Topic 6 How a circuit does a job — what needs James (16)
5 questions for you · 11 question types. Tap a button on each card; the ruling goes to the build and the card shows it as ruled.
Your questions on this topic (5) — one tap each
1. [What a circuit needs to do its job](../g5/topic06/index.html#/lesson/Lesson 1/script)
(ENE5-010) — one loop, three ways to make it go dark, the positive restored between them; the rule last: an energy source, one complete loop, a part that works; "a new battery would not help" meets the register's belief that a dead circuit always needs a battery. 149 / 281 words · 10 items · 13 figures.
The background read for this topic · the topic as a student sees it
2. [How to draw a circuit as one loop](../g5/topic06/index.html#/lesson/Lesson 2/script)
(ENE5-011) — Gideon's five steps on paper; the wire that stops short as the one non-example; follow the loop with your finger. 148 / 258 words · 10 items (one order item) · 10 figures.
The background read for this topic · the topic as a student sees it
3. [Where a circuit's energy ends up](../g5/topic06/index.html#/lesson/Lesson 3/script)
(ENE5-012) — Gemma's documented claim answered at once; the same loop with a bulb, a heater, a buzzer and a motor; the chain battery → current → part → what comes out; the heater is the Grade 5 addition. 137 / 268 words · 10 items · 15 figures.
The background read for this topic · the topic as a student sees it
4. [Predict what a circuit gives out after a swap](../g5/topic06/index.html#/lesson/Lesson 4/script)
(ENE5-013, the capstone) — predict, press, check; the same-and-changes table; the broken bulb ties back to Lesson 1. 146 / 246 words · 10 items · 8 figures.
The background read for this topic · the topic as a student sees it
1. Should the lessons say "electrical energy" once, as the test's name for the energy the current carries?
Your 25 Sep rule says electricity carries energy and is not a form of it, so the topic never says "electrical energy"; it says "the energy the current carries" and "the battery's energy".
The register titles the atom "What electrical energy becomes", TEKS 5.8B and the released STAAR items say "electrical energy", and a Grade 5 student will meet the phrase on the test with no line from us.
On 29 Sep you set a pattern for "mechanical energy": the course's word is kinetic energy, and the test's word is SAID once, not adopted.
Built: never said.
My recommendation: say it once, in Lesson 3, as a told line — "On a test, the energy the current carries is often called electrical energy." — not coined, not tested, not in the summary
The background read for this topic · the topic as a student sees it
Question types (11)
One exemplar per question type in the test bank; approving a type approves every item written to it. The full type sheet.
Topic 6 · How a circuit does a job · Type 1 · bank item PP-1 · tests ENE5-010
EasyMCQType 1 — what the pictured circuit is missing (no battery / cut wire / open switch / broken bulb / nothing)
Here is a circuit drawn as a diagram. What is the circuit missing?
- a) an energy source
- b) a complete loop ← key
- c) a part that works
- d) nothing is missing
Why it is this type: A circuit needs one complete loop. The bottom wire is cut, so the loop has a gap. So the circuit is missing a complete loop.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 6 · How a circuit does a job · Type 2 · bank item PP-6 · tests ENE5-010
EasyMCQType 2 — what a described circuit is missing
A model lighthouse in a classroom in Maine has a bulb at the top, joined by wires to an empty battery holder, and the bulb is dark. What is the circuit missing?
- a) an energy source ← key
- b) a complete loop
- c) a part that works
- d) nothing is missing
Why it is this type: A circuit needs an energy source. The battery holder is empty, so nothing provides energy. So the circuit is missing an energy source.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 6 · How a circuit does a job · Type 3 · bank item PP-10 · tests ENE5-010
EasyMCQType 3 — which fix makes the circuit work
A string of small bulbs on a tent in Colorado is dark because the switch on its battery pack was left open. Which fix makes the bulbs light?
- a) Put in a new battery.
- b) Close the gap in the loop. ← key
- c) Put in a new part.
- d) Leave it as it is.
Why it is this type: An open switch leaves a gap in the loop. The battery and the bulbs are fine. So closing the gap, by closing the switch, makes the bulbs light.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 6 · How a circuit does a job · Type 4 · bank item PP-11 · tests ENE5-011
EasyMCQType 4 — which part is drawn first; where the first wire starts; which drawing is one unbroken loop (pp_pair_bulb); where the last wire goes; the check step
A boy in Ohio is about to draw a circuit with a battery, a switch and a motor. Which part does he draw first?
- a) the motor
- b) the switch
- c) the battery ← key
- d) the wire
Why it is this type: To draw a circuit, draw the battery first. So the battery is the part he draws first.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 6 · How a circuit does a job · Type 6 · bank item PP-16 · tests ENE5-012
EasyMCQType 6 — what a part does in a working circuit; which type of energy the moving / hot thing has
A doorstop alarm in Florida has a battery and a buzzer inside. When the door moves, what does the circuit do?
- a) It gives out light and heat.
- b) It gives out sound. ← key
- c) It makes something move.
- d) It gives out nothing.
Why it is this type: A buzzer gives out sound. The alarm's circuit has a buzzer in it. So the circuit gives out sound.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 6 · How a circuit does a job · Type 8 · bank item PP-19 · tests ENE5-013
EasyMCQType 8 — what the circuit gives out after a swap (buzzer → bulb; motor → buzzer; bulb → heater, the heat set; drawn pp_predict_buzzer; buzzer → motor; which part was put in)
A working loop in a toy has a buzzer in it, and the buzzer is swapped for a bulb that works. What does the circuit give out now?
- a) It gives out light and heat. ← key
- b) It gives out sound.
- c) It makes something move.
- d) It gives out nothing.
Why it is this type: When the part is swapped, the circuit gives out what the new part gives out. A bulb gives out light and heat. So the circuit now gives out light and heat.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 6 · How a circuit does a job · Type 5 · bank item PP-23 · tests ENE5-011
MediumMCQType 5 — why a drawing is wrong; what a circuit built from a faulty drawing would do; where a switch is drawn; (hard) a loop drawn with an open switch
A drawing of a circuit shows a battery, a wire to a buzzer, and a wire from the buzzer that stops before it reaches the battery. Why is this drawing wrong?
- a) The drawing has no switch in it.
- b) The buzzer is drawn before the battery.
- c) The drawing is not one unbroken loop. ← key
- d) The wire starts at the wrong end of the battery.
Why it is this type: A circuit drawing is one unbroken loop from one end of the battery through each part and back to the other end. The last wire stops short, so the drawing has a gap. So the drawing is wrong because it is not one unbroken loop.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 6 · How a circuit does a job · Type 7 · bank item PP-26 · tests ENE5-012
MediumMCQType 7 — what goes in the blank box (the part; the energy source); what carries the energy; why the bulb is warm
Here is the energy chain for a working circuit, with one box blank. Which part goes in the blank box?
- a) a bulb
- b) a heater
- c) a motor
- d) a buzzer ← key
Why it is this type: The part gives the energy out. The chain ends in sound, and a buzzer gives out sound. So the blank box is a buzzer.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 6 · How a circuit does a job · Type 9 · bank item PP-36 · tests ENE5-013
MediumMCQType 9 — what stays the same (the battery and the wires); the broken-part swap; the battery-for-battery swap (the out set); (hard) swap + open switch (the out set, keyed nothing); swap + silent buzzer
A working loop's buzzer is swapped for a motor. Which of these stays the same after the swap?
- a) the part in the loop
- b) the battery and the wires ← key
- c) what the circuit gives out
- d) the sound that comes out
Why it is this type: When the part is swapped, the battery and the wires stay the same. The part changes, and what the circuit gives out changes with it: the motor moves, and no sound comes out. So the battery and the wires stay the same.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 6 · How a circuit does a job · Type 10 · bank item PP-40 · tests ENE5-010
HardMCQType 10 — the missing part's name; the shape's name; the first part of the routine; what the buzzer / bulb / heater gives out; what the swapped circuit gives out
A model streetlight has a complete loop and a bulb that works, but nothing in the loop provides energy. Type the name of the part that is missing.
Why it is this type: Hard because. the student produces the part's name from its job, with no options to pick from
The why line (what a student reads after answering): The battery provides the energy. Nothing in this loop provides energy. So the missing part is the battery.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
More from the sheet on this type
Typed; accept: battery, a battery, the battery, batteries, battry, batery, baterry, an energy source, energy source, the energy source
Topic 6 · How a circuit does a job · Type 11 · bank item PP-42 · tests ENE5-010
HardMCQType 11 — a named child's claim is wrong: what is the correct reason (the new-battery belief; the only-light belief — ENE5 register SD-2)
Gemma's model fan stopped when a wire came loose from the motor. Gemma says the fan needs a new battery, but she is wrong. What is the correct reason?
- a) The motor is burned out.
- b) The loose wire left a gap in the loop. ← key
- c) The battery is in upside down.
- d) The fan blades are too heavy.
Why it is this type: Hard because. a documented belief (ENE5 register SD-2: a failed circuit is always missing a battery) judged by its correct reason
The why line (what a student reads after answering): A wire that has come loose leaves a gap in the loop, so the circuit is missing a complete loop. The battery still provides energy. So the correct reason is that the loose wire left a gap in the loop, and clipping it back on is the fix.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
More from the sheet on this type
Belief source. ENE5 register SD-2: 'A circuit that fails is always missing a battery'; Lesson 1 addressed it ('A new battery would not help, because the loop would still have the gap.')
Skill: write-like-james @ cca3af6 · built 8 October 2026 by build_tools_needs_you.py