Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Do Different Materials React to Static Electricity?

For Students 3rd - 5th
Polyester clothing was generally accepted as a popular trend in fashion at one point in history. Now everybody wears cotton, which doesn't get static cling nearly as much. Why are some materials more susceptible to static cling than...
Online Course
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Open Course Ware: Courses: Electrical Engineering: Circuits and Electronics

For Teachers 9th - 10th
College-level electrical engineering course highlighting circuits and electronics. This course introduces the fundamentals of the lumped circuit abstraction. Course features include video lectures, suggested readings, labs, lecture...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Rubbing Up Against Static Electricity

For Students 3rd - 5th
A tried and true balloon activity is to rub a balloon on your head to make your hair stand up. Learn how the rubbing builds up static electricity using this experiment to see if the number of rubs makes a difference.
Activity
Hunkins Experiments

Hunkin's Experiments

For Students 9th - 10th
This amazing website provides access to 200 exciting experiments from cartoonist, broadcaster, and engineer, Tim Hunkin. Each experiment is categorized and illustrated.
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Put a Spark in It! Electricity

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Uncountable times every day "with the merest flick of a finger"each one of us calls on electricity to do our bidding. What would your life be like without electricity? Students begin learning about electricity with an introduction to the...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Investigating Static Electricity: Creating Lightning on Much Smaller Scale

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
In this elementary science activity, students will experiment with static electricity using balloons. After investigating how balloons attract and repel various objects, students will watch a simulation of static electricity to help gain...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Make Your Own Electric Guitar Pickup

For Students 9th - 10th
If you like playing electric guitar, this could be a cool project for you. In this project you'll wind one or more of your own electric guitar pickups and test them out in an inexpensive electric guitar to understand just how electric...
Article
Pennsylvania State University

Applied Physics: Model Analysis of an Electric Guitar

For Students 9th - 10th
Great site explores the physics behind an electrical guitar. Outlines process for conducting an experiment on sound vibrations and provides animated GIF movies showing the first five modes of vibration.
Activity
Science Bob Pflugfelder

Science Bob: Bend Water With Static Electricity!

For Students 3rd - 7th
Contains a procedure for illustrating electrostatic attraction between opposite charges by causing a thin stream of water to bend. The site gives a brief discussion of static electricity, as well.
Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Electrical Fleas

For Students 9th - 10th
Create your own "flea" circus in this activity by using the effects of static electricity. Students will observe a charged object attraction to the opposite charge causing the object to jump.
Activity
Science Bob Pflugfelder

Science Bob: Roll a Can With Static Electricity

For Students 3rd - 8th
Science Bob presents instructions for a science demonstration on how to roll a can with static electricity using common supplies with information on how it works.
Interactive
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physics Simulation: Electric Fields Simulation

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this simulation, students look at the question of whether one can score a goal in an electric field. They experiment with positive and negative charges to try to score goals.
Website
National Institutes of Health

National Library of Medicine: Electricity, Frankenstein, & the Spark of Life

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Using an online exhibition, investigate how Mary Shelley's horror science fiction story, Frankenstein, reflects the knowledge and studies of electricity, and how those fictional ideas are used in modern medicine.
Activity
Miami University

The Atoms Family: Static Electricity

For Students 3rd - 8th
This site contains a simple experiment that you can do at home that explains static electricity.
Activity
Science is Fun

Science Is Fun: Build an Electric Motor

For Students 6th - 8th
Instructions for how to build a simple electric motor.
Activity
Other

Magnet Man: Cool Experiments With Magnets

For Students 9th - 10th
Here is a lengthy listing of activities and resources pertaining to magnets and magnetism. Experiments which can be performed with many different types of magnets are described; detailed directions and photos are provided.
Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: Electric Current and Circuits

For Students 9th - 10th
Students have the opportunity to explore the basics of current and circuits in this online module. Some of the activities include interactive animations, informational text, practice problems, and lab experiments.
Interactive
Florida State University

Florida State University: The Rutherford Experiment

For Students 9th - 10th
A simulation of the Rutherford experiment. Includes an animation and an explanation of the history behind the experiment.
Handout
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Magnet Academy: Timeline of Electricity and Magnetism: 1820 1829

For Students 9th - 10th
Hans Christian Orsted's accidental discovery that an electrical current moves a compass needle rocks the scientific world; a spate of experiments follows, immediately leading to the first electromagnet and electric motor.
Handout
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Magnet Academy: Timeline of Electricity and Magnetism: 1700 1749

For Students 9th - 10th
Aided by tools such as static electricity machines and Leyden jars, scientists continue their experiments into the fundamentals of magnetism and electricity.
Website
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Jimi Hendrix Experience

For Students 9th - 10th
Provided is background information and a more detailed timeline on the history of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992.
Graphic
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Experiment: What's the Shape of a Magnetic Field?

For Students 9th - 10th
See drawing from Hans Christian Orsted's lab notebook showing an experiment in which an electric charge passing through a wire seemed to create a magnetic field!
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Project Ideas: Which Materials Are the Best Conductors?

For Students 9th - 10th
A simple science fair project to test whether electricity can flow between two things. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract, objective, and introduction, followed by a section on terms,...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Does the Intensity of Light Change With Distance?

For Students 9th - 10th
How far would you have to travel so that the light of the full sun would provide "daylight" no brighter than twilight on Earth? This project describes a method to verify the inverse square law: how light, sound, electrical signals, and...

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