Conducting Electricity

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Every day, we are using electricity in one way or another.

Every minute, we are using electricity to power devices and appliances such as vacuums, refrigerators, ovens, blenders, and television sets that we use constantly in our lives.

It would seem almost impossible to count the number of times you have used electricity so far today. Electricity is needed to power most things that are found in our homes.

• Have you ever thought about how electricity can travel from one place to another?

It needs to flow through an object that is known as a good conductor of electricity, something that lets electricity flow through it. If electricity cannot flow throw something, it's called an insulator.

All metals are conductors. Glass, wood, rubber, and plastic are insulators. Some liquids, such as salt water, are conductors; while others, like oil, are insulators.

Check out the conductors and insulators in the image below:

• Have you ever noticed the electric wires that run into your home?
• Do you think they're good conductors?
• Have you ever wondered why the birds that sit on them don't get electrocuted?

To find out, watch Why don't Birds get Electrocuted on Power Cables? from It's AumSum Time:

Continue on to the Got It? section to experiment further with electricity!