Some materials are good electrical conductors: we can use them to complete a circuit. Some materials do not conduct at all. Objects that can be used as wires are called electrical conductors.

Here are some things to think about and do as we start the section on conductors and resistors.

• A wire is a piece of metal. Is any piece of metal a wire? Show that you can light a lightbulb using metal objects (a paper clip, a key, a ring, a stapler...) as part of the circuit -- perhaps using no wire at all!
• Objects that can be used to make part of a circuit are called electrical conductors. Objects that can't be used to make part of a circuit are called insulators. Find some examples of insulators, and note any features that conductors have in common, or insulators have in common.

Check the box when you are done:  
Next:Series circuits