step 1 of 6
You read about Zoe's morning. The kitchen light is on, bread is down in the toaster, and the microwave clock is showing the time.
How are all three of them getting their power?
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name at least ten common appliances that run on electricity
- Distinguish between mains-powered and battery-powered appliances
- Explain that electricity provides the energy that makes these devices work
1 · Read
Electricity is a kind of energy. Energy is what makes things move, heat up, light up, or make sound. Electricity flows through wires into your house and gives power to many of the things you use every day. A fridge, a TV, and a toaster all use electricity to work.
Try it together
In the morning, Zoe turns on the kitchen light, pops bread in the toaster, checks the time on the microwave clock, and starts the washing machine. Every one of those needs electricity to work. The wooden chair she sits on does not. It has no electric parts inside, so it never needs power.
Not everything plugs into a wall. A flashlight, a remote control, and some toys run on batteries instead. A battery stores energy inside it, so the device carries its own power around and works without a cord.
Electricity is energy: some devices plug into the wall, others use batteries, but all of them need it to work.
original replacement reading added; rewritten readings were written for this dataset; flashcards derived from facts-collection candidates
2 · Watch
3 · Play
Take it off screen
Print a worksheetA4 with an answer key page for grown-ups. No screen, no internet.
Where it sits
Learn first
Nothing; this is a starting point.
This opens up
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
Then practise
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.