2. 4 th Grade Core Knowledge Science : Electricity

3. Review  Matter is everything around you.  Matter is composed of elements.  Atoms are the smallest unit of an element.  Atoms are made of smaller subatomic particles-protons (+ charge), neutrons (no charge), and electrons (- charge)

4. More notes on atoms:  Protons are positively charged (+) and found in the nucleus (the center).  Neutrons do not hold a charge (neutral) and are found in the nucleus.  Electrons are negatively charged and spin around the nucleus.

6. electricity

7. -energy made available by the flow of an electric charge through a conductor

8. Static Electricity The build up of an electrical charge

9. charge  -an amount of electricity caused by having too few or too many electrons

10. electron  -a negatively (-) charged particle that spins around the nucleus of an atom

11. Current  A flow of electrons

12. Electromagnet a magnet formed by a current passed through a wire coiled around a core magnetic material; the current magnetizes the core

13. Electric Current  The movement or flow of an electrical charge, usually through an electrical circuit.

14. Electric Circuit  a path through which an electric current can flow

16. Conductor  material that readily allows an electric current to flow.  Example- copper and silver

17. Insulator  material that does not allow an electric current to flow  Example: plastic, glass, rubber, and wood.

18. Insulators

19. Insulators, cont.

20. Open circuit  a circuit that is not closed, or complete, and therefore DOES NOT allow electricity to flow

21. Closed Circuit  A complete path through which electricity can flow

22. Short Circuit  An accidental connection of low resistance made between points in a circuit in which electric currents can flow; a short circuit prevents the circuit from working as it is supposed to work.

23. Short circuit

24. Fuse  A safety feature in an electrical circuit that interrupts the circuit if the circuit goes beyond a safe level.