In this lesson students will be involved in exploratory investigations
to learn about static electricity using inexpensive "grocery store"
items. Video segments will be used to verify student's experiments and predictions.
Students will communicate their experiences with others by collecting and
Science for You #13: Where Does Electricity Come From?
Electricity and Magnetism #1: Static Electricity
Students will be able to:
- Students will be able to produce static electricity.
- Students will be able to observe the effects of static electricity.
- Students will be able to recognize and define the terms attract and
repel as they relate to static electricity.
- Students will be able to collect and graph data.
- Balloon for each student
- 1 sheet of black construction paper for each group of 2 students
- 1 tablespoon of sugar for each group of 2 students
- 1 tablespoon of salt for each group of 2 students
- 1 tablespoon foil strips, 1 cm square, for each student or group
- 1 tablespoon Rice Krispies cereal for each student or group
- 1 tablespoon confetti for each student or group
- Graph paper for each student or group
Initiate a discussion with students to access their prior experience
with static electricity. Examples might include: clothes sticking together
when removed from a dryer, shock felt when touching an object or person
after walking across a carpet, lightning. INSERT video Science for You #13:
Where Does Electricity Come From?
BEGIN at visual cue of light bulb as the narrator says,
"It's incredible how many devices in our daily lives use electricity
in some way." To give students a specific responsibility while viewing
tell them to watch for a way to produce static electricity. PLAY.
STOP as narrator says, "...nature's way of producing electricity."
ACTIVITY Pass a balloon to each student. Depending on age and ability of
students balloons may already be inflated and tied or you may have students
do this themselves. Challenge students to stick balloon to wall. Instruct
students to leave balloons on wall and return to seats. INSERT tape
Electricity and Magnetism #1: Static Electricity. FOCUS student's
viewing by explaining that amber is a rock formed from fossilized tree sap
and that a pith ball is a small ball formed from the interior pith of a
cornstalk. Tell students to notice the reaction of the amber and the pith
ball to static electricity. PLAY video from beginning. PAUSE
tape after narrator says, "Why in the world is it that both amber and
the comb attracted things after we rubbed them with a woolen cloth?"
Discuss with class. Relate to the previous activity of the balloon (negative
charge) on the wall (neutral charge).
ACTIVITY Pass one piece of black construction paper to each group of 2 students.
Have students retrieve balloons from wall and return to seats. Place one
tablespoon of sugar in center of black paper. Have students renew the balloon's
static charge by rubbing. Hold the balloon about inch above sugar, bend
over so eyes are at level between balloon and sugar, and watch the reaction
between the balloon and sugar. After allowing time for observation flip
balloon with finger to remove sugar from balloon. Throw away sugar but save
the paper and balloons. Ask students if sugar behaved like the pith ball.
RESUME tape and have students listen to verify their discussion and
experiment responses. PAUSE video when narrator says, "The result
as you saw was an object with a negative charge attracted to an object that
was uncharged." (Sugar had neutral charge, balloon had negative charge.)
ACTIVITY Pass one tablespoon of salt to each pair of students. Have students
renew the balloon's static charge by rubbing, then hold the balloon about
inch above the salt, position eye level between the balloon and salt, and
watch the reaction. Ask students to describe what they saw. Some salt will
stick to the balloon, some salt will bounce from the balloon to the paper.
Flip balloon the finger to remove salt. At this point you may dispose of
both salt and black paper. FOCUS student's viewing by telling them to listen
for an explanation of why the salt reacted differently with the balloon
than the sugar. RESUME video. PAUSE at narrator's question,
"What do you think will happen next?" Allow class discussion.
Relate to reaction of salt to balloon. Will comb attract the pith ball?
Will comb repel the pith ball? RESUME video to verify student responses.
PAUSE video with definitions of both attract and repel showing and
after narrator reads the definitions. To solidify previous activities with
these definitions have students read definitions in unison and then ask
students which substance's reaction, sugar or salt, would match each definition.
If your students keep science journals you might want to have them copy
FOCUS student's viewing by saying - Let's see how well you understand these
ideas. Be prepared to predict these experiments' results. RESUME
video. PAUSE after narrator asks, "Will the balls attract each
other or repel each other?" Have students raise hands to predict attract
or repel. RESUME video to verify student predictions. PAUSE
video after narrator asks, "Can you figure out what's happening?"
Discuss possible explanations with class. FOCUS student's viewing by asking
them to listen to find out what happened to the girl's hair and then watch
to see another use for the Van de Graff generator -- making miniture bolts
of lightning. RESUME and PLAY to end. These bolts are difficult
to see in one viewing so rewind and play to let students view this segment
An important science skill is being able to communicate scientific
information with others. Remind students that they've learned about and
experimented with static electricity in this lesson. Tell students that
now they'll use math skills to share information with others. Give each
group of 4 students pieces of foil, confetti, and Rice Krispies. Have students
produce a static charge on their balloon, then hold the balloon inch above
each item. Record the number of pieces of each kind of material picked up
by the balloon. Graph the information with the x-axis being the type of
material (foil, confetti, Rice Krispies) and the y-axis being the number
of pieces picked up by static on the balloon. Label graphs with a title.
Have groups share finished graphs and post in classroom. If students have
the math ability to average numbers, the individual students could experiment
independently and report their data to be averaged, compiled and graphed
in groups of 4.
Invite the school's computer specialist, if available in your
school or district, or a computer technician to discuss with students how
static electricity can cause problems for a computer.
Write to Alberto-Culver Inc. to request information about the discovery
of the product Static Guard and how it removes static electricity from clothing
and other items..
Write to 3M Company (or any other diskette manufacturer) for information
on the correct use and storage techniques for diskettes.
Research to find out how lightning is produced. Visit the Weather Bureau
or invite a meteorologist to class to discuss the incidence of lightning
strikes in the local area. Use the Internet or Link 19 to research and request
similar information from other locations.
Contact HSSMTI (High School Science Math and Technology Institute) at the
University of Missouri-Kansas City to request a high school student to visit
the classroom to demonstrate and lead hands-on electricity activities for
Suggest to students that they take the balloons home and experiment with
other items found in the home to observe their reactions to static electricity.
Seek parents' permission first. Possible items to try: flour, cornstarch,
powdered sugar, baking soda, baking powder, spices, cereals, pieces of Styrofoam.
Continue study of electricity by exploring current electricity.
Research the formula for estimating the distance of lightning from the viewer
by counting the number of seconds between the lightning strike and the sound
of thunder. Try to use the method during a thunder storm.
Research mythology for references to lightning. Find its symbolic meaning.
Research Native American stories relating to lightning. Create original
art depicting a story from mythology or Native American folklore.
Have students write their own version of a story from mythology or a Native
American story to be shown with the art project. Or have students create
their own original stories and illustrate with their own original art work.
Research the lives and discoveries of Michael Faraday, Alexander G. Bell,
Thomas A. Edison, Pliny the Younger, Guglielmo Marconi, Luigi Galvani, Alessandro
Volta, and Benjamin Franklin.
Master Teacher: Mary Parker
Lesson Plan Database
Thirteen Ed Online