Aims | Outline | Curriculum Relevance | Background | Activities |
The Blue Dragon
Programme 11: Switched On!
This programme aims to develop children's
understanding of electricity, which includes being safe around
electricity and how to create simple circuits using components such
as bulbs, motors and buzzers.
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In this programme the characters find themselves on
the outskirts of a village, following a 'Red Dragon' sign. The
villagers are preparing for their Summer Fair, with lots of tents,
lights and activities.
Unfortunately a rabbit has chewed through the wires and nothing
will work. The characters solve this problem by creating their own
circuits and put on a puppet show for everyone, saving the day.
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The programme
explores:
- ideas about using electricity safely;
- appliances that use batteries and mains
electricity;
- making a simple circuit using bulbs, wires and
batteries;
- drawing pictures of a circuit;
- using bulbs, motors and buzzers;
- creating a break in a circuit and putting a switch
in a circuit to turn components on and off.
There are many curriculum
links that can be made, for example:
- English – make a safety poster to warn of the
dangers of electricity; produce a leaflet for looking after a pet
rabbit.
- Design and Technology – design and make a
popcorn cone.
- Art – paint clowns for the village fair
frieze.
- Music – listen to different kinds of music,
for example brass bands, and discuss the kind of music that would
be played at a summer fair.
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For a bulb to light (a lamp), a buzzer to sound or a
motor to turn, a circuit must be complete, which means there must
be no gaps. Young children can use each of these components and
should be taught that the simplest circuit, made up of a bulb,
wires and a battery, is called a series circuit.
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Ask children to draw a picture of Cinders breathing
fire and cut out the flame replacing it with red or orange
sweet-wrapper cellophane to make it look more realistic. A switch
could be included to make it look as though Cinders keeps breathing
fire.
A popular food at a fair is
popcorn. Using either a saucepan with a lid or a popcorn maker, an
adult could show children how popcorn is made and the changes that
take place when the corn is heated.
Give children popcorn kernels before popping the corn and talk
about what it is like, such as its hardness and colour.
When the corn is popping
focus the children's attention on:
- the sound of the popping corn;
- the smell of the popcorn;
- what is making the corn pop;
- changes during and after cooking.
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