Introduction to Conductor & Insulator

Lesson Plan of Introduction to Conductor & Insulator

General Science Grade IV

Students’ Learning Outcomes

· Distinguish between insulators and conductors.

· Identify examples of conductors and insulators in their environment.

Information for Teachers

· Introduction to Conducttor

· Let the students identify the conducting and non-conducting materials in an activity.

Materials / Resources

A bulb with holder, cells/batteries, erasers, wooden pieces, pieces of copper wire, pieces of iron wire, coins, ball points, pencils, textbook

Worm up activity

· Ask some questions, like the following:

v Why is the handle of an electric iron made of plastic or wood?

v Why are the electric wires covered with plastic or thread?

v Why does an electrician wear plastic gloves before working with live wires?

Development

Activity 1

· Divide the students into suitable groups. Ensure the availability of resources for the activity.

· Prepare a circuit as shown in the figure.

· Ask the students to insert the given things one by one between the open terminals of circuit and observe bulb.

· Ask the students: Why does the bulb glow by inserting some materials and not by inserting the others?

· Write their responses on the board and then tell them that materials that allow the bulb to glow are materials through which electric current can pass. The materials which don’t allow electric current to pass (bulb doesn’t glow)

· Ask them: Which of the materials conduct electricity and which ones don’t?

(Expected response: Electricity can pass through the materials like iron wire, copper wire and coin etc. and can’t pass through the materials like wood, cloth, plastic)

· Now tell the students that iron, copper, wire coil, etc. are conductors while wood, cloth, plastic etc. are insulators.

· Write all the observations of activity on the form of table on the board and ask the students to it and then complete it.

Material provided	Conducts electricity	Doesn’t conduct electricity	Conductor/Insulator
Wood
Copper wire
Plastic sheet
Iron rod
Cloth piece

Sum up / Conclusion

· Some materials are conductors and some are insulators.

· The materials which conduct electricity are called conductors.

· The materials which don’t conduct electricity are called insulators.

Assessment

For the better understanding of the students ask the following questions:

v Does the electric current flow through all the materials?

(Expected response: No, current can’t pass through all the materials. It can pass through the conductor only).

v Can all materials which conduct electricity also conduct heat?

(Expected response: Yes good conductors of electricity are also good conductors of heat).

Follow up

Make a list of conductors and insulators in your environment other than mentioned above.