The van der graff generator made static electricity by creating friction between a fabric belt, it rubbed together fast and made an electric charge. We had students try the generator and had them remove any metals.  They stood on a material to avoid the ground that was made up of metal elements and placed their hands on the metal and smooth ball. We had different scenarios where we would try out different ways to test out the generator. For example: We would place one hand on the machine and the other hand would be holding pieces of shredded paper, we saw that the papers flew away and when we were done our experiment we used a metal wand to avoid any discomfort from an electric shock.

I enjoyed seeing how much static could create an electrical shock and seeing the different ways we could visually see the electrical charges. This experiment was important because we learned about how static electricity is created and it was a fun way to see how it reacted to different materials.