Teach Engineering
Energy Forms, States and Conversions
Even magicians can't make energy disappear. In a discussion-based instructional activity, young scientists learn about energy forms and conversions. They see how energy is neither created nor destroyed; it just changes forms. This is the...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Conservation of Energy
By rolling marbles down a six-foot length of track, physical scientists determine how much energy is lost to heat. It is recommended that you opt for the foam pipe insulation track because more friction slows the marble, allowing...
Science Matters
Solar Energy
The solar energy industry in the United States added more jobs in 2015 than the oil and gas extraction and pipeline industries combined. With the field growing so rapidly, it's essential to understand what solar energy is and how it...
Teach Engineering
Energy Skate Park
Skate through a simulation on energy with an a activity that uses a computer simulation of a skater to reinforce the concept of conservation of energy. The resource guides pupils through scenarios using the computer simulation to see the...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Are Your Computers Wasting Energy?
After reading about the amount of energy that is used to power a personal computer, learners take a look at their own computer use and therefore, their energy consumption. They do this through a series of questions and computations on...
PHET
Energy Forms and Changes
Is the ice cooling down the water or is the water melting the ice? Here is a simulation that explores thermal energy transfer with iron, brick, and water. It demonstrates the flow of energy and what happens when each material is either...
NASA
Earth's Global Energy Budget
Introduce your earth science enthusiasts to the earth's energy budget. Teach them using an informative set of slides that include illuminating lecturer's notes, relevant vocabulary, embedded animations, colorful satellite maps, and a...
Teach Engineering
Energy Resources and Systems
We've talked a lot about energy, but where does energy come from? Pupils brainstorm different energy sources through a class discussion to kick off the 14th installment of a 25-part Energy Systems and Solutions unit. They then research...
Teach Engineering
Exploring Energy: What Is Energy?
...Then the water heater exploded like a bomb. Using a video of an exploding water heater, the resource presents the definitions of energy, potential energy, and kinetic energy to be used in later lessons of the unit.
Teach Engineering
Energy Forms and States Demonstrations
Does a tennis ball have energy? What about a bowling ball? Demonstrate concepts of different forms of energy forms and states with a variety of objects. Using the equations for potential and kinetic energy, learners determine the amount...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Energy at Play
Get the ball rolling and challenge your class to figure out how to make a ball move. The instruction segment is between two STEM activities devoted to doing just that. The first is simple and involves making a ball move from some force...
Teach Engineering
Enough Energy? Play the Renew-a-Bead Game
Pairs simulate the energy usage of different countries by drawing beads from a bag, which contain different beginning ratios of non-renewable and renewable energy resources. The activity concludes with a series of questions to tie the...
Curated OER
Harnessing Solar Energy
Middle schoolers discover the properties of light (radiant) energy from the sun by experimenting with solar collectors, cookers, and calculators. After a lecture/demo, students create their own solar collectors and test their efficiency.
Curated OER
The Transfer of Energy 2: Electrochemistry
Students study about electrochemistry by increasing their understanding of electron transfer and its role in chemical changes. They explain that energy appears in different forms. Heat energy is in the disorderly motion of molecules.
Curated OER
Energy Audit
Students collect data about energy usage and use mathematical calculations to analyze their data. In this energy conservation and statistics math lesson, students survey their homes to complete an energy usage worksheet. Students...
Curated OER
Energy Jeopardy
While science Jeopardy games are a dime-a-dozen, this one has some pretty unique categories that are still relevant to a middle school physical science curriculum. The topics include: leading nations, famous Americans (who invented...
Curated OER
Exploring a Teaching Career Through an Energy Lesson
After learning how to dentify information on energy and its conservation. your class can work in groups to create an activity and lesson plan for elementary students, teaching all about energy and its conservation. Students demonstrate...
Curated OER
Motion, Forces, Energy and Electricity
What a wonderful way to explore motion and forces! Learners design a catapult, after watching a video and discussing types of catapults. This is a comprehensive and complete lesson with links to supplementary resources.
Curated OER
Conserving Electric Energy
Another fantastic lesson on energy is presented by the American Coal Foundation. This one focuses on electricity; how it is produced, how it is delivered, and how it is used. Some excellent handouts are embedded in this fine plan which...
Government of South Australia
Don't Waste Your Energy
Don't lift another finger, this physical and environmental science unit has everything you need to begin teaching your class about energy. Starting with a look at the greenhouse effect, these lessons and activities take young scientists...
Cal Recycle
Conserving Natural Resources
Trying to plan an engaging elementary science unit on natural resources? Conserve your energy! This five-part series of lessons and hands-on activities has exactly what you need to teach young scholars about the importance of conservation.
Batesville Community School Corporation
Energy in a Nutshell
Reduce the work it takes to plan a physics lesson on energy with the help of this instructional presentation. Beginning with clear explanations of kinetic and potential energy, this resource continues on to familiarize young scientists...
Smarter Balanced
Renewable Energy
Renewable and non-renewable energy sources are the focus of a series of activities that prepare learners for a performance task assessment on energy. Groups identify the various sources of energy and classify these sources as either...
Teach Engineering
Watt Meters to Measure Energy Consumption
It used watt amount of energy? This resource investigates the power usage of small household appliances. Using a watt meter, groups measure the actual wattage used by an appliance and then calculate the energy used daily.