How to Use this Program
Duke Energy and The National Theatre for Children (NTC) invite you to use these e-learning resources to teach your students about energy efficiency. The digital materials below are designed to get your students excited about understanding this important subject.
Educational Standards
We know your class time is extremely valuable. That’s why NTC ensures that all of our materials are aligned with state and national educational standards. It’s important that Energy Game Changers adds to your existing curriculum and keep students on track with their ongoing learning.
Click here for details about how each activity aligns with educational standards and corresponds with your state’s curricula.
STUDENT ACTIVITIES
Student Playbook
Fun classroom and family activities that emphasize the Four Cs of 21st Century Education Skills – Collaboration, Communication, Creativity and Critical Thinking. Students can review, identify details, remember, apply skills and share their knowledge with family and friends.
Co-curricular subjects included: Math, Reading, Science, Language Arts, Spelling and Arts
Time: 60-90 minutes
Quizzer
A vocabulary Language Arts activity where you fill in the blank using letters to spell vocabulary words from this program.
Friendly Feud
Classroom trivia game based around the content in the program that can be played one-on-one or team versus team. High score wins!
Renewable is Do-Able! Digital Breakout Game
A digital breakout game based around the content in this program.
Hands-On Lessons
Your students can enhance what they learn from the program with these fun, hands-on lessons and experiments. These lessons can be done in the classroom or easily adapted for students to do at home with their families.
They’re a fun and educational way for students to learn with family members. The materials needed for these lessons are basic supplies that most people have at home. Follow up with your students to make sure they enjoyed and learned from these activities.
Lesson 1:
Harnessing the Sun’s Energy
Objective
Students will investigate a solar panel’s ability to produce volts and amps by collecting data on series vs. parallel circuits and angles of light collection.
Purpose of Activity
Read or Listen, Identify Details, Apply Skills
21st Century Skills
Critical Thinking, Collaboration
Cognitive Level
Strategic Thinking, Extended Thinking, Skills and Concepts
Class Time
50 minutes
Materials
- Protractor
- 2-3 Small solar panels
- 2 Alligator clips
- Voltmeter
- 1.5 Volt motor
- Student sheet
Procedure
- Show pictures of solar panels. Find ones that the students may be familiar with in your area. This link has more pictures.
- Ask the students to write down three observations and then ask three questions. Have them ask most of their questions without providing answers.
- The students then answer the questions on the student sheet.
- Demonstrate the use of the voltmeter. Use 20 mv for most solar panels.
- Students should experiment with three different ways to increase the electric output from the solar panels. One test should establish the best angle for the solar panel, and the other two should test various combinations of the panels.
What are some constraints to using solar energy?
- Cost of solar panels, amount of electricity the panels can produce, number of days of adequate sunlight.
Why is solar energy attractive?
- The energy source is free, solar energy produces little or no emissions, current energy sources do produce emissions, solar energy costs less than other sources.
Adapted from: https://energy.utah.gov/energy-education/curriculum/
Lesson 2:
Objective
Students will investigate the construction of batteries based on how different materials react with one another to produce electricity.
Purpose of Activity
Read or Listen, Identify Details, Apply Skills
21st Century Skills
Critical Thinking, Collaboration
Cognitive Level
Strategic Thinking, Extended Thinking, Skills and Concepts
Class Time
2 hours
Materials
- 200 ml beaker
- Solution of salt water
- Strips of metal
- Wires with alligator clips
- Voltmeter
- 1.5 Volt motor – attach a paper propeller to show motion
- Student sheet
Procedure
- Demonstrate building a battery using the materials listed. Students may perform this in groups if you have enough equipment. A battery can work in a single beaker with copper and zinc and salt water typically producing the greatest voltage.
- Ask students to write questions that they have about the phenomenon.
- Tell students that they will research battery types, evaluate them and communicate their findings.
- To help them summarize what they have learned in the experiment, they could access these websites: https://www.explainthatstuff.com/batteries.html or https://engineering.mit.edu/engage/ask-an-engineer/how-does-a-battery-work/
- Students could communicate their learning in a variety of ways: a poster, a slide for a class PowerPoint or a short written report.
What are some uses for batteries?
- Toys, scooters, e-bikes, cars, etc.
Why are scientists searching for new ways to store energy in batteries?
- Batteries are portable, batteries are inexpensive to produce and recycle, they can be used in many devices.
Adapted from: https://energy.utah.gov/energy-education/curriculum/
Evaluation
Have you and your students already enjoyed the Energy Game Changers program? If so, please submit an evaluation! Our programs are offered free to schools – all we ask for in return is your feedback and comments so we can ensure our shows are as effective, entertaining and up-to-date as possible. Please fill out a brief ten-minute evaluation here.
