Discovery Express
  • Welcome!
  • Blog
  • Check out our store!
  • 9 Apples Math Game
  • Your questions answered!
  • About/Contact

Holiday Science: Learn about static and make your own yarn ornaments!

12/12/2016

0 Comments

 
Author: Maddie Van Beek

Christmas Yarn Ornaments: How does static electricity work?

Have you ever pulled a sweater over your head only to look in the mirror and find that your hair is sticking straight up?! This is caused by static electricity. Static is more prevalent in the winter time because the air is usually drier than in other seasons. 

​Less humidity = more static. More humidity = less static.
Picture
This is Mrs. Van Beek's hair after rubbing it with a fleece sweatshirt... static electricity is causing her hair to stand on end!
What is static? Static electricity occurs when there is an uneven balance of electric charges on the surface of a material. This uneven balance causes that material to either be attracted to something (if that something has an opposite charge) or repel from something (if that something has the same charge). For example, when you pull that fuzzy sweater over your head, it causes your hair to be negatively charged. Because your hairs are negatively charged, they repel each other--they want to be as far away from each other as possible, so they stick straight up!
​
Check out the link below for an in-depth explanation of what static electricity is. ​
Static Electricity
Today, you are going to experiment with balloons to see if you can increase or decrease static electricity. After experimenting, you are going to create yarn ornaments to decorate your house! You can use holiday colors to use as ornaments or you can use other colors to decorate your home any time of the year!
​
Check out one of our blogs on static electricity here to try other fun science experiments:
http://discoveryexpress.weebly.com/blog/bend-a-stream-of-water-with-static-electricity
How can you produce static electricity?
How can you decrease static electricity?
Now that you know more about static electricity, we can move on to our activity!
 
YOU WILL NEED:
  • Yarn (any color)
  • School Glue (Elmer’s works great)
  • Water
  • Balloons (water balloon size works well)
Picture
Picture
This is my practice round. There's no wrong way to wrap the yarn... this is your creation!
10. Once you’re done covering your balloon, carefully roll it in the glue mixture and then place it on the newspaper to dry.

11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 until you are done creating as many ornaments as you want! Leave them to dry overnight.

​12. In the morning, use a pin to pop the balloons. You are left with a cool homemade yarn ornament! 

Image credits:
All images taken by Maddie Van Beek
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Follow us on Pinterest!
    Picture
    Check out our new game for math education, grades 1-7!

    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All
    Age 10 12
    Age 12 14
    Age 14 16
    Age 16+
    Age 8 10
    Anatomy/Physiology
    Biology
    Chemistry
    Engineering
    Food Science
    Geology/Earth Science
    Health Science
    Math
    Microbiology
    Physics
    Plant Science
    Psychology
    Weather Science

Proudly powered by Weebly