Dancing Ghosts

Have you ever gotten shocked after walking on carpet or seen your hair fly up after rubbing it against a balloon? Today, we’ll learn why these things happen with the help of a spooky dancing ghost!

 MATERIALS:

  • White tissue paper

  • Scissors

  • Black marker

  • Balloons

  • Tape

  • Construction paper (any color except white)

  • Optional: wool sweater

TIME ESTIMATED:

15 minutes

DIRECTIONS: 

  1. First, lay out your tissue paper and carefully draw a ghost. Be sure to give them a face!   

  2. With an adult’s help, cut out your ghost and lay them down on your construction paper. 

  3. Now tape them down only at the bottom, so the top part is free to float up. 

  4. Next, blow up your balloon and rub it against your hair or a wool sweater.

  5. Move the balloon near your ghost without touching it and watch what happens! Can you get your ghost to do a spooky dance?

Think Like a Scientist!

  • Why did we rub the balloon on our hair/sweater?

  • Why does the ghost move when the balloon is nearby?

HOW DOES IT WORK? 

This spooky experiment works because of static electricity. When we rub the balloon on a surface like our hair or a wool sweater, the electrons move from that surface onto the balloon, giving it a negative charge. When the balloon comes near our ghosts, they stand up and dance because they’re attracted to the balloon’s negative charge. If we try this without rubbing the balloon against something, we’ll see the ghost no longer wants to dance because there’s no charge nearby!

Further exploration:

Static electricity comes up in lots of unexpected places. For example, materials scientists study the properties of different materials/products so we can improve them and invent new things. This includes everyday items like plastic wrap, which works using static electricity! When plastic wrap touches another object, like a bowl, they’re attracted and stick together.

ANTICIPATED CONCERNS:

Be sure to have an adult’s help with the scissors!

Looking for more fun at-home STEM activities for your young scientist? Check out our workbook full of exciting science experiments and empowering activities! 

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