US Energy Information Administration
Energy Information Association: u.s. Household Electricity Report
The report provides an overview of the electricity consumption in households in 2001. End-use (lighting, appliances, heating) data is presented in written, graph and table form. Background on efficiency standards and regional factors...
Kidport
Kidport: Light
Did you know that light is a form of energy and always travels in a straight line? Discover some more interesting facts about light.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: The Electromagnetic Spectrum: Frontline
This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE introduces the electromagnetic spectrum and explains how the various types of electromagnetic waves are distinguished by the amount of energy each wave carries.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Study Jams! Science: Energy, Light and Sound: Heat
A video and a short quiz on heat, covering its difference from temperature, thermal energy, and the means by which heat is transferred.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Energy Transfers
Students will model and measure energy transfers from light to heat.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Getting the Lightbulb to Light Up
Students construct a simple electrical circuit using wires, batteries, and a lightbulb. From constructing a circuit the students will discover that when energy is produced there is heat.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Do Different Colors Absorb Heat Better?
Students test whether the color of a material affects how much heat it absorbs. Students will place an ice cube in a box made of colored paper (one box per color; white, yellow, red and black), which they will place in the sun. The...
Science4Fun
Science4 Fun: Energy
What is energy? Article provides a brief discussion of the many different forms of energy.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Light vs. Heat Bulbs
Students measure the light output and temperature (as a measure of heat output) for three types of light bulbs to identify why some light bulbs are more efficient (more light with less energy) than others.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Optimize! Cleaner Energy Options for Rural China
Students work in engineering teams to optimize cleaner energy solutions for cooking and heating in rural China. They choose between various options for heating, cooking, hot water, and lights and other electricity, balancing between the...
Utah State Office of Education
Utah State Office of Education: Force, Energy, & Motion
A unit on energy, force, and motion presented with interactive and classroom activities. Students gain an understanding of weight, mass, potential and kinetic energy, sound, and heat with this engaging resource.
SMART Technologies
Smart: Forms of Energy
Expose students to this introduction to several different forms of energy.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Save a Buck Challenge
Our pipes leak, air drafts push through our windows and walls, light bulbs create more heat than light, and every appliance we have stays plugged in all day long. Of course its our parents who pay the bills, so it doesn't matter. This is...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Our Friend, the Sun
Understand the role of the sun as the source of heat and light for living things on earth.
NASA
Nasa: From Stargazers to Starships: Energy
Demonstrates how principles of kinetic energy, potential energy and energy conservation can be used to determine the speed of a descending object if given its initial height. Further discussion of other topics such as heat and...
McREL International
Mc Rel: Whelmer #42 Learning Activity: Fire Sandwich
An easy to do activity if you have a Bunsen burner. The activity investigates combustion and heat conductivity. The activity is in lesson plan format that meets NSES standards.
Museum of Science
The Atoms Family
Let this classic family of monsters guide you as you learn about energy. Interactive exercises, experiments, and demonstrations help to build knowledge and raise questions.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Let the Sun Shine!
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....
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Here Comes the Sun
Young scholars work in teams to learn about solar panel design, simple circuits, and how solar energy is used to provide power to simple machines such as calculators.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Radiant Radish Seeds
We all know that plants need sunlight and water to grow big and tall. But did you know that inside seeds are baby plants, and that the fragile baby plant inside the seed needs to be protected? If you've ever had a sunburn, you also know...
Nobel Media AB
The Nobel Prize: The Nobel Prize in Physics 1918: Max Planck
Use this site to learn about the scientific work of physicist, Max Planck (1858-1947 CE), whose studies in radiation and light earned him the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics. Read his Nobel Lecture, "The genesis and present state of...
BioEd Online
Bio Ed Online: Finding the Carbon in Sugar
Students learn that fossil fuels release energy when they are burned, and this takes the forms of light, heat, gases, etc. For this lesson they explore combustion with a candle and with sugar. The lesson and accompanying PowerPoint can...
Science is Fun
Science Is Fun: The Fireproof Balloon
In this experiment, two balloons are each placed over a lighted match, but the one that has had water placed inside it does not burst. Includes an explanation of why that is so.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Fluorescent Lamp 1934
Compared to incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps last longer, require less energy and produce less heat, advantages resulting from the different way in which they generate light.