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Science Objectives: Recognize static electricity. Describe what happens when a

charged balloon is placed on hair.

Use process skills to explore properties of static electricity.

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Literacy Objectives: Recognize the letter “Ee” and

the sound of /e/. Write the letter “Ee”. Identify location of the /e/

sound in a word. Recognize simple cvc

(consonant vowel consonant) words in print.

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Literacy Objectives for Higher Level Thinking: Recognize high frequency

irregular words such as said, was and were.

Sequence the order of important events in the story.

Identify the story problem and write three different ways the problem can be solved.

Write a science journal about static electricity. Why did the hair stand up in the investigation?

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Ellie ElectricityKindergartenNS.1.K.1NS.1.K.2NS.1.K.3PS.7.K.2 Identify uses of electricity. (air pollution control, xerography and automobile painting) Grade 1NS.1.1.1NS.1.1.2NS.1.1.3PS.7.1.5 Demonstrate methods of producing static electricity (e.g., balloons, shuffling across carpet).

Vocabulary Builders:Enthusiastic

EnormousElectricity

ExpertEmergency

EpisodeExcellent

ExtremeElegant

EmpatheticElaborate

ExquisiteEcstatic

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Science Words to Know:Static Electricity

ElectronsAtom

NucleusNegative

PositiveOrbit

AttractionRepel

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Static Electricity: Everything is composed of atoms. Atoms contain neutrons, protons and electrons. Protons are a + (positive) charge and Electrons are a – (negative) charge. Most material has a neutral charge with

an equal number of positive (protons) and negative (electrons) charges.

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Static Electricity: When certain objects are rubbed together and

pulled apart, static electricity is formed. Static electricity is created when an object becomes positively or negatively charged by gaining or losing electrons, thus having a positive or negative charge. Balloons rubbed with a piece of wool causes

the electrons to be pulled onto the balloon from the wool. This gives the balloon a negative charge (more negative electrons than positive protons).

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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _+ + + + ++ + + + + ++ + + + + + ++ + + + + + +

Jumping Paper Activity1. Tear strips of tissue paper into small

pieces.2. Lay paper on table.3. Inflate and charge balloon by rubbing

with wool cloth.4. Hold the balloon over the paper. What

happens? Why?

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Wild Hair Activity: 1. Inflate and charge balloon by rubbing

with wool cloth.2. Hold over a friend’s hair.3. What happens? Why?

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Leaping Pepper Activity: 1. Inflate and charge a balloon by

rubbing it with a wool cloth.2. Pour a mixture of salt and pepper

onto a cookie sheet.3. Slowly lower the balloon over the

mixture.4. What Happens? Why? Extension: View handout for

collecting data.

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Static Balloons and Bubbles: 1. Inflate and charge a balloon by rubbing it

with a wool cloth.2. Blow a few soap bubbles into the air.3. Bring the balloon near one of the bubbles.4. What Happens? Why?5. Try and keep the bubble in the air without

popping.6. Catch a bubble with the wand.7. Bring the balloon near the bubble.8. The bubble will stretch toward the balloon.

Why?

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Bubble Activity: What is Happening?

Opposite charges attract. Like charges repel. Protons and electrons are attracted to one another, while electrons repel from each other.

A balloon is charged with extra electrons. This gives it a negative charge. The bubble’s protons in each atom’s nucleus is attracted to the balloons extra electrons, causing the bubble to bend toward the balloon due to attraction.

The electrons in the bubble are repelled from the balloon (likes charges repel) causing them to move as far away from the balloon as far as possible, therefore allowing the protons to be attracted even more to the balloon’s negative charge. This is called induction (it induced a process) or forcing the process to happen due to the balloon’s charge.

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Hair Rub Activity Extension: 1. Have student rub a balloon against

his/her hair.2. Move the balloon away. The hair may

stand on end due to electrons moving from hair to balloon. Why?

3. Now hold the balloon against his/her head and release. What happens? Why?

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Hair Rub Activity: What is Happening? If you rub a balloon against your hair, the

balloon will steal electrons from your hair. This leaves your hair positively charged and the balloon negatively charged.

Now, your hair will be attracted to the surface of the balloon because opposite charges attract. 

If you hold the balloon against your head, it will stick. Opposites attract.

You will also notice that your hair stands up even if the balloon is not near them.  This is because each hair is positively charged and is repelled by the hair next to it.

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Balloon on Wall Activity Extension:1. Charge the balloon by rubbing it on

the head or with wool cloth.2. Gently hold the balloon against the

wall and release. What happens? Why?

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Balloon on Wall Activity: What is Happening? A charged balloon should stick when held

against a wall. This happens because the negative charge on

the balloon will force some of the electrons in the wall to move to the other side of their atoms.

This leaves the surface of the wall closest to the balloon positively charged. 

The positive surface of the wall and the negative surface of the balloon will attract each other.

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Balloons on String Activity Extension:

1. Inflate two balloons.2. Attach an equal length of string to each

balloon.3. Hang the balloons from a meter stick so

they are just touching one another at the sides.

4. Charge one of the balloons. And release. What happens when it gets near the other?

5. Now charge the other balloon. What happens when the balloons get near each other? Why?

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Balloons on String Activity: What is Happening? When one balloon is charged and the other

left neutral, it acts the same as the hair and wall activity. The negatively charged balloon pushes the other balloon’s electrons away (like charges repel) and is then attracted to the neutral balloon’s protons in each atom. (Opposite charges attract.)

When both are then charged negatively by rubbing with wool, they repel from each other. “Like charges repel.)

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Charged Ruler Activity Extension:1. Charge a ruler by rubbing it

with a wool cloth.2. Place a small plastic soda

bottle or can on the table.3. Hold the ruler close to the

can.4. What happens? Why?

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Charge Ruler Activity: What is Happening? The negatively charged ruler attracts the

positively charged protons in the soda can.

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