At a glance
Energy Sources is a 60 or 75 minute workshop for grades 3, 4, 7, 9 and 10. Students produce electricity with the sun, wind, water, lemons and their own muscles to power real calculators, which display a clue about the environmental cost of each source.
The sun, the wind, water, lemons and our muscles… What do these five have in common? They all produce electricity!
Your scientists use these 5 energy sources to power real calculators! The result of their calculation: a clue to the environmental cost of each energy source.
We bet they will never use electricity the same way again…
For 15 more minutes in school:
Give your students more hands-on time, plus a debate on how we use different energy sources today and their impact on Indigenous peoples.
Learning goals (elementary)
- Use different energy sources in class (mechanical, solar, wind, chemical, hydraulic).
- Understand how different energy sources affect the environment.
- Explain the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy.
- Know ways to use less energy (LED bulbs, timers, renovations and more).
- Understand how series, parallel, closed and open circuits work and what they are used for.
Learning goals (secondary)
- Describe chemical, thermal, mechanical, hydraulic and solar energy sources.
- Describe the energy transformations that happen when electrical devices run.
- Define the energy efficiency of a system.
- Tell renewable from non-renewable energy resources.
- Describe and explain the consequences of rising greenhouse gas concentrations.
