American Chemical Society
Exploring Energy
When asked to list everyday objects that require energy, most people list technology that use batteries or electricity. Through hands-on exploration, young scientists discover energy is much more than just circuitry. They play with...
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,...
Teach Engineering
Energy Storage Derby and Proposal
Small groups use the engineering design process to build and test a vehicle capable of carrying 250 grams a distance of five meters. The design must allow for the storage of potential energy and turn it into motion,...
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...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Roller Coaster Mania!
Raise the energy level of your physical science class with this exciting hands-on activity. Applying their knowledge of kinetic and potential energy and Newton's laws of motion, young engineers use foam tubing and marbles to create...
Teach Engineering
Ramp and Review (for High School)
Rolling for momentum. As part of a study of mechanical energy, momentum, and friction, class members experiment rolling a ball down an incline and having it collide with a cup. Groups take multiple measurements and perform...
Teach Engineering
Swinging Pendulum
Get into the swing of things. Pupils use a pendulum to demonstrate the conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy and back. After measuring the speed of a pendulum and compare it to the calculated theoretical speed, they...
Foundation for Water & Energy Education
How Can Work Be Done with Water Power? Activity A
Environmentally friendly engineering teams construct a water wheel and experiment with its speed and the resulting amount of weight it can lift. Consider following this activity with two more of the same title by the same publisher when...
Teach Engineering
Building a Piezoelectric Generator
In pairs, learners build a piezoelectric generator from readily available electric components in the second and final installment of the two-part series. Tapping the piezoelectric element produces enough electricity to light an LED....
Teach Engineering
Amusement Park Ride: The Ups and Downs in Design
Groups design the ultimate roller coaster by considering potential and kinetic energy. They test their designs using marbles and then go on to rate each group's design based on aesthetics, loop diameter, and cost.
Teach Engineering
Bouncing Balls
How high will it bounce? Groups determine the height different balls bounce off of different surfaces. By performing the necessary calculations, they determine the initial and final momentum of the balls. The included worksheet provides...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Put Your Water to Work: Using Hydropower to Lift a Load
Water creates a lot of energy, just look at the Grand Canyon. In this science fair project, you will demonstrate the power of water by converting the kinetic energy in moving water to mechanical energy, which will lift a small weight.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Car With a Lot of Potential
Working in teams, students perform quantitative observational experiments on the motion of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robotic vehicles powered by the stored potential energy of rubber bands. Students understand that through the manipulation of...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Energy Forms and States Demonstrations
Demonstrations explain the concepts of energy forms (sound, chemical, radiant [light], electrical, atomic [nuclear], mechanical, thermal [heat]) and states (potential, kinetic).
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Energy on a Roller Coaster
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...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Ramp and Review (For High School)
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...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Swinging Pendulum
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,...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Ramp and Review
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...
Other
Puhinui School: The Atoms Family: The Mummy's Tomb: Raceways
Help the Mummy build a rollercoaster to entertain the Atoms Family monsters by investigating the concepts of kinetic and potential energy.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Bombs Away!
In this hands-on activity students learn create a device to protect a dropped egg and deliver it close to a target. Students learn about engineering as well as potential and kinetic energy and energy transfer
City College of New York
City Technology: Wind Up Toy
A series of three video tutorials with accompanying written instructions demonstrating how to make a wind-up toy.