Lightning rods (also called lightning preventors or lightning arrestors) are constructed of a high-conductivity material with high current-handling properties. They are connected to ground.
Lightning rods work by being physically located usually higher than surrounding stuctures to offer a more conducive low-resistance path to ground for atmospheric "static electricity" charges. Thus provides an alternative to surrounding structures becoming the discharge path to ground.
You could refer to the diagrams given in the floowing links for the structire of lightning rods:
http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/30/24030-004-1AD92E9F.gif
http://www.elliottelectric.com/References/Residential_Lightning_Protection.aspx
2010-03-20 23:25:06 補充:
There are some typos in the last sentence. "floowing" should be "following", and "structire" should be "structure".