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.
Record in your journal about what you
learned, and any questions or problems you encountered.