really important.

Good stuff.

See you next time.

Bye!.