Why Does Static Cling?

For my research article review I decided to read Why Static Clings by Laurie Naab and David Henry. The authors felt it was important to conduct this study, and write this article because they wanted to address common student misconceptions about static electricity and magnetism. The main purpose of this article/study is to address students misconceptions and help students change their misconceptions through hands on activities and discoveries independently. Many teachers teach students about static electricity by rubbing a balloon on their head as an example, but the real question the authors are asking is do the students know WHY exactly this static electricity occurs.

This article explains possible misconceptions of students and lessons that can be used to help students get rid of these misconceptions about static electricity. Using the 5E learning-cycle, teachers will be able to help their students understand why static clings. Students were encouraged to make predictions within their investigation and also to make observations. Hopefully, throughout this experience, students will become aware of their misconceptions that they might have had, and eventually learn the right information to correct them. Its also important that students explain there predictions and how their thoughts changed based on their observations and what they learned through the lesson. 

This article provides many ideas for four days of engaging students in learning about static electricity. It is suggested that day 1 is used to engage the students with static electricity and to find out any misconceptions the students may have about static electricity and magnetism. The common balloon can be used to bring up these misconceptions. Many students believe that static and magnetism are the same. This article suggested that the students explore deeper into this topic with the use of tape and eventually magnets. The students went through a series of investigations to make new discoveries about static electricity and magnetism. The final steps include evaluating the students to understand what they found out by asking the original question. By evaluating the students, the teacher will be able to see the progress the students have made by the changes in their answers. These lessons were inquiry based lessons. They were successful because the students were able to create their own understanding about static electricity through observations. They were able to get rid of their misconceptions and create a more accurate model of static electricity in their heads. These students were also able to follow the scientific method by gathering information, making hypotheses, recording data, and debating evidence. They were able to create new ideas throughout their journey by making observations. 

I enjoyed reading this article because tons of information about a specific science phenomenon and it addressed the misconceptions that most students have about it. Before I read this article I did not have a clear understanding as to why static actually clung, but this article helped me to understand it and even get rid of some of my own misconceptions.  This article also included some fun and engaging lessons to include in the classroom to teach students how static clings. Research articles are great to use in the classroom as a resource because it provides the students with a brief overview of information on one topic. Students will find it interesting to read a research article because it discusses one topic and focuses on that area. Research articles also provide interesting information to further each students learning. They also incorporate literacy into the subject of science because it helps students with their reading and writing skills. Students can create a project or write a response to the research article about the important parts or the misconceptions that have been cleared for them. This is great for practicing writing skills. Teachers can benefit from research articles because they provide a lot of information about a topic to use during a lesson and in the classroom. Research articles are a great tool to use and can be found almost anywhere, including online!