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Grade 5 Science · World 8: Circuit Works · Level 53
Static Electricity
Explain charges from rubbing, and why a balloon sticks.
Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.
What children learn in Level 53
- Welcome to Circuit Works! Rub a balloon on your hair, and it sticks to the wall. That's static electricity.
- Materials hold tiny charges, plus and minus. Rubbing moves some charges from one material to the other, and they build up.
- Opposite charges pull together. Matching charges push apart.
- Sometimes built-up charges jump. That's the small shock you may feel from a doorknob.
- Try it with a grown-up: rub a balloon on a wool sweater, and hold it near small bits of paper.
Georgia Standards of Excellence in Science:
- S5P2.a — Obtain and combine information from multiple sources to explain the difference between naturally occurring electricity (static) and human-harnessed electricity.