Math + Science Night

So, I ended up going with one of my initial ideas for my Math + Science night presentation. Static Electricity! Why? Because it's weird and interesting, and if I think something is weird and interesting then kids probably will think so too. I had so much fun! There is a common phrase in the artistic community that says, "Creativity is just knowing who to steal from". Upon first glance that seems like a pretty negative thought, but it's bigger than that and it applies to the scientific community too. So, I tore a page out of Cliff's book and dressed as Ion the Positive Electrician to explain why static electricity does what it does. I borrowed from my theatre days for this one, because any excuse to wear a wig feels like a good excuse to me. Here's something to ponder: Everything in the UNIVERSE exerts a gravitational force on everything else. Whoa. That means that when you rub a wool sock on a balloon and hover that balloon over salt and pepper, the pepper sticks! That also means that the balance of positive and negative energy in your classroom defines your community. I believe that as teachers we govern our classrooms and we are attracted to this profession because we are strong forces. We can use those forces for good or bad, healing or hurting active or passive teaching. I also believe that using a balloon to talk about electricity is really fun. What do you believe?

Here's the super cool experiment I did for my project, it's got a great worksheet to help your kiddos with the experiment! https://www.we-energies.com/educators/classroom/static_elec_lesson.pdf