Sparking Discovery & Unleashing the Power of Energy Explorers

Sparks were flying—there was ENERGY in the air! Walking into Tori Collins’ fourth-grade classroom at Our Lady of Hungary School was like stepping into an electrifying arena of excitement and curiosity.  The moment her students laid eyes on a photo of a dog with its hair standing on end, they were fired up! "What happened to that dog?!" one student burst out, setting off a chain reaction of theories. “Maybe it got scared!” “Maybe the wind blew its hair!”  When they finally cracked the mystery - static electricity - the room erupted!  BOOM!  Just like that, they were hooked on the GLC Unit: Energy Explorers!

Here’s the magic of Ms. Collins—she didn’t stop there! Before diving into the hands-on fun, she brought the lesson to life with a book about static electricity. She paused, asked questions, and got her students to share their own electrifying stories—like pulling socks from the dryer and getting zapped or sliding down a plastic slide and watching their hair stand straight up! She even shared her own jaw-dropping experience of seeing “thundersnow”—talk about making science real!

“Students explode with excitement in science because the activities are hands-on!”

Then came the main event—the EXPERIMENTS! Armed with their Graphic Instruction Guides  (GIGs), students couldn’t wait to get started. They worked with a partner to gather balloons, wool, foil, and construction paper, buzzing with excitement. The room transformed into a LIVE science lab! A few rubs of wool on a balloon and—BAM!—tiny foil bits leaped into the air, sticking to the balloon! 

The laughter, the high-fives, the pure joy of discovery—spread like wildfire as students captured their observations in their Student Data Notebooks.

Ms. Collins wasn’t done yet! She cranked up the energy with a new challenge: exploring how charges interact. Small groups got to work, rubbing balloons with wool and slowly bringing them together. The room erupted with excitement when the balloons attracted, then suddenly repelled each other. “It’s like magic!” one student yelled. 

It wasn’t magic—it was SCIENCE....Powered by Ms. Collins and the GLC Energy Explorers Unit!

The energy didn’t stop there. Students were given extra time to explore and experiment further. They took turns rubbing balloons on their heads, giggling as their hair stood on end.  Others raced to see whose balloon could stick to the wall the longest. The classroom was a powerhouse of curiosity, laughter, and learning!  Students were experiencing the thrill of discovery firsthand. 

“I love that everything is ready to go for each lesson! I love the variety of activities.”

Ms. Collins’ students weren’t just learning about static electricity—they were feeling it and living it! 

They were charged up with excitement for science, ready to take on their next adventure with GLC.  Who knew science could be so electrifying? ⚡

Ms. Collins, you are a ROCKSTAR, and the impact you’re making is truly unstoppable!

The power of great teaching—and the power of the GLC Curriculum!