LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Physical Science

Goal 4: The learner will construct an understanding of electricity and magnetism.

Objective 4.01. Investigate and analyze the nature of static electricity and the conservation of electrical charge:

  • Positive and negative charges.
  • Opposite charges attract and like charges repel.
  • Analyze the electrical charging of objects due to the transfer of charge.

Additional related resources

We’re in the process of aligning our content for students to the Standard Course of Study. As we do, you’ll find it here.

General resources

Aligned lesson plans

What is static charge?
This lab exercise uses ordinary household materials to explore static charge.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
By Leigh Kiser.

Resources on the web

Static electricity and lightning
In this lesson, students will explore a variety of websites to learn about lightning. They will then explain, in their own words, what causes lightning and how it is related to static electricity. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 and 9–12 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Introducing static electricity
Students perform simple experiments creating static electricity. They will demonstrate how opposite charges attract each other and like charges repel each other. Then students will explore a website that further explains these concepts. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–12 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Introducing atoms
In this lesson from Science NetLinks, students will be asked to review websites to learn about the atom's basic structure and the positive and negative charges of its subparticles. This is the first of a series of four lessons about static electricity. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–12 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science