This lesson will introduce students to each of the different types of energy using PowerPoint slides, partner activities, and hands-on experiences with different kinds of energy including: batteries (chemical), electrical circuits (electrical), motors (motion), speakers (sound), vinegar and baking soda (chemical) and magnets (magnetic). Finally, students will examine how energy can be transformed from one kind to another. This is suitable as a stand-alone lesson.

This lesson begins with students having hands-on experiences creating electrical circuits using a battery, wires, and a light bulb. Students will learn that electricity is the flow of electrons, and how electricity moves within a circuit.

Students will learn the difference between energy and power. They will then use this new understanding to compare the energy and power difference of light bulbs (incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, and LED) using a tool called a “Kill-A-Watt” meter. Students will also perform simple calculations to find the total amount of energy used if the power usage and number of hours a device is used is known. This lesson is related to Debbie Frankel’s lesson, called “Home Energy Consumption”. This is suitable as a stand-alone lesson.

This lesson gives students hands-on experiences with the attraction and repulsion of magnets including experiments with how the strength of attraction and repulsion varies with distance. Students see how magnets are used in motors but also in electric generators. Finally, students learn three different methods for generating electricity (chemical/battery, magnets/turbine, and photovoltaic cells). Warning: Part 2 “magnets and distance” is very finicky and can be difficult to get good results. Try it yourself until you feel confident or this lesson will probably not go well.

Now that students are familiar with how mechanical electricity generation works, they will build a wind turbine powered by a box fan. Different teams will test different turbine variables to see how the amount of electrical power is affected. After each team completes testing their chosen variable, the highest wind turbine configurations from each team will tested against one another. The turbine that generates the most power from this lesson will then compete with a photovoltaic cell of approximately equivalent cost to see whether wind or solar is the most economical (in the next lesson).

Students will plan and conduct an investigation into solar photovoltaic technologies to determine what variables affect the output of panels. They will calculate and compare their exploration of solar panels to their previous investigation of wind turbines in the last lesson.

Three rows outlined in black. In the first row a sketch of a black outlet plug with yellow prongs and electric bolts is on the left side. a blue arrow in the middle pointing right to a black and white sketch of a toaster with two pieces of bread in it. In the second row the left side has a sketch of food items, a piece of tan pie with a chocolate drizzle, a red tomato with green stem, a burrito in a pale wrap with brown beans green lettuce, cut tomato and grated yellow cheese spilling out, a yellow banana, and a half an orange. In the middle is a blue arrow pointed to the right. On the right is a black sketch of a person on a bicycle riding to the right. On the third row on the left is a yellow sun image with yellow triangular rays, in the middle a blue arrow pointed right, and on the right a blue 3D building sketch with two windows on the front with a door opening, a window on the right side, and a 4×3 solar panel on the roof, to it’s left their is a power pole with two wires connecting to the building.