LightningBy Colleen and Liz

What is Lightning?

Lightning is a huge bolt of electricity that can reach

from the clouds to the

ground.

During thunderstorms there are negative

and positive charges. These charges

separate so the negative charges sink to the bottom of the cloud. Meanwhile the

positive charges in the ground rise too the

top.

The two charges are attracted to each other.

The negative charges are a lot smaller than the positive charges. The

positive are so strong the can pull the the negative

charges down to the ground. This makes an invisible stroke called a

stepped leader.

As soon as the negative charges touch the positive charges, the positive charges quickly push the negative charges back up

into the clouds.This causes the visible stroke.After seeing this

stroke you hear a loud bang which is called thunder.This

noise is caused by the positive charges coming from the

ground touching the negative charges in the clouds.

Lightning can strike almost anywhere there is rain. There are thousands of lightning strikes every day. Scientists think that lightning hits

earth about one hundred times per second.

Where do they most occur?

How are humans affected?

More people are killed by lightning than any other kind of storm. When you get hit by

lightning it feels like your foot falls asleep, but much stronger. Lightning can also start forest fires, just like the one that happened in B.C.

How humans protect themselves

When you’re a in a thunder storm, it is best to get in a

sheltered area, but don’t hide under trees.Trees are one of

the tallest objects in the world, and are most likely to

get hit.

Also do not swim or you could get electrocuted.It is best not to use anything

electrical, even when inside. When stranded

outside, you should curl up into the smallest ball and get as close to the ground

as possible.

Interesting Interesting FactsFacts

By counting the seconds between the lightning flash and the “ bang” of thunder you can tell how far away the lightning is.

Each five seconds equals one mile.

More Interesting Facts

There is also There is also dry lightning dry lightning

This is This is lightning that lightning that strikes when strikes when

it is not it is not rainingraining

.

Resources

• www.google.ca

• www.nationalgeographic.com/lightning/

• www.azstarnet.com/~anubis/zaphome.htm

• www.chaseday.com/lightning.htm