Conductors and insulators

Recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors of electricity

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Define conductors (allow electricity to flow through) and insulators (block electricity)
Test at least six materials and correctly classify them as conductors or insulators
State that metals are generally good conductors and explain why wires are made of metal with plastic coating

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Try this together

Can your child test objects in a circuit and explain why metal objects let electricity through but rubber and plastic don't?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Building a simple circuitages 8–9Must know circuit components before testing which materials conduct electricity

Conductors and insulatorsthis skill · ages 8–9

Unlocks

Static electricity and sparksages 11–12KS2 conductors and insulators provides context: static charge builds where charges cannot flow (insulators)

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).

Show candidate curriculum codes · 1 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

This skill sits outside the F–6 Australian Curriculum — no candidate code matched (v0.1).

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2S6U09medium confidenceScience · Levels 5 and 6 · Science Understanding strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Building a simple circuitages 8–9 How switches workages 8–9 What uses electricity at homeages 8–9 Will the bulb light up?ages 8–9

All Energy skills →