Carnegie Mellon University
How Power Plants Work 3
Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble! Find out what drives a turbine to generate electricity and whether or not it has an impact on the environment. A discussion and lecture is divided by a hands-on activity in...
Discovery Education
Submarines and Aircraft Carriers: The Science of Nuclear Power
As physics masters view this presentation, they learn how nuclear power is used in submarines. They use Google Maps to plot a course through the ocean and calculate the time required for surfacing and traveling. They learn about fission,...
US Department of Energy
Building the Basic PVC Wind Turbine
Here is a comprehensive and well-written lesson plan that results in learners building a standard wind turbine. Once built, teens can design a variety of experiments to test different factors. This activity is a noble undertaking that...
Virginia Department of Education
Work and Power
Assist your class with correctly calculating the values for force, work, and power as they determine the amount various activities require. They gather data and participate in a group discussion to compare results upon conclusion of the...
Curated OER
Solar Kit Lesson #15 - Solar-Powered Electrolysis of Water and the Hydrogen Economy
An outstanding lesson awaits your physics fledglings! After reading about how hydrogen can act as an energy carrier, they examine the electrolysis of water using solar power. They test the gases produced for flammability and will...
Curated OER
Work and Power: Waterwheel
Students investigate a waterwheel and the physical properties of energy. In this waterwheel lesson students create a model waterwheel and calculate the amount of power produced.
Curated OER
Environmental Studies: The Power of Wind
Investigate the prospect of wind as a renewable resource. Second and third graders make a pinwheel, answer critical thinking questions, and then attempt to use wind power to wind string. I would be more apt to use this lesson in a 1st or...
Curated OER
Solar Kit Lesson #11 - Power Maximum: An Electrical Determination
Collaborative groups connect resistors and solar panels in series and measure electrical resistance, voltage, and current. The objective is to order 16 solar panels from strongest to weakest. They graph current-voltage and power curves...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Working with Wind Energy
After reading about how wind turbines work to collect clean energy, groups brainstorm and design their own windmill. Within the provided financial and physical constraints, groups must build a working windmill using only the materials...
Curated OER
Junior Solar Sprint Series: Electrical Power
Through scientific inquiry, middle schoolers discover how to arrange solar cells in order to produce electricity. This activity is intended to prepare learners to be able to design and construct solar cars. As with other resources...
Carnegie Mellon University
Home Energy Audit
Youngsters make a mental assessment of electricity-consuming appliances in their homes and then evaluate them for the amount of energy consumed. They learn how to use power meters and measure the electrical consumption of several...
Florida International University
Designing an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV): Concepts in Lift, Drag, Thrust, Energy, Power, Mass, and Buoyancy
Engineer an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to study concepts of physics. Using household materials, collaborative groups design and build an AUV and then test Newton's Laws of Motion as they apply them in underwater environments...
Disney
Renewable Energy
Bring some energy to your physical science curriculum with this engaging Bill Nye the Science Guy instructional activity. Based on his Renewable Energy video, students explore the concepts of potential and kinetic energy and learn how...
Curated OER
Water Power
Students observe a model of a waterwheel to investigate the transformations of energy involved in turning the blades of a hydro-turbine into work. They work as engineers to create a model for a new waterwheel while considering resources,...
Curated OER
Power Play
Once your physical science stars have a grasp of the different forms of energy, use this resource to get them putting the energy to work. Small groups choose from seven different project options and work together to build an energy...
Curated OER
Work, Power, and Entropy
High schoolers experience work and power and observe the process of entropy. In this physics lesson, students conduct an experiment that shows work (force & distance), power (work/time), and exemplifies the process of entropy.
Teach Engineering
Energy Basics
Power up your lessons with an energetic resource. Scholars learn about work, force, energy, and power. They consider the relationships between these quantities through hockey puck scenarios and make calculations using formulas.
Science Matters
Energy and Winds
In the study of wind energy, scholars build a small windmill and observe how it transfers wind into mechanical energy. Learners will make connections to the previous lesson with concepts such as the creation of wind...
Foundation for Water & Energy Education
How is Flowing Water an Energy Source? Activity C
Can the force of falling water through a tube vary by altering the diameter of the tube or its height? That is what physical scientists aim to discover in this activity, the third in successively more revealing activities on the power of...
Curated OER
Elements of Physics: Energy And Work
High schoolers examine the difference between potential and kinetic energy. For this energy lesson students view a video and apply these energies to real world situations.
Curated OER
Physics: Motion and Disease
Students read media and identify examples of science technology and society. In this physics lesson, students learn about acceleration and velocity. Students estimate how many people would have come in contact with a person who...
Curated OER
Hydrogen Powered Cars
Young scholars apply the principles of chemistry to investigate the concept of how a hydrogen powered car works. They study the electrochemical reactions that provide the energy source. Students also record observations in the...
Curated OER
We've Got the Power
Students examine how power can be generated and the advantages and disadvantages of each method. In this investigative lesson students divide into groups, research the Internet and present it to the class.
Curated OER
Using "Student Power" to Generate Electricity to Run a Portable Compact Disc Player
Students explain the relationship between magnetism and electricity. In this physics lesson, students describe the transformation of energy. They create an electromagnet and investigate the factors affecting its strength.