November 21, 1998

The Saturday Explorers begin with a review of the previous material. After their interaction section the explorers learn the difference opinion and something that can be proved. They apply this knowledge to different formulas. The explorers find out that if they can show proof about something then it may be worth spending more time researching. "There is something that you must know first," explains Robert Panoff, Bob1, "the laws that deal with electricity are different than those that deal with traffic. The laws of nature are discovered opposed to traffic in which people decide on them. There are different forces in electricity positive, negative, and neutral."

The explorers begin an experiment with static electricity. Bob1 takes a pole with two balloons tied to it with a string and asks Katie to come and rub the balloons. The explorers watch as the balloons move away from each other. They deduce that an object with positive charges moves away from each other. Bob1 then asks that the explorers sit on the ground and listen to the floor. The explorers at first think that he is insane, but as Bob1 rubs the balloon across the ground they hear the static picking up debris off the ground.

The explorers change rooms to do some experiments. Bob1 gives the explorers a scenario in which there is some salt on a table and someone accidentally spills pepper on the salt. Bob1 ask the explorers how would they pick up the pepper and not the salt. Bob1 takes a plastic comb and rubs it across a wool cloth. He then takes the comb and moves it across the area with the salt and pepper. Presto! The comb picks up the pepper and not the salt. Bob1 then shows the explorers his pet, Fido the paper napkin. The explorers try to have Fido do some tricks for them.

"Can you think of a way ... to measure how strong a force is," ask Bob1. "Lift up smaller pieces [of paper]," Wledah suggests. The explorers find out that since the charge is going through the comb then anything that the comb comes in contact with can become magnetic and pick up other objects. The explorers are then given different tools to try to test the strength of different objects. "What is the largest piece that your can pick up?," is the question that the explorers must ask themselves. The explorers write down their results and try experiments of their own dealing with static electricity.