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Moving ElectronsElectricity is the movement of electrons from one place to another. Electrons are tiny particles found in an atom that have negative charges. Sometimes these electrons are released from an atom, leaving a positive ion and a free electron. In electricity, the electrons move from an area that is negatively charged (extra electrons) to an area that is positively charged (wanting electrons). That movement is electricity.There aren't a lot of places that you can see electricity. The most common natural form of electricity is lightning. There are two basic forms of lightning, cloud to cloud and cloud to surface. Both are created when there is an unequal distribution of charges and the electrons move from one location to another. You can also see electricity in several labs with different apparatuses. Van de Graff generators are regularly used in museums and science classrooms to generate small arcs of electrons. 
Separating ChargesCurrents are created when there is a separation of positive and negative charges. Those electrons don't like to be bunched up. When they see a positive charge, they want to move. Batteries are a good example of separating charges. We use chemicals to create an environment where the electrons want to move. When you have connected the areas of positive and negative charges, you have created a circuit.Up to this point we've been talking about electrons moving from one point to another. A special type of electricity is called static electricity. Static electricity doesn't move. It doesn't have a charges. The electrons stay in one place. Eventually they can cross a gap and move to another object when there are too many electrons. 
Static electricity can happen on a dry winter day when you walk across a carpet. You are actually building up loads of electrons on your skin. When you touch a metal doorknob the electrons jump and give you a shock. Lightning is the biggest example of static electricity that you will see. Charges build until the clouds can hold no more. Then the jump happens.
Electricity Around YouIt's easy to see the uses of electricity around you. In fact, there are charges around your computer, your house, and your city. Electric fields are created when electrons are flowing. Since electricity is constantly flowing through all of the wires in your town, large fields are created. There is also electricity in your flash light. That kind of electricity created by batteries is direct current. The other major type is in the plugs of your house. That household form is called alternating current.
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