Now that we have studied explanation texts. Can you write your own about an electrical item you might find in a home. Remember your key features.

WAGOLL

How does a kettle work?
When you plug the kettle into an electrical outlet, a large electric current flows into the heating element. The element’s resistance, the tendency any material has to stop electricity flowing through it, turns the electrical energy into heat. In other words, the element gets hot. Kettles are among the simplest of household appliances. Lift the lid and peer inside and you’ll see, at the very bottom of the water container, a coil of thick metal called the heating element.You can boil water in all kinds of ways—even in a simple pan on an open fire or stove—though an enclosed kettle is usually much faster: it stops heat escaping, allows the pressure to rise faster, (remember that water boils when its saturated vapor pressure equals atmospheric pressure), and helps the water to boil more quickly.

Super quick response – prize box! A very good explanation text eg: formal, contains technical vocabulary, starts with a question, follows simple steps.

Can you get time conjunctions in here? How can we include a passive sentence? Remember to answer your title in the closing paragraph. Very good effort. Mrs Beesley

How the Telephone Works.

When a person speaks into a telephone, the sound waves created by his voice enter the mouthpiece. Within the mouthpiece there is a microphone that converts the sound waves into an electrical signal. This signal is transmitted to the telephone of the person they are talking to. In the earpiece of the receiving telephone is a speaker. This speaker converts the received signal back into sound.

The first telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell using a collection of wires and bits and bobs. The first words spoken into a telephone were ” Mary had a little lamb”.

In the 21st century, mobile phones can do more than just call people such as texting. Texting works like this.

When a message is sent, it first must go through the nearby tower and then the SMS centre. The SMS tower receives the message and sends it to the tower closest to the location of the cell phone and then on to its destination.

Well done Thomas, you certainly understand this genre. I can hear your voice as I read this. Great work.
Mrs Beesley

How a Petrol Engine works.
A four stroke Petrol Engine works on the following principal: Suck, Squeeze Bang and Exhaust. This process can be better explained by understanding the different technical stages. Petrol is stored in the fuel tank and is delivered to the engine by a low pressure fuel pump. Once the petrol arrives at the engine it gets pumped to the Fuel injectors by a high pressure pump.
A typical engine has four cylinders, four injectors (one per cylinder), four pistons, one crank shaft and two types of valve per cylinder (Inlet and Exhaust valves) and a Cam shaft. Each piston is connected to the crank shaft by a connecting rod (con-rod). These pistons move in turn within each of the four cylinders as the crank shaft rotates within the engine block and are timed perfectly to provide their desired function.
The first stroke starts with a piston at the top of its cylinder. As this piston begins to move down the cylinder, a vacuum is created above the piston. The cam shaft allows the inlet valve to open. This in turn allows the air and petrol to rush inside the cylinder. This is called the “Suck” stroke. The second stage is the “Squeeze” stroke, the piston is now at the bottom of the cylinder, the inlet valve is now closed and the piston starts its return journey to the top of the cylinder. As the piston lifts up it compresses the air and fuel above it. This fuel and air combination is under extreme pressure as the piston reaches its upper most position. Once the piston is at the top, the spark plug releases an electric charge that ignites the fuel. This spark causes the fuel to explode and sends the piston back to the bottom of the cylinder at a very fast speed. This is known as the “Bang” stroke. The final stroke removes the burnt fuel gases from the cylinder on the next rotation. As the piston rises this final time, the exhaust valve opens and allows the waste gases to be pushed out through the exhaust ready for the four stage process to start again.
This sequence of events is replicated across all cylinders within the engine. The more cylinders an engine has results in the amount of power that the engine produces. This is measured as Break Horse-Power or BHP. The total volume of the combined cylinders denotes the capacity of the engine. For example a 4-litre V8 engine will have an individual cylinder capacity of 0.5 litres.

Fantastic Thomas. My dad is an engineer and has tried to explain this principle to me over the last thirty years. I think I understand it now, so your explanation text certainly worked for me. Prize Box!