Subscribe

4th grade · Science · Unit 8 of 17

Circuits

Conductors, series and parallel

What your child practices

Conductors and insulators, what each part of a circuit does, and how series and parallel circuits behave and where each is used.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 4.8(B); 4.8(C) · electrical conductors and insulators, and closed circuits that make light and heat

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A circuit is a closed loop with an energy source (battery), wires and a load (like a bulb).
  2. A switch opens or closes the loop. Current flows only in a closed circuit.
  3. Series: one path, so if one bulb goes out, all go out. Parallel: many paths, so the others stay lit.
  4. Conductors (metals) carry current. Insulators (plastic, rubber) block it.

Example: In a series circuit, one bulb burns out. What happens to the other bulbs? A series circuit has only one path. The broken bulb opens the path, so the current stops. Answer: they go out

Circuits in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 8 of 17 in 4th grade Science, after Sound and before Water World.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What does a switch do?

    • Makes electricity
    • Opens or closes the circuit
    • Stores electrical energy

  2. Question 2

    Which material is a good insulator?

    • Plastic
    • Aluminum
    • Iron

  3. Question 3

    Which material is a good conductor of electric current?

    • Rubber
    • Glass
    • Copper

  4. Question 4

    The outlets in a home are wired in…

    • parallel
    • series
    • no kind of circuit

  5. Question 5

    A string of old holiday lights goes completely dark when one bulb burns out. What type of circuit is it?

    • Parallel
    • Open only
    • Series

  6. Question 6

    Why is a parallel circuit often a good choice for home wiring?

    • Each device works on its own and gets full voltage
    • It uses no wires
    • It only works with one device

More 4th grade