• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Simple circuits). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. What does a switch do in a circuit? (It changes the battery / It stores electricity / It opens or closes a gap, turning the circuit off or on / It makes the bulb brighter) → It opens or closes a gap, turning the circuit off or onPrompt: When you switch off a light, what happens to the circuit?
2. Circuits: which statement is NOT true? (Adding more cells makes a bulb brighter. / A cell (battery) pushes the current around a circuit. / A circuit must be complete for current to flow. / A bulb lights with just one wire to the cell.) → A bulb lights with just one wire to the cell.Prompt: Does current get used up in a series circuit?
3. Why should you never poke anything into a mains socket? (It is not dangerous / It might break the toy / Mains electricity can give a dangerous, even deadly, electric shock / Sockets have no electricity) → Mains electricity can give a dangerous, even deadly, electric shockPrompt: Mains voltage is much higher than a battery's.

• Show a circuit with a gap and ask why the bulb doesn't light.
• Share the objective: Electrical conductors and insulators. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: If you put a wooden spoon in the gap in a circuit, would it conduct electricity or insulate?
• Step 1: Electrical insulators do not let current flow.
• Step 2: So the answer is: insulator
• Answer: insulator
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. If you put a dry cotton thread in the gap in a circuit, would it conduct electricity or insulate? (conductor / insulator) → insulatorPrompt: Is it made of metal (or graphite)?
2. Which is the best insulator to use for the handle of a screwdriver for electricians? (steel / copper / aluminium (aluminum) / hard rubber or plastic) → hard rubber or plasticPrompt: The handle must stop current reaching the hand.

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Why are electrical wires covered in plastic? (Plastic is an insulator, so it keeps the current in the wire and keeps us safe / To make the wire heavier / To make the electricity flow faster / Plastic conducts electricity better) → Plastic is an insulator, so it keeps the current in the wire and keeps us safePrompt: What would happen if you touched a bare live wire?
2. If you put a graphite pencil lead in the gap in a circuit, would it conduct electricity or insulate? (conductor / insulator) → conductorPrompt: Is it made of metal (or graphite)?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-3.