Electrical Circuit
Electricity and Magnetism

Things you'll need to decide on as you plan: Modelling Simple Electrical Loops

Teaching Guidance for 11-14 Supporting Physics Teaching

Bringing together two sets of constraints

Focusing on the learners:

Distinguishing–eliciting–connecting. How to:

  • build on the helpful ideas present
  • avoid injecting unhelpful lines of thinking
  • construct a model of flow, relating this to current
  • build on the idea that something is used up
  • draw out, and challenge wrong track thinking

Teacher Tip: These are all related to findings about children's ideas from research. The teaching activities will provide some suggestions. So will colleagues, near and far.

Focusing on the physics:

Representing–noticing–recording. How to:

  • deal with a circuit loop as a single linked system
  • focus on the steady-flow state, not on transients
  • work practical experiences in with theoretical descriptions
  • develop a toolkit to support pupils' reasoning about circuits

Teacher Tip: Connecting what is experienced with what is written and drawn is essential to making sense of the connections between the theoretical world of physics and the lived-in world of the children. Don't forget to exemplify this action.

IOP AWARDS 2025

Teachers of Physics Awards

The Teachers of Physics Award celebrates the success of secondary school physics teachers who have raised the profile of physics and science in schools. Nominations for 2025 are now open.

Start your nomination now