Over 250 years ago, Benjamin Franklin and other scientists began investigating the mysterious force we call electricity. At first, it was little more than a trick or something to be used for entertainment. Now, electricity helps us run our modern day lives in ways Franklin, Thomas Edison, and others could have never imagined. Lights, computers, televisions, phones, toys, medicine—our world revolves around electricity and our ability to harness and create it. With a focus on STEM, Explore Electricity! introduces readers ages 6–9 to the workings of batteries, simple circuits, conductors and insulators, motors and generators, electricity and magnetism, and the ways we’re working toward more Earth-friendly electricity. Then it invites kids to experiment on their own with 25 simple projects that will “spark” their learning and enthusiasm.

Detailed step-by-step instructions to 25 projects along with fun bits of trivia, sidebars, and jokes help “charge” up young readers to explore the force that can be found everywhere—from inside our bodies to the animal world to the sky above us. Projects include making your own clothespin switch, lemon battery, compass, electromagnet, and flashlight, as well as generating your own “lightning.”

Grades 1–4.