Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Crank It Up!
Following this procedure, eager engineers construct a working model of a piston system, similar to that in an internal combustion engine. Perfect for STEM or automotive technology classes, the activity comes complete with analysis and...
Carnegie Mellon University
Transportation
Teach your environmental studies, life science, or engineering class how an internal combustion engine works using the first few slides of the accompanying presentation. Then, focus in on the resulting carbon emissions. Finally, take a...
Curated OER
Hybrid Vehicles: Cut Pollution and Save Money
Math and science meet in this instructional activity on hybrid electric automobiles. This 24-page resource provides everything you need for teaching a instructional activity that compares the use of internal combustion engines to hybrid...
Curated OER
Internal Combustion Engine
Students design parts for a scale-model, internal combustion engine using software. In this engine lesson students work in groups to assemble an internal combustion engine.
Curated OER
How Do Car Engines Work?
High schoolers perform an experiment which simulates what happens inside an internal combustion engine. They explain how the chemical reaction they witnessed is similar to what happens inside the car engine.
Curated OER
Discovering How a Car Works
Students explain the four stroke process in internal combustion engines. In this physics lesson plan, students role play this process and present their reenactment in class. They draw and label the diagram of an internal combustion engine.
Curated OER
Distillation
A sequence of slides that show the apparatus set up for varying practices of distillation. The equipment pieces in each diagram are labeled and their purpose noted. Your class can use these pictures to help set up their own equipment, or...
Bonneville
Background Research on Alternative Transportation Vehicles
There's no alternative to a great research project. The second of five lessons in the Solar Transportation unit has scholars research different types of alternative vehicles. They determine the price, range, battery size, and cost to...
Curated OER
How Cars Work
Learners summarize the steps in the four stroke internal combustion engine. In this physics lesson, students act out the process while being videotaped. They simulate energy conversion using potato gun.
Curated OER
Electric Car: American Industry and Innovation
Students study how an electric car operates. In this electric car lesson students assemble an electric car motor from parts from an internal combustion engine.
National Energy Education Development Project
Exploring Transportation
Did you know horsepower is actually based on the power of a horse? 60 horse power is the equivalent of being pulled by a team of 60 horses! Viewers will learn other interesting facts like this from a presentation that begins with the...
Curated OER
Rudolf Diesel Research Question
In this scientific inventions worksheet, students research the German inventor (Rudolf Diesel) who developed the internal-combustion engine. Students write a short description of the inventor and his invention, and draw a picture to...
Curated OER
I Don't Believe My Eyes!
Students develop their understanding of the effects of invisible air pollutants. In this invisible air lesson plan, students complete experiments with a rubber band air test, a bean plant experiment and by exploring engineering roles...
National Energy Education Development Project
Exploring Hybrid School Bus Technology
The color School Bus Yellow was created in 1939 because science had proven peripheral vision detects yellow 1.24 times faster than other colors. Young scientists explore modern school bus transportation options and then discuss the types...
Curated OER
Wind Power! 2
Fourth graders explore how engineers transform wind energy into electrical energy by building their own miniature wind turbines and measuring the electrical current it produces. They see how design and position affect the electrical...
Curated OER
Car Engines
Young scholars create piston systems and explore the conversion of linear to rotary motion that propels a car. In this motion lesson, students build and test a model piston/crankshift system and discover why there is a maximum limit to...
Curated OER
Hybrid Automobiles
Learners explain the basic principles of gasoline engines as propulsion for vehicles. They cite reasons why alternatives for gasoline engines are being considered and explain differences between a motor and an engine.
California Academy of Science
Climate Change Impacts
Getting kids thinking about climate change now, will hopefully push them into action when they become adults. Young environmentalists discuss the evidence and causes of climate change seen in the state of California. They brainstorm ways...
Energy for Keeps
The Energy Times
Extra! Extra! Read all about past and present energy use in a classroom-made historical newspaper. Useful as a cross-curricular assignment between science, history, and language arts, the project is sure to get young journalists...
Curated OER
Levers and Pulleys
Seventeen pages of material leave you well-prepared to carry out this lesson on levers and pulleys. Photos and diagrams make the instructions clear; resource links provide additional information. The missing aspects of this teacher's...
California Academy of Science
Energy: A Day in My Life
If only we could harness the energy of fifth graders, our energy problems would be over! The class discusses where different forms of energy come from and how we use them. They complete a chart of the activities that they do daily that...
Curated OER
Fossil Fuel Sources, Usage and Alternatives: What are the Options?
Students identify the different sources of fossil fuels. In this environmental science lesson, students research about how these impact our environment. They explore renewable energy sources that could replace fossil fuels.
Curated OER
Biodiesel: An Alternative Fuel Source
Students explore the advances that are being made in alternative fuels.In this biodiesel lesson students evaluate different petroleum and alternative fuels.
Curated OER
Thar She Blows!: Wind Power
Learners examine how wind energy is transformed into electrical energy. In pairs, they build miniature wind turbines and measure how much electrical current they produce. They asses the importance of design and position in energy...