One may ask, how does static electricity work? Well, it is an imbalance between negative and positive charge in objects.

Before understanding static electricity, we first need to understand the basics of atoms and magnetism. All physical objects are made up of atoms. Inside an atom are protons, are positively charged, the electrons are negatively charged, and the neutrons are neutral. Therefore, all things are made up charges.  

We had a “hair raising” experiment with our 4th graders this week as we explored these ideas and saw how positive and negative charges interact with each other in a tangible experiment!