Dancing Cereal

Source Institutions

Twin Cities Public Television

In this quick activity (on page 2 of the PDF), learners will observe how dry breakfast cereal appears to dance when it gets close to a balloon charged with static electricity. Then, learners develop an explanation for this phenomenon, in their own words and/or by drawing. Relates to the linked video, DragonflyTV GPS: Body Electricity.

Preparation Time:: Under 5 minutes
Learning Time:: 10 to 30 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:: 1 cent - $1 per group of students
Age Range:: Ages 8 - 14
Resource Type:: Activity
Language:: English

Materials List (per group of students)

breakfast cereal, such as crisped rice
a balloon

Keywords

Subjects

Earth and Space Science
- Earth Structure
  - Rocks and Minerals
Engineering and Technology
- Engineering
  - Electrical Engineering
Life Sciences
- Human Body
Physical Sciences
- Electricity and Magnetism
  - Electric Charges and Currents
The Nature of Science
- The Scientific Process
  - Asking Questions
  - Conducting Investigations
  - Formulating Explanations

Informal Categories

Food and Cooking

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

see
touch

Learning styles supported:

Involves teamwork and communication skills
Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

Components that are part of this resource:

This resource is part of:

DragonflyTV Parents & Teachers Resources

Access Rights:

Free access

By:

Twin Cities Public Television, Inc.

Source Collection:

DragonflyTV

Rights:

Funding Source:

National Science Foundation, 515566