During the period after America's "birth" there were many incredible people but none.

             Ben is considered one of America's greatest citizens.

             He accomplished many things in his lifetime; he was a scientist, an inventor, a.

             politician, a printer, a philosopher, a musician, and an economist. In the 1700s, a.

             scientist was someone who thought about the way things work and tried to figure out.

             ways to make things work better. Every time Ben Franklin saw a question and tried to.

             answer it, he was a scientist. Ben is most famous for his questions about electricity, but.

             he also experimented with many other ideas in nature. Ben did many studies on.

             electricity , not just lightning. Franklin received an electricity tube from his friend Peter.

             Collinson and began to play around with it, performing a vast amount of experiments.

             However, it is Ben's interest in lightning that is best remembered. Ben hypothesized.

             that lightning was an electrical current. To test his theory he needed to see whether or.

             not lightning would pass through metal. So he attached a metal key to a kite and flew it.

             in a storm. His experiment proved that lightning was a stream of electrified air, known.

             as plasma. Ben realized that lightning was immensely powerful, so he invented the.

             lightning rod. After Franklin did many studies with lightning and electricity , he realized.

             it was a very powerful force. It was this that motivated him to invent the lightning rod.

             The lightning rod is a piece of metal attached to a building, house, boat, etc. When.

             lightning strikes the building the rod will attract it and channel the electricity down to the.

             ground where it will much less damage. This invention has helped to protect buildings.

             of today greatly.

             In 1743, Ben Franklin was watching a storm move In. He wondered why the storms.

             were moving the opposite direction from where the wind was blowing. Franklin believed.

             that a storm course could be plotted. Ben chased the storm on horseback 314 of a mile.