Easy Science Project For Elementary School Student

You will want to gather these materials - a piece of glad cling wrap or any plastic wrap, a piece of cotton fabric, a piece of fleece fabric, a piece of wool fabric, other kinds of fabric like something fuzzy. You will also need a fluorescent light bulb. You can use a small 12 or 18 inch tube so it is easy for the child to hold.

Now what do I do?

Go to a totally dark room.

This is the easy part. Hold the light bulb tube in one hand and a piece of material in the other. Now rub the cling wrap quickly along the light bulb tube. Watch what happens. Now try it with each of the other fabrics you have.

This is a good reason to have several different types of materials with different textures, weights and surfaces like fuzzy, smooth and thick. See what happens with each fabric. This is your variable for the project, the different pieces of fabric.

For the child you will want to have them hold the light bulb and fabric and help them by rubbing the glad wrap on the light bulb.

What should we notice or expect from this experiment to make sure we are doing it correctly.

A fluorescent light bulb will emit a glow when there is electric fields inside the tube. This usually happens when the tube is connected through a light fixture and the electricity is connected. What you are doing is to find out if you can create your own electricity and by rubbing the cling wrap on the bulb and having the piece of fabric you are a conductor and are creating static electricity.

Your discovery will be what material makes the light bulb glow the brightest. First make a judgement about what fabric you think will work the best and test your theory to see if your scientific theory is correct. There is no right or wrong only subjective opinion to find an answer.

You may want to do this in a room where there is a soft ground covering. You don't want to drop the light bulb as it may cause broken glass. The electrical current created is not dangerous. It is static electricity. You may want to demonstrate with your young child first so they do not become alarmed if they see the light bulb glowing and drop it. Make a science project for elementary students easy to understand, easy for them to complete themselves and document. This will give them confidence in their abilities and they have done the science project themselves.