The kids attended a special program today given just for home schoolers by Dr. Robert Krampf at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant on Hutchison Island near Port St. Lucie, FL. The program was called The Nuts and Bolts of Lightning.
We found out about the program last week when we visited the FPL Energy Encounter exhibit at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant. The Energy Encounter is a very interesting exhibit that explains electricity and different ways to generate power in terms that even I can understand.
Today’s program talked about interesting issues involving lightning. For instance, did you know that:
- Lightning strikes one mile away from you for every five seconds between the lightning strike and the thunder clap;
- If you are about to be struck by lightning, your hair will raise up off your head approximately one-two seconds before the lightning strike;
- If you are caught in a lightning storm, your best defense is to crouch down into a ball as close to the ground as you can with your feet together. The smaller you are and the closer to the ground you are, the less likely you will be struck by lightning. Do NOT lie on the ground;
- You should not take a shower or wash the dishes during a thunder storm because lightning can strike a home and follow pipes into the shower or sink. Also, water is an excellent conductor of electricity;
- Lightning can also follow the telephone cord. So do not use a corded telephone during a thunder storm. However, it is safe to use a cordless telephone;
- Contrary to popular belief, Benjamin Franklin did not discover electricity by being struck by lightning.
Shelby and Louis will get back to their books tomorrow, but it was a nice break for them to have a field trip today.
3 comments:
That must be glowing with happiness!
Remember those of us that live in Florida should know all of this already. If not, thank you for educating. You missed one - what about lightning striking twice??? LOL
You know you should ball up when attacked by a bear too! We do have bear in Florida.
BTW, us'n Crackers know to count between lighning and thunder to figure out how far away it is. We sometimes have to use both our hands and feet to do so but we figure it out!
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