By: Gail A. Conwell 6 th Grade Period:1 2nd Quarter 2010 Robert Louis Stevenson l Middle School

 Lightning is a giant spark in the sky  Until the 1700’s lighting was a mystery  Lighting strikes on the earth 100 times a second  In 1752 Scientist Benjamin Franklin found out that lightning is electrical

Will lightning be brighter and louder inside or outside ?

If I make lightning inside then it will be brighter and louder outside.

The items I will be testing will be making lightning indoors and outdoors. The things that I will keep the same is the procedure and testing lightning indoors and outdoors.

 Foil pie plate  Ball point pen  Tack  Styrofoam  Glue (if needed)  Video Camera

First you need to get materials Gather materials on counter Place the tack in the pie plate (bottom up) the sharp point should be sticking out of the pie plate Place the back of the pen into the tack use glue if you need to After that do not touch the experiment with your hands you cant do it if you do.

Take the sock and rub it on the styrofoam quickly. This will create a negative charge to make the lightning spark Pick up the pie plate and place it on top of the styrofoam Bring your finger to the pie plate with out touching it Turn off the lights and see the spark

Date Indoors Outdoors 10/24I was able to hear and feel the lightning I could hear it a little bit 11/10I could barely hear any thingI could not hear any thing 11/11I saw a little bright blue light and heard it I could hear it a little bit 11/25I was able to hear and feel the lightning I could hear it a little bit 11/26I could barely hear any thingI could not hear anything 11/28I was able to hear and feel the lightning I could hear it a little bit

I tried to make lighting outside but some times that doesn’t work. Making lighting in the winter time, rainy season, did not work because there is too much moisture in the air.

 My experiment always worked better indoors rather than outdoors.  After researching why my experiment did not work as well outside, the reason is there is more humidity in the air outside than inside during the winter months in Saint Helena.  My original hypothesis was incorrect because there is more humidity in the outside air.  The more humid the air the harder it is to create lightning with this experiment.

Thank You’s I thank Mr. Pham for guidance and advice I also thank my mom and dad for helping when I got stuck or frustrated I also thank uncle bob for helping figure out how it works Work-cited : Uman, Martin A. “Lightning.”World book Advanced,2010.Web.26.Oct.2010