The Kite in the Storm
The idea: did Franklin fly the kite the way the pictures show, and who said he did.
Read it
Who is in this book
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Danya a child of the Green Asks "how do we know?" -
Inkling a child of the Green Names what she notices -
Claim Before you check a story, say exactly what it claims from TruthQuest -
Weigh Ask who was in a position to know, and when they said it from TruthQuest -
Trace Follow a story back to where it started; copies are not sources from TruthQuest -
Beto a child of the Green Takes things apart -
Lan a child of the Green Goes first; makes a friend in a minute - Tara a child of the Green Listens longest, speaks last
Every recurring character has a short tune, so you can tell who is on stage before a word is said. The tunes play only when you tap, and the Reading Access sound switch turns them off.
The Honest Page
Which parts are true, stretched or made up — and what does nobody know?
True
- Benjamin Franklin described the kite experiment in the Pennsylvania Gazette on 19 October 1752. He did not say there that he had done it himself. Source
- In 1767 Joseph Priestley, who had the details from Franklin, wrote that Franklin did it in June 1752 with his son William, a hemp string, a silk cord and a metal key. Source
- The kite was not struck by lightning, which would probably have killed him. Charge gathered from the storm clouds; the string's loose threads stood apart, and the key gave sparks. Source
- In May 1752 Thomas-François Dalibard drew electricity from a storm in France. In 1753 Georg Wilhelm Richmann was killed trying a similar experiment. Source
- Franklin was born in 1706, so he was forty-six in 1752. Priestley's account came fifteen years later.
Stretched
- Lightning struck Franklin's kite. What we simplified: The pictures show a strike because it is dramatic. The real experiment drew a small charge from the clouds.
- Franklin discovered electricity. What we simplified: People already studied electricity. The kite helped show that lightning is electricity.
Made up
- The drying room, the corridor of doors, Claim, Trace and Weigh as people in it, the Friday Paper and the notes in the box are made up. Franklin, William, Priestley, Dalibard, Richmann and their dates are real.
Nobody knows
- Exactly what happened that day in June 1752. Franklin's own letter does not say he did it; the full story comes from Priestley fifteen years later. Source
Tell it back
Tell the story in your own words: who was there, what went wrong, and what they found out. Then the seventh page of Danya's two-column notebook goes on your belt.
On your belt: the seventh page of Danya's two-column notebook.
Your belt lives on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Ring the hammer for someone
Pick this book for someone younger. The link carries only the book, and it will wait for them on the Green.