'Electrifying' Science Demonstration at Indian Hill

HOLMDEL, NJ - Thanks to a gift from the Holmdel Parent Liasion Group and a grant from the Holmdel Foundation for Educational Excellence, Indian Hill science teacher Tom Woods had the opportunity recently to show students firsthand how a Van de Graaff generator works. A Van de Graaff generator is an electrostatic generator that uses a moving belt to accumulate electrical charge on a hollow metal globe.

The experiments conducted by Mr. Woods and his students at Indian Hill helped teach the kids how energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat and electric currents. Through Woods’ presentations, students learned about positive and negative electrical charges, the difference between static and current electricity, the difference between insulators and conductors and even how to keep safe during thunderstorms.

Thanks to the grant provided by the Holmdel PLG and the Holmdel Foundation, Woods was able to conduct the science experiments in small, one-on-one lessons.

"Other schools might hire a company to present a 'Van de Graaff assembly,' with 200 or more children in the audience, allowing just a handful get to engage in the experiment," he said. "Every child had the option of being part of this experiment."