Curated OER
Electric Charge and Static Electricity
Begin with the classic static electricity demonstrations: the behavior of charged balloons and metal leaves of an electroscope. Then move on to test the electrical conductivity of various materials. Give physics pupils a charge with...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Let’s Throw an Electric Science Party!
Are you looking for a shockingly good lesson plan? Check out one that has middle schoolers recreate four of Benjamin Franklin's experiments. Groups investigate, observe, and draw conclusions about static electricity and electrical...
Curated OER
Electroscope
Students examine what an electroscope is and who invented it. In this electrical lesson students build their own Emergency Radiation detector Electroscope.
Curated OER
Coulomb's Law and Induced Polarization
Engage your aspiring physicists in a series of lab activities directied at demonstrating the behavior of electric force. In completing these exercises, learners will explore Coulomb's and Gauss's Laws. Well-written directions to four...
Curated OER
What Is Electricity
Fourth graders develop an understanding of static electricity and discover how to detect a charge by using electroscopes. In this electricity lesson, 4th graders complete a lab on electricity and discuss the results with the...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Build a Charge Detector
Pupils examine how electrical force takes place between two objects by building an electroscope. They apply the electroscope to determine an objects' charge intensity and to see what factors influence electric force.
Curated OER
The Invention of Faraday Cage
Students demonstrate how Faraday's cage work by building their own electroscope. In this physics instructional activity, students explain how Faraday's cage work. They cite several applications of this principle in the real world.
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Electrostatics
From the Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement project at the Illinois Institute of Technology. A teacher lesson plan which includes several Van de Graaff generator demonstrations and some station-style labs....
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Scientific American: Creatures of the Deep: Shark Trackers
Track an unseen target with an audio meter, and make accurate estimations of distance and depth by analyzing the signal strength and frequency. Construct an electroscope to detect electric charges.