What

Museum Staff-led

When

Terms 1 to 4, Monday to Friday

Duration

40 minutes in the Lightning Theatre

Year level

Years 5 to 10

Minmum student numbers

Minimum 15 students

Maximum student numbers

Maximum 118 students

Cost

$9 per student + education service fee

Booking information

Bookings 13 11 02

School visit information

Set in our purpose-built high voltage Lightning Theatre, this 40-minute presentation will be a hair-raising introduction to the world of electricity. 

With engaging volunteer moments, students experience static and current electricity, electrical motors, generators, and an electromagnet. The show is rounded off with a lightning demonstration using a two-million-volt Tesla coil and a discussion of safety in lightning storms. 

Victorian Curriculum links

Science 

• Energy from a variety of sources can be used to generate electricity; electric circuits enable this energy to be transferred to another place and then to be transformed into another form of energy (VCSSU081) 
• Energy appears in different forms including movement (kinetic energy), heat, light, chemical energy and potential energy; devices can change energy from one form to another (VCSSU104) 
• Use scientific knowledge and findings from investigations to identify relationships, evaluate claims and draw conclusions (VCSIS111) 
• The interaction of magnets can be explained by a field model; magnets are used in the generation of electricity and the operation of motors (VCSSU131)