How to teach lightning activities to spark students' curiosity?

Abstract

Abstract. There is a worldwide tendency to approach physics in everyday life. Special attention is being paid to the integration of socio-scientific issues into physics teaching such as saving energy, climate change and its consequences, and other examples. Severe weather conditions and lightning activities, which often cause severe damage and sometimes death, can also be found among the weather-related problems. The accurate description of these topics for high school learners is very complex, but presenting them in a relevant, authentic, and inspiring manner is motivating. Motivation is almost as important as the teaching of the content knowledge because learning physics in public education nowadays seems to be less and less popular among students. This paper aims to share our teaching experiences and some of the ideas concerning lightning strikes and the damages caused by them. In this study, we also cover some of the common beliefs and misconceptions related to lightning flashes and examine our students' thoughts about them.