People use electricity to light their homes. Where does it come from? It is made at power plants. Power lines carry it over long distances. Let us find out how it is made and how it gets to you. Our trip has a few stops. The first stop is a battery.

A battery can make electricity flow through a wire. But it only flows when it has a complete path. That path is called a circuit. Metals let it flow through them easily. Glass, rubber, wood and plastic do not. Let us see how a path works.

Now let us look at static electricity. Atoms are made of protons, neutrons and electrons. Rubbing can move electrons from one thing to another. That is how static electricity starts. Electric charges that are alike push each other apart. Static electricity can make your hair stand on end. Lightning is a kind of electricity too.

Now let us see how a power plant makes it. A generator turns the energy of motion into electricity. Moving a magnet through a coil of wire can make electricity flow in the wire. Wind can spin the blades of a wind turbine to make electricity. Most wind turbines have three blades.

Let us look at more ways to make it. Water and sun can make it too. Moving water can spin a turbine to make it. Solar panels can use sunlight to make it. Wind is caused in part by the sun heating the air unevenly. Look at the sun and the wind.

Here are some rules to keep. If you see a power line on the ground, stay away from it and tell a grown-up right away. Never fly a kite near power lines. Never climb a power pole, or a tree that is near power lines. Please read each rule twice.

Here are more rules to keep. Never put your fingers or other objects into an outlet. Never use anything with a cord or plug around water. To unplug something, hold the plug and never pull on the cord. Hold the plug, not the cord. Please read these rules twice too.

Now let us follow the path to your house. Power lines carry it over long distances. A transformer raises or lowers the voltage of electricity. A transformer at a substation lowers the voltage. From a substation, smaller, lower-voltage lines bring it to neighborhoods and homes. That is the path to your house. It is a long trip from the plant.

Words to know

• circuit: a complete path
• generator: makes electricity
• transformer: changes voltage
• turbine: a spinning machine

The short version

Electricity is made at power plants. A generator turns the energy of motion into electricity. Power lines carry it over long distances, and a transformer at a substation lowers its voltage before smaller lines bring it to neighborhoods and homes, where people use it to light their houses.

Quick facts

• A generator turns the energy of motion into electricity.
• Moving a magnet through a coil of wire can make electricity flow in the wire.
• Wind, moving water and sunlight can each be used to make electricity.
• A transformer at a substation lowers the voltage of electricity.
• Electricity only flows when it has a complete path, called a circuit.