Unit Plan
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Brilliant: Conservation of Energy

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses conservation of energy, and explains what kinetic energy is, some kinds of potential energy, and how work and energy are related using the work-kinetic energy theorem. Provides lots of examples along with calculations.
Unit Plan
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: What Is Gravitational Potential Energy?

For Students 9th - 10th
This site explains what gravitational potential energy means and how to calculate it.
Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Physics for Kids: Potential Energy

For Students 1st - 9th
Kids learn about potential energy in the science of physics. The energy of position and state can be calculated using mass, gravity, and height. The standard unit is the joule. How it is different from kinetic energy.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Energy on a Roller Coaster

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This activity utilizes hands-on learning with the conservation of energy and the interaction of friction. Students use a roller coaster track and collect position data. The students then calculate velocity, and energy data. After the...
Website
US Energy Information Administration

U.s. Eia Energy Kids

For Students 6th - 8th
This comprehensive lesson teaches all about energy, including the different forms, the periodic table, history of human energy use and production, and energy units. It contains an interactive energy calculator, games and activities, and...
Unit Plan
Sophia Learning

Sophia: Practice W/ Gravitational Potential Energy

For Students 9th - 10th
This lesson provides the learner with example problems on calculating gravitational potential energy.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Falling Water

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students drop water from different heights to demonstrate the conversion of water's potential energy to kinetic energy. They see how varying the height from which water is dropped affects the splash size. They follow good experiment...
Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: Physical Science: Work and Energy

For Students 9th - 10th
Find out about simple machines, calculate the mechanical advantage and efficiency of machines, differentiate potential and kinetic energy, and learn ways to use energy more efficiently.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Renewable Energy Living Lab: The Bright Idea

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students use real-world data to evaluate the feasibility of solar energy and other renewable energy sources in different U.S. locations. Working in small groups, students act as engineers evaluating the suitability of installing solar...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Renewable Energy Living Lab: Power Your School

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students use real-world data to calculate the potential for solar and wind energy generation at their school location. After examining maps and analyzing data from the online Renewable Energy Living Lab, they write recommendations as to...
Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Physics for Kids: Kinetic Energy

For Students 1st - 9th
Kids learn about kinetic energy in the science of physics. The energy of motion can be calculated using mass and velocity. The standard unit is the joule. How it is different from potential energy.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Swinging Pendulum

For Teachers 7th - 9th
This activity demonstrates how potential energy (PE) can be converted to kinetic energy (KE) and back again. Given a pendulum height, students calculate and predict how fast the pendulum will swing by understanding conservation of energy...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Household Energy Conservation and Efficiency

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students complete three different activities to evaluate the energy consumption in a household and explore potential ways to reduce that consumption. The focus is on conservation and energy efficient electrical devices and appliances.The...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Student Analysis of a Person Jumping on a Trampoline

For Teachers 9th - 10th
For this activity, students learn about conservation of mechanical energy as they measure the velocity of a girl jumping on a trampoline using a direct measurement video with an embedded frame counter and ruler.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Power Your House With Water

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students learn how engineers design devices that use water to generate electricity by building model water turbines and measuring the resulting current produced in a motor. Students work through the engineering design process to build...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Calculation of Your Personal Carbon Footprint

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This worksheet walks the students through the steps for calculating their personal carbon footprint. Additionally it helps them consider options for reducing their carbon footprint and the potential costs of those reductions.
Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: What Is Potential Difference and How to Calculate It

For Students 9th - 10th
Explains the concept of electric potential difference and how it is calculated.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Swinging Pendulum

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This activity shows students the engineering importance of understanding the laws of mechanical energy. More specifically, it demonstrates how potential energy can be converted to kinetic energy and back again. Given a pendulum height,...
Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: What Is Ionization Potential

For Students 9th - 10th
Explains what ionization potential is and how to calculate it.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Ramp and Review (For High School)

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this hands-on activity - rolling a ball down an incline and having it collide into a cup - the concepts of mechanical energy, work and power, momentum, and friction are all demonstrated. During the activity, students take measurements...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Work and Power: Waterwheel

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Investigating a waterwheel illustrates to students the physical properties of energy. They learn that the concept of work, force acting over a distance, differs from power, which is defined as force acting over a distance over some...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Surface Tension Lab

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students extend their understanding of surface tension by exploring the real-world engineering problem of deciding what makes a "good" soap bubble. Student teams first measure this property, and then use this measurement to determine the...
Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: Ap Chemistry: Electrochemistry

For Students 9th - 10th
In this module students learn more about oxidation-reductions and how to balance these reactions and perform stoichiometric calculations on these specific reactions. Students also explore electrolysis, galvanic cells, reduction...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Collisions and Momentum: Bouncing Balls

For Teachers 7th - 9th
As a continuation of the theme of potential and kinetic energy, this lesson introduces the concepts of momentum, elastic and inelastic collisions. Many sports and games, such as baseball and ping-pong, illustrate the ideas of momentum...