Electric Current - Diagnostic Questions Set 2
Added: 29 Mar 2018
Contributor:
Scoilnet
Resource type:
Assessment
/
Worksheet
These questions all probe pupils’ understanding of the idea of electric current – as a ‘conserved’ quantity, i.e. as something which goes round an electric circuit but is used up as it goes. The questions explore this idea in several contexts, with different components in the circuit. It is easy to make more questions of the same sort, by changing the components (e.g. from a bulb to a resistor or motor, or vice versa), or changing the way the current is ‘measured’ (e.g. from asking about the size of the current at a point to asking about the reading on an ammeter).
Qs1-8 ask about observable phenomena. These questions all have a two-tier format which we have found useful for probing pupils’ ability to predict what will be observed but also to choose the best explanation for this. If a pupil gets both tiers right it is unlikely that their answer is a guess.
Qs9-10 then ask about pupils’ ‘mental models’ of what is going on. It is interesting to see if these are consistent with their predictions and explanations in the earlier ones.
How it maps to the curriculum
- JC
- Science
Strand: 4. Physical World
Strand unit: 3. Relationships between Physical Observables
Strand: 4. Physical World
Strand unit: 5. Simple Electronic Circuits
