In the following tutorial, students will learn about the law of conservation of energy. They will read about some of the many forms of energy. They will understand the definition of efficiency of an energy conversion process as the...

This is a lesson presenting energy and work. It covers: types of energy, forms of energy, work, law of conservation of energy, and renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. In the activities section, one will find links to Internet...

Students learn that fossil fuels release energy when they are burned, and this takes the forms of light, heat, gases, etc. In this instructional activity they explore combustion with a candle and with sugar. The instructional activity...

If the discipline, precision, and power of martial arts is your bag, try this project out for size. You won't be sparring with any opponent other than a swinging kick bag, but you'll learn a few powerful lessons about the physics of...

Mechanical energy is the most easily understood form of energy for students. When there is mechanical energy involved, something moves. Mechanical energy is a very important concept to understand. Engineers need to know what happens when...

The class forms a "Presidential Task Force" for a week, empowered by the president to find answers and make recommendations concerning the future of the national power grid. Task force members conduct daily debriefings with their...

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Students explore the different forms of energy and investigate how the law of conservation of energy plays an important part of those forms.

Young scholars are introduced to the idea that energy use impacts the environment and our wallets. They discuss different types of renewable and nonrenewable energy sources, as well as the impacts of energy consumption. Through a series...

In this lesson plan, students are introduced to both potential energy and kinetic energy as forms of mechanical energy. A hands-on activity demonstrates how potential energy can change into kinetic energy by swinging a pendulum,...

Wind energy is becoming a viable alternative to more traditional forms of energy generation. In this instructional activity, students will determine the feasibility of wind generation in different areas of the United States. Finally,...

Students are introduced to the idea of electrical energy. They learn about the relationships between charge, voltage, current and resistance. They discover that electrical energy is the form of energy that powers most of their household...

In this interactive, students can explore how current, voltage, and resistance are related in a model showing the flow of electrons in an electric circuit. They will learn about Ohm's law and how other forms of energy can be made from...

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...

In this introduction to light energy, students learn about reflection and refraction as they learn that light travels in wave form. Through hands-on activities, they see how prisms, magnifying glasses and polarized lenses work. They also...

Help Dracula find out about light waves by using a virtual radiometer.

You might think that plants and animals have little in common with batteries, springs, or slingshots, but they actually do have something in common. Both living and non-living things store and transfer energy from one form to another. In...

The No Impact Man is a blog hosted by a man who has decided to virtually eliminate his effect on the environment. This means limited waste, using renewable forms of energy, and ultimately changing the way his family lives. Could you...

Music can loosely be defined as organized sound. The lesson objectives, understanding sound is a form of energy, understanding pitch, understanding sound traveling through a medium, and being able to separate music from sound, can...

Media-rich lesson in which students discover that it takes energy to break bonds, and that energy is released when bonds are formed during the process of dissolving. They also determine whether dissolving is either exothermic or...

Using the scientific method, control the environmental conditions for a fictional alien organism in order to learn how the organism responds to changes in conditions. Sunlight, water, and temperature can be varied to determine their...

Students form expert engineering teams working for the (fictional) alternative energy consulting firm, Greenewables, Inc. Each team specializes in a form of renewable energy used to generate electrical power: passive solar, solar...

For this investigation, students make a simple model of how gasses can form from decaying material. They will also explore the effects of temperature on gas formation.

If you sit under a leafy tree on a sunny day, you may notice spots of sunlight on the ground from light passing through spaces between the leaves. Try putting a piece of cardboard on the ground and examining the spots of light on the...

What do plants need? Students examine the effects of light and air on green plants, learning the processes of photosynthesis and transpiration. Student teams plant seeds, placing some in sunlight and others in darkness. They make...