Key Vocab Words/Phrases

- Electrical Charge

- Electrical Current 

- Electrical circuit

- Conductors of electricity

- Insulator

- Incomplete Circuit

- Complete Circuit

- Series Circuits

- parallel circuits

- Electrical insulator

- Battery

What is Electricity?

Electricity is a type of 

energy that makes things 

work. Imagine it like an 

invisible power that moves 

through wires to turn on 

lights, TVs, and other gadgets.

Below are a few things that may use electricity in your home!

Electrical Charge 

 Electrons are the parts that carry a negative charge. Protons carry a positive charge. If you have two charges that are the same (both negative or both positive), they push away from each other. If you have two charges that are different (one negative and one positive), they pull towards each other.

= +Proton

= -Electron

Electrical Current

Electric current is like a river of tiny, invisible particles called electrons that flow through a wire. This flow of electrons is what makes things like lights, TVs, and toys work.

Just like water turns a waterwheel, the flowing electrons power things. When you flip a switch, you’re opening a gate to let the river of electrons flow and make a light bulb shine or a toy run.

Electrical Circuit

When you connect the battery, wires, switch, and a light bulb or toy together, you make a circuit. 

So, in a simple circuit, when you turn on the switch, the battery pushes the electrons through the wires, they pass through the light bulb making it light up, and then they return to the battery to start the race again.

Battery

A battery stores energy, kind of like a backpack filled with power that the electrons need to race around the track.

A battery has two ends called terminals. One is the positive end (+) and the other is the negative end (-). The electrons move from the negative end, through the circuit, and back to the positive end. It’s like starting at one end of the racetrack and racing to the other end.

Incomplete Circuit

An incomplete circuit is like having a gap or break in the racetrack. This gap means the electrons can’t travel all the way around the track.

Incomplete Circuit

Complete Circuit

Imagine you and your friends are holding hands in a line, playing a game where you pass a ball (the electrons) down the line.

In a series circuit, everything is connected in one single line, just like you and your friends' holding hands.

Series Circuit