1 Static Electricity
Vocabulary
Concepts and Skills
charge a property of
matter; a charge is either
positive or negative
• Students know that static electricity is the buildup of charges on
an object.
electron a negatively
charged particle located in
the space surrounding the
nucleus of an atom
neutral having neither
a positive nor a negative
charge
static electricity the
buildup of electric charges
on an object
• Students know that electrically charged objects interact with other
charged objects in predictable ways.
• Students make predictions about interactions caused by static
electricity.
• Students make and interpret bar graphs.
Planning
Materials
Student Resource Pages
• balloons, small
• 1.1 Vocabulary
• combs, plastic
• 1.2 Static Electricity
• *facial tissue
• 1.3 Making Static Electricity
Inquiry Focus
• *marker
• 1.4 Electrostatic Series
Predict When students
predict, they state what
they think will happen
based on observations and
experiences.
• millimeter rulers
• 1.5 Measuring Static Charge
• *objects to rub against balloon
(glass, nylon, silk, cotton)
• 1.6 Graphing Static Charge
• *paper towels
• 1.8 Section 1 Assessment
Learn by Reading
For additional content area
reading, see the Houghton
Mifflin Science eBook:
Grade 4, Unit F, pages
F44–F47.
• 1.7 Static Balloons
• pepper
• plastic wrap
• string
• *white paper
• wool cloth
*Not provided in kit
In Advance
• For Share with Your Students (p. 4), make a transparency of
Student Resource Page 1.2, Static Electricity.
• For Share with Your Students (p. 8), make a transparency of
Student Resource Page 1.4, Electrostatic Series.
2 • EXPERIENCE SCIENCE
Science Background
Electric charge is a property of matter. Most materials are normally
neutral. However, contact between objects can allow electrons to
move from one object to another, causing a buildup of charges
known as static electricity on both objects. In such cases, the object
that gives up electrons becomes positively charged. The object that
gains electrons becomes negatively charged.
Charged objects can exert forces on other charged objects. The
force is a push, or force of repulsion, if the charges on both objects
are the same. The force is a pull, or force of attraction, if the charges
on the objects are opposite. A charged object also can exert a force
of attraction on a neutral object. For example, a negatively charged
object can repel the electrons on a neutral object, pushing them to
the opposite side of the object. This causes the side of the neutral
object nearest the charged object to become positively charged and
attracted to the charged object.
SECTION 1 STATIC ELECTRICITY • 3