Raven spots a thin metal rod on top of an old barn. "What is that spike for?" she asks.
Rocket guesses. "Maybe it scares lightning away!"
"What do you notice about the wire?" Raven asks. "It runs down the wall into the ground."
Nova traces the wire with her light. "Follow the path," she says. "Where does it lead?"
A lightning rod is a metal rod on top of a building.
A metal cable runs from the rod down into the ground.
Lightning rods do not stop lightning from striking.
Instead, they catch the strike and give it a safe path.
The energy travels down the cable and spreads into the ground.
This helps protect the building, especially from fires.
Engineers ask: does this design solve the problem?
The problem is lightning starting a fire in a building.
The lightning rod sends the energy around the building, not through it.
So a good claim is: lightning rods help protect buildings from lightning fires.
Lightning carries a lot of energy. If it goes through a building, it can start a fire.
A lightning rod gives that energy a path around the building instead.
The cable is made of metal, like copper or aluminum.
The energy follows the cable down and spreads into the ground.
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| A lightning rod catches the strike. | ? |
| A lightning rod keeps lightning away from the area. | ? |
| The energy spreads into the ground. | ? |
| Lightning rods help protect buildings from fires. | ? |
Super engineering eyes! Tomorrow you design and test a flood wall.