Electric Info: Electricity -- and How Different Types Work

After thumbing through The Dangerous Book for Boys and Totally Irresponsible Science, Dane decided he wanted to demonstrate how electricity works. So, this year, he and his buddy Nic teamed up for their Science Fair project. They made up separate boards for their presentations, but their boards were both focused on the three types of electricity. That means they did their experiments/demonstrations together, but then made sense of them on their own.

One project was about static electricity, demonstrated with salt and pepper in a pie tin. Each kid then rubbed a plastic spoon in their hair or against a wool sock, and the charged spoon attracted the pepper.

For their second type of electricity, they demonstrated the DC of AC/DC familiarity. For this, they created a battery cell where a direct current briefly lit up a tiny light bulb as the copper wires, quarters, blotting paper, foil, vinegar, and salt worked their science. (I was going to write 'magic' there, but that could be a little misleading.) 

For the final part of their project, the boys put a blue box together and demonstrated how electricity with Alternating Current would work when plugged into a wall and a power source.

 

After hours and hours of evening and weekend work, the board was done. Dane particularly liked drawing and diagramming and doing the layout.

Above, Dane meets with one of the judges (his teacher, Nancy!) and discusses different aspects of his project with her. It was exciting to listen to his main points and to hear what he'd learned about his topic.