Physical Science · Forces and Interactions
Static Electricity: Forces Without Touching
Investigate how charged objects can attract or repel across a gap and use distance evidence to describe cause-and-effect patterns in static electric interactions.
Lesson plan
Static Electricity: Forces Without Touching
A step-by-step guide to help you teach this lesson.
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Lesson overview
What students will learn
- Explain from observations that static electric force can act without objects touching.
- Compare how changing distance affects an observable static electric interaction.
Key science ideas
- A charged object can pull on some nearby objects without touching them.
- Electric forces can attract or repel.
- Changing the distance between objects can change how strong or observable the interaction is.
Lesson at a glance
- Grade 3
- 45 min
- ~10 min prep
- 3-PS2-3
- 5 materials
What’s included
- Lesson Plan
- Investigation
- Teacher Slides
- Printable Worksheet
- Teacher Answer Key
- Interactive Activity
- Vocabulary