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This is preview content for the 2026-27 academic year. Your feedback will help us improve these units.
Learning objective
- To build an electrical circuit with a push switch.
Success criteria
- I can describe how a push switch controls
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National curriculum
Design and technology
Make
Pupils
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Cross-curricular links
Before the lesson
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Lesson plan
Recap and recall
Show the Presentation: Who do you agree with? and read out the statements for each child in the cartoon. Ask the children to discuss with a partner who they agree with and why.
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Adaptive teaching
Pupils needing extra support:
- Could use the Resource: Making a push switch: version 1 and the Resource: Making a push switch: version 2 when constructing their push switches during the Main event to reduce the need to remember steps.
- Could use the Knowledge organiser to help them with key vocabulary when describing how their switch and circuits work during the Main event.
- Could record their sentences in the Main event using a device to listen back to reinforce their understanding of how the switch controls the circuit.
Pupils working at greater depth:
- Should explain in greater detail, or suggest additional reasons, why push switches are better suited to certain products, particularly those that make sound or are dangerous.
- Could consider why some products have switches with different settings and why others only have on and off.
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Assessing progress and understanding
Pupils with secure understanding can:
- Describe how a push switch controls a circuit
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Vocabulary definitions
-
buzzer
An electrical component that makes a sound when connected in a circuit.
-
push switch
A type of switch that turns things on or off only while pressed.
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Maintained by: Kapow Primary team
Last update: 8th May, 2026
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