Science Buddies
Science Buddies: A Battery That Makes Cents
Batteries are expensive to purchase in a store, but you can make one your self for exactly 24 cents. In this experiment, you will make your own voltaic pile using pennies and nickels and determine how many coins in a pile will make the...
Other
University of Liverpool: Matter Initiative for Schools a Level Resources
This site features numerous interactive resources (such as simulations, interactive exercises, experiments, etc.) designed for teachers and students of the physical sciences. Some of the resources are available only on CD-ROM, but most...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: How the Strength of a Magnet Varies With Temperature
Physicists sometimes study matter under extreme conditions. For example, think of the emptiness of interstellar space vs. the unimaginable crush of pressure at the center of a neutron star, or an object dipped in liquid nitrogen vs. the...
University of New South Wales (Australia)
University of New South Wales: Einstein Light
Einstein Light highlights the Theory of Special Relativity and related topics. Learn how Galileo, Maxwell, and Einstein contributed to our knowledge of relativity, electricity, magnetism, and time by watching fun, interactive modules.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Shaking Up Some Energy
Shake N' Light flashlights have been advertised on televisions across the nation in the recent year. But many do not understand just how they get energy to light up the bulb without using batteries. Do this experiment to make your own...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Luigi Galvani
Luigi Galvani was a pioneer in the field of electrophysiology, the branch of science concerned with electrical phenomena in the body. His experiments with dissected frogs and electrical charges led him to suggest the existence of a...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Hans Christian Orsted
A discovery by Hans Christian Orsted forever changed the way scientists think about electricity and magnetism. While preparing to perform an experiment during a lecture at the University of Copenhagen, he found that the magnetized needle...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Leyden Jars 1745
Because they could store significant amounts of charge, Leyden jars allowed scientists to experiment with electricity in a way never before possible.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Joseph John Thomson
Joseph John Thomson, better known as J. J. Thomson, was a British physicist who first theorized and offered experimental evidence that the atom was a divisible entity rather than the basic unit of matter, as was widely believed at the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Charge It!
Students use a balloon to perform several simple experiments to explore static electricity and charge polarization.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Whose Field Line Is It, Anyway?
Students teams each use a bar magnet, sheet of paper and iron shavings to reveal the field lines as they travel around a magnet. They repeat the activity with an electromagnet made by wrapping thin wire around a nail and connecting...
University of Kentucky
Elecroscope Lab
This site is actually a lab from the University of Kentucky Electrical Engineering Department. It is an excellent experiment that can be done at the high school level.
Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Stem Resources: Wind Generator
Using a voltage sensor, students will measure how much "electricity" is produced by the wind turbine that they design and build. Students will experiment with blade designs to see which one collects energy from the wind the most...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's to the Mine We Go
This activity simulates the extraction of limited, nonrenewable resources from a "mine," so students can experience first-hand how resource extraction becomes more difficult over time. Students gather data and graph their results to...
Science Bob Pflugfelder
Science Bob: Build an Electromagnet!
This site presents a procedure for creating your own electromagnet using an iron nail, some wire, and a battery. The site illustrates a connection between electricity and magnetism.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Snacks
Exploratorium's snacks aren't edible, but they are good! Use your science skills to discover gravity, learn about biology, do fun experiments.
Ducksters
Ducksters: Environment for Kids: Wind Power
Kids learn about wind energy and how this renewable power can help the environment. Teach students about turbines that generate electricity from the wind.
Other
L in C Online: Three Little Pigs
An energy transfer project for junior high school students is presented and described. Takes the form of a teacher lesson plan. Students may be able to extract some ideas for a project or experiment.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Nikola Tesla
Awarded more than 100 patents over the course of his lifetime, Nikola Tesla was a man of considerable genius and vision. He was reportedly born at exactly midnight during an electrical storm, an intriguing beginning for a man who would...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Sulfur Globe 1660
In the 17th century, German scientist Otto von Guericke built and carried out experiments with a sulfur globe that produced static electricity.
Museum of Science
Museum of Science and Industry: Online Science: Cling to Me
A set of four station activities involving static electricity that can easily be done in the classroom.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Hot Air Balloon Experiment
Explore how heat affects the density of air by building and flying a hot air balloon using large plastic bags and the hot air from an electric hairdryer.
Curated OER
Library of Congress: Everyday Mysteries: Static Electricity
A picture of two girls hair raising experience with static electricity.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Short Circuit
Learn how fuses and circuit breakers work to stop the flow of electricity in a circuit so as to prevent fires. This experiment requires caution.