This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too!


We’re going to study electrons and static charge. Kids will build simple electrostatic motor to help them understand how like charges repel and opposites attract. After you’ve completed this teleclass, be sure to hop on over the teleclass in Robotics!


Electrons are strange and unusual little fellows. Strange things happen when too many or too few of the little fellows get together. Some things may be attracted to other things or some things may push other things away. Occasionally you may see a spark of light and sound. The light and sound may be quite small or may be as large as a bolt of lightning. When electrons gather, strange things happen. Those strange things are static electricity.


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27 Responses to “Special Science Teleclass: Electricity”

  1. Yes, that can affect the jiggling. If you feel that your project isn’t working correctly, you can take nice, in-focus picture and email it to [email protected]. Be sure to mention your concerns in the email.

  2. namhongtran says:

    Hey Aurora. I just realised that the motors on the popsicle sticks were facing up-right. Does this afect the jiggleing?

  3. Sorry for the confusion. I am not looking for more experiments. I am just wondering if the experiments you did in your teleclass are the same as the other experiments in this Unit? I am not exactly sure how to explain what I mean. I have not watched your teleclass yet because I saw that you did experiments during that video, but then I saw that some of the experiments were covered in the experiment videos of this Unit. I am wondering if ALL of the experiments in your teleclass are covered in the other videos in this Unit. Once again sorry if it is confusing. Have a great day!

  4. Not quite sure I understand the question – are you looking for more experiments or more science concept explanation videos?

  5. Hey Aurora! I was just wondering if all the experiments in your teleclass are covered in the other videos of this unit?

  6. Okay, thanks!

  7. To get started with electricity, work through Unit 10, then Unit 11 (magnetism) and then jump over to Unit 14. There’s a lot of content in there. So glad you know what you like!

    Units 1-6 are the basics physics of motion, unit 9 is all about light (something you’ll need to learn if you want to do electronics) and 3 and 8 are all about chemistry. It’s a progression, but can you skip around and do it in any order.

  8. I am a little confused. I know this is off topic (I didn’t watch the vid yet) and I have finished my 8th grade science early. I guess I’m supposed to do the other fields of science, but I really like electronics, and decided to do this for the rest of my year. But here’s my question: is there a Unit 1: Electronics? Because the farthest I see it Unit 10, so I just wondered of there was a Unit 1 as well.

  9. I am not understanding your question – please ask again in a different way so I can help?

  10. Hi misses Arora why can’t any electricity shock you at any grade?

  11. Try it and see if it works. 3-12V may require a second battery pack.

  12. Michelle Bright says:

    Will a 3-12V buzzer work, too, or does it have to be 3-6V?

  13. Yes – it does! The motor uses an “eccentric drive” to move the robot around. Try varying the weight the motor moves around as well as the arm length (moment arm) of the thing it’s jiggling to control more of how it moves. Also leg position matters.. have fine experimenting!

  14. Robert D'Angelo says:

    Hey Aurora. I just realised that the motors on the popsicle sticks were facing up-right. Does this afect the jiggleing?

  15. No, not especially. If it does, it just means that you’re not quite in the center of the glue sticks and they are flopping around a bit. Nothing to worry about unless it starts to shake itself off the string, then you’ll need to readjust the placement of the glue sticks on the motor shaft.

  16. Robert D'Angelo says:

    Hi Aurora, it’s Andie. Is the cable car supposed to vibrate a lot? Or is it supposed to vibrate only a little.

  17. Hi Andie! I’ve sent you a private email…

  18. Robert D'Angelo says:

    Hi Aurora, it’s Andie. On Tuesday, I found that my tri-stand LED was broken. One of its legs had broken off. How do I fix it?

  19. Hi Andie! Can you send me a picture of the front and back of the buzzer? You can send it to my email here: [email protected] If you have a short video you can send that also so I can help!

  20. Robert D'Angelo says:

    Hi Aurora, it’s Andie. In the teleclass video, your buzzer has wires but mine has snaps. I’m not sure how to hook it all up together! Can you help me?

  21. It might, depending on the alarm’s voltage requirements – try it and see if you can get it to work!

  22. Robert D'Angelo says:

    Hi Aurora, it’s Andie. I have an electronic snap circut kit and I am using the alarm snap circut from it. Will this work?

  23. Yes, it’s just an illustration of what a battery can look like on the inside. The image in the upper left is a better view of the windings.

  24. Michelle Palmer says:

    HI, I probably missed it but is that item at the bottom of the screen at 32 minutes a battery?

  25. Sure thing! Do a search on our website for “telegraph” and you’ll get instructions for building one!

  26. Rae Carrington says:

    Hi, We took a field trip to visit a war ship/ destroyer. They had radio operators called sparkers who sent messages in morse code. We got to try sending our names & then the operator would guess them. Is there a way we could make morse code senders to send it to each other from our desks or the living room?