An electric circuit is a circular channel full of water, a loop-river.<p>An off-switch is a wall of dirt placed across the channel.<p>A battery is a dam with a pump, where the pump runs just enough to maintain a 1-ft level-difference across the dam.   A resistor is a narrow section in the river, where the rushing water moves fast enough to heat up.  (Or maybe a resistor is a swamp full of cattails and mangroves, causing the entire length of river-loop to move slow.)   Amperes is gallons-per-second.  Voltage is water surface altitude measured with respect to the center of the Earth, or WRT some average water level, or WRT any chosen reference-altitude.