Primary Circuits day at Birmingham University

Year 5 pupils from three primary schools in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire spent the day at Birmingham University’s Physics department extending their knowledge and understanding of how electrical circuits work.

Following an introductory talk, each child took part in modelling how electrons move around circuits, demonstrating how energy is transferred to them by a battery/power source and transformed into light and heat energy at a light bulb. Pupils then constructed electrical circuits of their own with higher or lower resistance, measured their own resistance using a multimeter and learnt about the dangers of mains electricity and water. They made batteries out of lemons and were able to produce light with this, and investigated whether other fruit and potatoes made this happen too, the number of fruit/veg needed and so on.

The day ended with a tour of the campus and introduction to University life by University students.