A collection of links to projects and information on how to make different types of windmills, and a wave powered electricity generator.

Hydropower generation is introduced to students as a common purpose and benefit of constructing dams. Through an introduction to kinetic and potential energy, students come to understand how a dam creates electricity. They also learn the...

Look into the collection of electronic and electrical musical instruments from the Canada Science and Technology Museum's collection, some artifacts dating as far back as the late 1800s. The collection is divided into two main groupings:...

Comprehensive overview of why coal is a major source of energy in the United States. Find out what coal is, what it is used for, how it is mined, where coal reserves are located, and how it is converted into electricity.

Through labs, readings, videos, and discussions, students learn about the concepts of Electromagnetic Induction.

This unit provides students the opportunity to explore methods engineers have devised for harnessing sunlight to generate power. Students will initially explore heat transfer and heat storage through the construction, testing, and...

This instructional activity gives a real world example of challenges and choices engineers face in their careers. The Della Steam Plant Case Study allows students to analyze and present finding about a problem found in the power plant's...

The goal is for the students to understand the environmental design considerations required when generating electricity. The electric power that we use every day at home and work is generated by a variety of power plants. Power plants...

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...

Through a series of four lessons, students are introduced to many factors that affect the power output of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. Factors such as the angle of the sun, temperature of the panels, specific circuit characteristics,...

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...

Students analyze their social networks using graph theory. They gather data on their own social relationships, either from Facebook interactions or the interactions they have throughout the course of a day, recording it in Microsoft...

Zenobe Theophile Gramme (1826 - 1901) invented the first industrial generator, or dynamo. A deceptively simple-looking machine, it consisted of 30 coils wrapped around a spinning ring of iron.

Students learn how water is used to generate electricity. They investigate water's potential-to-kinetic energy transformation in hands-on activities about falling water and waterwheels. During the activities, they take measurements,...

A profile of Michael Faraday, a British scientist who discovered electromagnetic induction, which made it possible to develop the technology for generating electricity. He produced many other inventions, some of which are described here.

Simulate the movement of a rail gun in this interactive model. Learn how a magnetic field is generated by running electrical current through long rods that accelerates a current-carrying cross-rod.

Students learn how the sun can be used for energy. They learn about passive solar heating, lighting and cooking, and active solar engineering technologies (such as photovoltaic arrays and concentrating mirrors) that generate electricity....

Students learn about wind as a source of renewable energy and explore the advantages and disadvantages wind turbines and wind farms. They also learn about the effectiveness of wind turbines in varying weather conditions and how engineers...

View a slideshow to get an extensive overview of how geothermal energy is generated and how it is expressed at the earth's surface. Also discover how geologists locate geothermal hot spots and use them to produce electricity.

Read about the interesting economy of Lesotho which is based on water as its greatest natural resource. You can also find out about the other exports, its infrastructure, and currency. Information is from the U.S. State Dept. Background...

Electricity is a very convenient form of energy that can be generated using different energy resources. Some of these resources are renewable and some are non-renewable. Each resource has advantages and disadvantages. A link to a test is...

This site, in German, offers numerous apps that illustrate common physics principles. Apps are organized into categories: mechanics, oscillations and waves, electrodynamics, optics, thermodynamics, the theory of relativity, physics of...

This incredible photo shows the rare occurence of lightning that forms from the generation of electrical charges inside the ash plumes of an erupting volcano.

CNN reports in 1999 on China's biggest construction project since the Great Wall, the ecologically controversial building of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangzi River.