How Do Circuits Work?

There’s something magical about flipping a switch—the ability to witness power coming from your own fingertips to turn on a light, a car, or a computer. 

Really, we know that it’s not magic at all. It’s what happens when an electrical device is able to use a circuit to transfer energy. 

And even though it’s not Harry Potter, the magic of seeing the spark of electricity before our eyes is a marvel of the modern age and one that children will find every bit as fascinating as a class at Hogwarts. 🔮

Through this electric circuit activity, students will identify the necessary parts of a circuit and use the pieces to make one complete and one incomplete circuit. Then, they will explain whether the circuit works or not and why. 

How to Prepare This Resource for Your Students

This worksheet for explaining circuits can also be used as an interactive notebook activity. It may be used with your Electricity and Circuits Teaching Presentation.

Because this download includes the answer sheet, we recommend first printing one copy of the entire file. Then, make photocopies of the blank worksheets for students to complete independently. 

Students will also need glue and scissors to complete this worksheet. 

Questions For Deeper Discussion with Your Students

As your students are working through this science activity, get them thinking about all the different uses of electricity in their homes:

• How do you turn on the lights in your home?
• How does a vacuum cleaner get its power?
• Do any of your toys use batteries?

Before You Download

Use the drop-down menu to choose between the PDF or Google Slides version. An answer key is included in the download.

This resource was created by Gaby Perez, a teacher in Texas and a Teach Starter Collaborator. 

Wait! Don’t go anywhere until you browse additional activities and resources to turn on bright minds:  

teaching resource

Circuit Diagram Symbols Poster

A poster that shows a range of symbols used for drawing circuit diagrams.