Electricity, magnets and movement

Set in our purpose-built high voltage Lightning Room laboratory/theatre, which features equipment unique to Scienceworks, this 40-minute presentation will also demonstrate the principles of static electricity.

Students will explore how current electricity is produced using permanent magnets and coils of wire and how this principle is applied in power stations and electrical devices. They observe how electrical motors transform electrical energy into movement energy and how an electromagnet can be created.

Electricity, magnets and movement is rounded off with a lightning demonstration using a two million volt Tesla coil and a discussion of safety in lightning storms.

Curriculum links

• Level 5–10 - Science as a Human Endeavour
• Level 5–10 - Physical Sciences
• Level 5–10 - Questioning and Predicting