Science Matters
Static Electricity
Working with static electricity is sure to give the class a charge! Budding scientists experiment with balloons and different materials to discover how to create static electricity. They learn about the transfer of electrons and the...
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Static electricity: Ah, There's the rub!
Students experiment to investigate static electricity. In this static electricity instructional activity, students prepare a balloon head and draw a face on it. Students rub the nose and the balloon moves toward the student...
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Exploring Electricity - Four Activities
These are four classic activities used for instructing upper elementary electricians. The first involves experimenting with the Van de Graaff generator. The second is a series of hands-on experiences with static. In the third activity,...
Physics Classroom
Action at a Distance Lab
The concepts involved with static electricity are typically taught in upper elementary physical science units. The lab described in this resource has pupils examine the behavior of small pieces of paper and a balloon when a charged piece...
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Static Electricity
Students are introduced to the concept of static electricity and its causes. After viewing video segments, they observe its effect on various objects. In groups, they discover how static electricity is produced and how objects with...
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Electricity
First graders become aware of the presence of static electricity. They create static electricity using friction.
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Introduction to Magnets
Students explore magnetism, electromagnetism, and static electricity through a series of activities and experiments. In this magnets activity, students use magnets to observe the forces of attraction and repulsion between different...
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Sliders - Static and Kinetic Friction
Students work in groups to conduct experiments the demonstrate the differences between static and kinetic friction. They consider how friction affects us in our everyday lives, determine the effects of weight on friction and complete a...
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Simple Circuit: Electric Currents and Circuits
Through inquiry and exploration, 4th graders will learn and understand the functions of open and closed circuits. They will break into 2 groups, define vocabulary, hypothesize how to light a bulb, then test their hypothesis 4 different...
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MINI-UNIT on ELECTRICITY
Students identify hypotheses related to static electricity, to begin to test the hypotheses, to begin to develop conclusions related to observations, to demonstrate that like charges repel and unlike charges attract each other, to name...
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Take Charge!
Students induce an electrical charge on various objects, and experiment with electrical repulsion and attraction. They define related vocabulary, play Bingo and complete a take-home quiz.
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Introduction to Electricity
Students experiment with static electricity and make their own electrical circuits. Students experiment with their circuits to explore conductors and insulators. Students identify Thomas Edison as the person who invented the electric bulb.
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Static Cling
Students work together to discover the concept of static electricity. They participate in an experiment in which they test different objects charge. They make observations and record them for later use.
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Focusing Event to Electricity
Students explain how electrical charges behave. In this electricity lesson, students determine how far away lightning is when it strikes. They research how fabric softener reduces static electricity and share their findings in class.
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School House Rock! Science Rock
Middle schoolers use common household and classroom objects to generate static electricity and study its effects. They discuss the video Science Rock CD called Electricity, Electricity. The video explains many things about electricity.
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Electrical Resistivity
Students examine how materials oppose the flow of an electrical current. In this resistivity lesson students complete several experiments on the differences between resistance and resistivity.
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Its Electric!
Fourth graders define the differences between static and current electricity by participating in an investigation. In this energy lesson, 4th graders utilize electrical supplies to demonstrate the differences between static and...
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Electricity for Kids! It's Shocking!
Students investigate the world of electricity by completing a KWL sheet. In this energy lesson, students view PowerPoint presentations about electricity, who invented it, and how it is used today. Students define several electricity...
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TE Activity: Does Weight Matter?
Students design and conduct experiment to determine if weight added incrementally to an object affects amount of friction encountered when it slides across a flat surface. They graph data from their experiments, and calculate...
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Introduction to Friction
Students study the properties of the frictional force between two surfaces in contact. They inspect various phenomena in nature where friction plays an important role and demonstrate
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TE Lesson: Factors Affecting Friction
Students investigate the effect of weight on normal friction or the friction due to surface roughness. They tell about the effects of contact area that occurs as a result of molecular attraction by looking at data on line graphs.
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Charge It!
Students complete an experiment using balloons to help them examine the concept of static electricity. They discover how engineers use this information to create better air filters for homes. They describe how to charge an insulator as...
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Cleaning Air with Balloons
Young scholars examine how a pollutant recovery method functions in cleaning industrial air pollution. They listen to a teacher-led discussion, conduct an experiment with balloons, static electricity, and pepper, and observe and record...
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Storms and Extreme Weather
Students explore hurricanes and tornadoes by conducting an experiment. In this weather pattern lesson plan, students define many extreme weather vocabulary terms and discuss the relationship with static electricity. Students utilize...