Addressing common student misconceptions about static electricity ...

Addressing common student
misconceptions about static
electricity and magnetism
By Laurie Naab and David Henry
Many of you have probably let your students
explore static charges by observing
a balloon rubbed on hair sticking to
the wall. But have you ever asked your
students why the balloon sticks to the wall? We created
a set of motivating and meaningful static electricity
activities that can be used in grades 4–6. With
Styrofoam plates and transparent tape, our students
investigated many properties of electrically charged
and uncharged objects in a 5E learning-cycle model
(engage, explore, explain, extend, and evaluate).
Students were encouraged to make predictions
throughout the investigations. In doing so, they
were forced to focus when making observations
and were more likely to recognize and change
their misconceptions. Students’ explanations
were also an essential piece to this unit. Students
explained their predictions and new
understandings in words and pictures.
This helped them form more accurate
mental models throughout
the investigations.
32 Science and Children

Common Student Misconceptions
Using Wiggins and McTighe’s (1998) concept of Big
Ideas, we planned and designed our electricity investigation
to address common student misconceptions about
static electricity (Figure 1). Without a discussion about
why that balloon sticks to the wall after rubbing it on
hair, many misconceptions may not be addressed. For
example, students may have the idea that there is only
one kind of static charge. Giving them the opportunity
to investigate both positively and negatively charged
objects and electrically neutral objects allows them to
build fundamental understanding of static electricity.
Another common idea that begins to emerge in elementary
school (Henry 2000) is that magnets are electrically
charged, with the N-end being positively charged and
the S-end being negatively charged. Magnets are commonly
used in elementary school, but usually not when
exploring static electricity. We have found that letting
students investigate magnets and static electricity together
allows students to observe that magnetism and
static electricity are different things. After completing
the following activities, students use a Venn diagram
or a comparison matrix to help them understand how
magnetism and static electricity are alike and how they
are different.
Figure 1.
Big ideas and misconceptions.
Big Idea What I want my students to think What my students may be thinking
Two charges Students understand that there are two
kinds of charge, positive and negative.
Static on surface Students understand that static electricity
is on the surface of a rubbed object
and can be rubbed off.
Like charges repel,
opposite charges
attract
Students understand that opposite
charges attract each other and like
charges repel one another.
Static attraction Students understand that static charged
objects attract uncharged objects.
Magnets aren’t
charged
Magnetism is internal,
and is not a substance
that can be imposed
on an object.
Students understand that, when interacting
with a Styrofoam strip, magnets
act as an uncharged object.
Students understand that magnetism
isn’t a substance that can be imposed
on an object; it results simply from the
rearrangement of particles within.
Day 1: Engage With Static
The unit began with a static electricity lesson designed to
determine whether our students held the common misconception
that static electricity and magnetism are the
same. A balloon is commonly used to introduce students
to static electricity and engage them in the topic, but because
there were several children in our school district
who had latex allergies, we needed to find an alternate
object. Instead, we took a Styrofoam plate, pushed it up
against the wall, let go, and it fell. We then rubbed it on a
student’s hair and showed students that it stuck it to the
wall. This clearly indicated a change in the material. The
rubbed Styrofoam plate gained electrons, resulting in a
positive charge (human hair gives up electrons easily).
We then asked the students to describe (in writing and
pictures) what happened and why. Their answers demonstrated
to us that they believed that static electricity
and magnetism were related. Some of the students’ responses
included, “It stuck to the wall because the whiteboard
has magnetism,” “The Styrofoam is a magnet,”
and “I think it sticks because the Styrofoam has no north
or south end, so it will always stick.” Statements such as
these were clear evidence that there was a need for clarification
of the similarities and differences between magnetism
and static electricity. We ended this initial lesson
Students are not aware that there are
two kinds of charge.
Students do not understand that static
electricity is on the surface of a rubbed
object and can be rubbed off.
Students do not understand that opposite
charges attract each other and like
charges repel one another.
Students do not understand that static
charged objects attract uncharged objects.
Students do not understand that, when
interacting with a Styrofoam strip, magnets
act as an uncharged object.
Students believe that magnetism is a
substance that can be imposed on
an object.
December 2009 33

Figure 2.
Making T and B tapes.
Step 1. Pull approximately 10 cm of tape from the dispenser.
Make a tab (approximately 1 cm) on
one end of the tape. Stick this tape to a desktop.
Use a marker or pen to mark this tape B for
bottom.
Step 2. Repeat Step 1, putting the new piece of tape directly
on top of the bottom tape. Label this tape
T for top.
Step 3. Carefully take the tab of the bottom tape and lift
the tapes off of the desk. The two tapes should
stay stuck together. At this point, the bottom
tape is charged from lifting it from the table.
Rub your fingers along the tape to make sure
that the tapes are stuck together really well.
Step 4. Take hold of the tabs from the T and B tapes
and put them apart. The tapes will be charged
and may wrap around your hand. Carefully
hang the tapes approximately 5 cm apart from
a meterstick or a similar material sticking out
from a desk. Place a textbook on top of the meterstick
to keep it stable.
T
B
34 Science and Children
Being pulled apart
by posing the question, “What do we know about static
electricity?” Student responses were recorded in their science
notebooks and on a class chart. Students noted that
an object with static electricity sticks to other objects.
The class chart was posted in the classroom and added to
after each of the subsequent lessons.
Day 2: Explore With Tape
Next, we had students explore for themselves with tape.
Sticky transparent tape is an ideal material for static electricity
experiments because both positive and negative
charges can be produced reliably by students. When two
pieces of transparent tape are placed on top of each other
(sticky side to nonsticky side) and then separated, one
piece becomes negatively charged and the other positively
charged (for a thorough explanation of this phenomena,
see Harrington 2000). Depending on the brand
of tape used, one side of the tape is more likely to give up
electrons, and the other side is more likely to keep them.
We call these T and B tapes for “top” and “bottom.” Directions
appear in Figure 2.
Students created T and B tapes and then observed how
they reacted when a piece of Styrofoam rubbed with hair
or wool was brought near the tapes. Students recorded
their results in a chart to be used in later discussion. Many
students were able to predict that one tape would be attracted
to the rubbed Styrofoam and the other tape would
be repelled. Eventually students may discover that one
tape is consistently negative and the other is positive,
but it isn’t necessary for them to know this initially. At
the fourth-grade level, students are not required to know
these terms.
Day 3: Testing T and B Tapes
We continued the day’s investigations with students testing
the interactions between two sets of T and B tapes.
Students hung one set of T and B tapes on a meterstick
and were instructed to bring a T tape close to both hanging
tapes, and observe how the hanging tapes reacted
(Figure 3). They recorded their observations in a chart.
After being pulled apart
T
Students then brought a B tape close to both hanging
+++++++++++ +++++++++++++
- - - - -tapes, - -observed - - - how - - -the - hanging - - - tapes - - reacted, - - - and - -re -
B
corded their observations.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+++++++++++++ - +++++++++++++
T
B
or
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
+++++++++++++
Explaining Phenomena
During this activity, students observed that when like
tapes (T–T and B–B) were brought close to each other,
they repelled each other, and when opposite tapes were
brought together (T–B tapes), they attracted each other.
Students recorded their findings in a data table. Many
students connected this “opposites attract” concept to
magnetism, and at this point in their investigation, they

PhotograPhs courtesy of the authors
Figure 3.
Testing T and B tapes.
had not seen any evidence that did not support this idea.
However, they did understand that there are two types of
charges and how the two charges interacted. One group
of students wrote this explanation: “One tape has positive
static in it and one tape has negative static in it. The
tapes that have the same static repel, and if they have different
static they attract.”
In the next lesson, we extended the activity by having
students test interactions between the T and B tapes
and other charged and uncharged objects. Students first
observed what happened to the tapes when they brought
their empty hand close to each of the tapes. They were
surprised to see that both tapes were attracted to their hand
and revealed their misconceptions about magnetism with
comments like the following: “The tapes are still static, and
I think in your hand is a magnet” and “When I put my hand
near the tapes, the tapes attracted to my hand. The tapes are
a magnet.” Students experimented with other uncharged
objects such as pencils, water bottles, and scissors. In all
cases, both charged tapes were attracted to the object.
We then tested the tapes with objects that students had
rubbed with a piece of wool. Using plastic items such as
plastic rulers, plastic plates, and Styrofoam plates assured
that the students would be testing objects with a good
static charge. They observed that after the object was
rubbed with wool, it would attract one tape and repel the
other. Students explained that “when something is not
rubbed with wool, it doesn’t have any static so it won’t
repel anything, but when I rubbed things with wool, they
got static so they can stick to things and repel things.”
We found that the most important role for the teacher
at this point is to be sure that all of the students have
observed how the two charged tapes behave differently
when a wool-rubbed plate is brought close. Next, the
teacher had students work on an explanation of this ob-
Why Static Clings
servation. We let the students work in groups using large
dry erase presentation boards. When students presented
their explanations to the class, the teacher clarified and
reworded the explanations, and helped the class make
connections from one explanation to the next. We found
that students were aware that there are two types of
charges. They were aware that opposite charges attract
and like charges repel. However, most students still had
the misconception (as a result of the prior knowledge and
experience with magnets) that magnets and static electricity
have the same type of “charge.” The next activity
was designed to help them separate their mental models
of magnetism and static electricity.
Extend With Magnets
Students tested T and B tapes with a magnet (Figure 4)
after making predictions of what they thought would
happen if they brought a north end or a south end of a
magnet toward each of the tapes. A majority predicted
that the north end of a magnet would attract one of the
tapes and repel the other tape. One student explained,
“I think the tape will attract to one end of the magnet
because the tape is a magnet and it will repel the other
tape because on a magnet one side attracts and the other
side repels.” The students were surprised when they observed
that the north end of the magnet attracted both
the T and B tapes! This surprise played a major role in
reversing their misconceptions that they held at the beginning
of this unit. After predicting and then testing the
T and B tapes with the south end of the magnet, our students
had a better understanding that when interacting
with T and B tapes, a magnet acts as an uncharged object
and, more importantly, that magnetism is different from
static charge. One student explained, “The tapes have
Figure 4.
Testing tape with a magnet.
December 2009 35

Why Static Clings
no north end or south end because they are not magnets,
so the magnet will always stick to the tapes.” This statement
is one indication that the students began to recognize
that the magnet acted as an uncharged object and
therefore attracts both of the tapes.
Day 4: Evaluate Understanding
After determining students’ initial ideas of why a hairrubbed
piece of Styrofoam sticks to the wall in the preassessment,
it was essential to pose the same question to
see whether the unit’s instruction altered their mental
models of this phenomenon. When asked again why a
wool or hair-rubbed Styrofoam plate sticks to the wall,
most students were able to give an explanation that the
wall acts as a neutral object just like our hands or other
(uncharged) objects. After completing these lessons, the
change in our students’ understanding of the concept of
static electricity was clear. When we reviewed the students’
science journals and group presentation boards,
we found that students were able to explain that there
36 Science and Children
PhotograPh courtesy of the authors
Connecting to the Standards
This article relates to the following National Science
Education Standards (NRC 1996):
Content Standards
Grades K–4
Standard A: Science as Inquiry
• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
Standard B: Physical Science
• Properties of objects and materials
National Research Council (NRC). 1996. National
science education standards. Washington, DC:
National Academies Press.
are two kinds of charge, that like charges repelled each
other, and that opposite charges attracted each other.
Students were also able to identify the similarities and
differences between static electricity and magnetism,
including an understanding that static electricity and
magnetism are similar but distinct phenomena. Both
magnetism and static electricity follow the likes repel
and opposites attract rule, but they are different because
magnets act like uncharged objects and charged
objects do not act magnetic.
Misconceptions Not Sticking
These inquiry-based investigations were powerful
because the students were able to create their own
understanding of static electricity through their own
observations—and therefore create a more accurate
mental model of static electricity. These activities also
let the students experience doing science as they gathered,
recorded, and debated evidence. They started
with ideas, and they changed their ideas based on their
observations. We think the lesson will “stick!” n
Laurie Naab (lnaab@lancaster.wnyric.org) is a fourthgrade
teacher at William Street School in Lancaster,
New York. David Henry (henryd@buffalostate.edu)
is an associate professor in elementary education at Buffalo
State College.
References
Harringon, R. 2000. Getting a charge out of transparent tape.
The Physics Teacher 38:23–25.
Henry, D. 2000. Learning about static electricity and magnetism
in a fourth-grade class. PhD diss., University of
Buffalo.
Wiggins, G., and J. McTighe. 1998. Understanding by design.
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.