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Electricity & Circuits: Current, Voltage & Ohm’s Law

Students explore the fundamentals of electricity — current, voltage, and resistance — connected by Ohm’s law (V = IR), and learn how series and parallel circuits behave differently in the devices all around them.

Grade 11Electricity55 minutes1 class period5E ModelExplicit teaching4 StandardsCommon Core
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Define current, voltage, resistance.
  • ✓Apply Ohm’s law (V = IR).
  • ✓Compare series and parallel circuits.
  • ✓Read a simple circuit diagram.
Essential Question

Flip a switch and light floods the room instantly. What is actually flowing, what pushes it, and why does one broken bulb sometimes kill a whole string of lights but not others?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Circuits Explorer · Interactive

The Circuits Explorer

Project this and tap each idea. Have students connect current, voltage, resistance, Ohm’s law, and circuit types.

⚡ Explore electricity & circuits — tap eachTry it

The Lesson · 5E Model

55 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Engage — Instant Light

5 min

Flip a switch — what actually flows, and what pushes it?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Pose the light switch.
  • Ask what flows.
  • Set the goal: electricity.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Consider the switch.
  • Wonder what flows.
  • Predict the idea.
2

Explore — Explore Circuits

12 min

Students investigate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to the Circuits Explorer.
  • Record each idea.
  • Note series vs. parallel.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Tap each one.
  • Record it.
  • Note circuit types.
3

Explain — Ohm’s Law

13 min

Teacher explains.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Define current, voltage, resistance.
  • Introduce V = IR.
  • Compare series and parallel.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Learn the terms.
  • Learn Ohm’s law.
  • Compare circuits.
4

Elaborate — Build & Solve

12 min

Apply.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Solve V = IR problems.
  • Build a simple circuit.
  • Predict a broken-bulb result.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Solve V = IR.
  • Build a circuit.
  • Predict the break.
5

Evaluate — Exit Ticket

5 min

Three quick checks.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Hand out the exit ticket.
  • Look for Ohm’s law use.
  • Collect as formative data.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Define terms.
  • Use V = IR.
  • Compare circuits.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (High School Physics) and Common Core literacy in science.

NGSS
HS-PS2-5

Provide evidence that electric currents create magnetic fields and vice versa.

NGSS
HS-PS3-5

Develop a model of forces between objects due to electric fields.

NGSS
HS-PS3-3

Design a device that converts electrical energy to another form.

CCSS
RST.11-12.7

Integrate quantitative information from graphs and diagrams.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Circuit-part picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “Voltage = current times ___.”
  • Label a circuit diagram.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Focus on V = IR.
  • Use a labeled circuit.
  • Build a battery-and-bulb circuit.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Calculate total resistance in circuits.
  • Explain electric power (P = IV).
  • Design a parallel circuit.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 📓Science notebooks
  • 💻The Circuits Explorer
  • 🔋Batteries, wires, bulbs
  • 🧮Calculators
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

currentthe flow of electric charge (amperes)voltagethe push driving current (volts)resistanceopposition to current (ohms)Ohm’s lawV = IRcircuita complete path for currentseries circuitcomponents on a single pathparallel circuitcomponents on separate pathsconductora material that carries current
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
State Ohm’s law.
V = IR (voltage = current × resistance).
QUESTION 2
If a circuit has 12 V and 3 Ω of resistance, what is the current?
4 A (I = V ÷ R = 12 ÷ 3).
QUESTION 3
In a series circuit, what happens if one bulb burns out?
The whole circuit breaks and all the bulbs go out (they share one path).

Going deeper? Total resistance.

Have students calculate the total resistance and current in series and parallel circuits, and compare how each behaves. A printable circuits sheet is in the Science library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Electricity & CircuitsFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Electricity & CircuitsQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Electricity & CircuitsPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: circuit, conductor, current, Ohm’s law, parallel circuit, resistance, series circuit, voltage
  1. a material that carries current
  2. opposition to current (ohms)
  3. the push driving current (volts)
  4. the flow of electric charge (amperes)
  5. a complete path for current
  6. components on separate paths
  7. V = IR
  8. components on a single path

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. State Ohm’s law.
  2. If a circuit has 12 V and 3 Ω of resistance, what is the current?
  3. In a series circuit, what happens if one bulb burns out?
Answer key — Part A: 1) conductor · 2) resistance · 3) voltage · 4) current · 5) circuit · 6) parallel circuit · 7) Ohm’s law · 8) series circuit
Part B: 1) V = IR (voltage = current × resistance). 2) 4 A (I = V ÷ R = 12 ÷ 3). 3) The whole circuit breaks and all the bulbs go out (they share one path).