Students in the fifth grade should be familiar with the terms "static electricity" and "current electricity," and they should be able to explain the difference between them. When an electrical charge stays in one object instead of being conducted out of it, that charge is static electricity. When a charge is moving from object to object via a conductor, it is current electricity. Students should also be familiar with protons, neutrons and electrons as positively charged, neutrally charged and negatively charged particles.
Students should be familiar with the terms "conductor" and "electrical conductivity." They should know that a conductor is a material that allows electricity to flow through it from one object to another. They should be able to identify metals such as silver and copper as having high electrical conductivity. They should also know the word "insulator" as the opposite of "conductor," a material that does not allow electricity to pass through it. Students should identify rubber as an insulator. They should know the word "current," which is the flow of electricity from one object to another.
Students should be familiar with the concept of circuits and their different types. They should know that a complete circuit is a path that allows an electric current to flow from a power source through something else and then back to the power source, an incomplete circuit does not allow an electric current to flow all the way through it, a series circuit allows an electric current to flow through a complete circuit by taking only one path and a parallel circuit has more than one possible path for electricity to take through it. Students should also know that a short circuit is when an electric current jumps part of the circuit and instead travels through something else that will conduct it more easily.
Students should be able to identify and understand batteries, switches and filaments. A battery is a device that uses chemical processes to produce electricity. A filament is a fine line of metal used in light bulbs to generate light from electricity. A switch is a device used to toggle a circuit between complete and incomplete. Students should be able to apply these concepts and the concepts of the different kinds of circuits to understand the devices they see in their everyday lives.