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 Project Energy 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
Activities: Vocabulary, Word Scramble, Word Find, Math Message, Crossword, Quiz and Take Home Activity
Time: 60-90 minutes
Word Up!
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!
Kilowatt Kitchen E-Book
An interactive digital story to help students read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. Teachers can use this activity to support and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words and meanings.
Electrana! Digital Breakout Game
A digital breakout game based around the content in this program.
Game Story: You enter the offices of The Energized Guyz, a league of superheroes who track down and eliminate energy waste. One of these heroes, Electrana (aka Ella Hollinsworth), has gone missing, leaving behind nothing but a few digital clues. With Electrana missing, The Energized Guyz’ arch nemesis, Professor Ohm, can get busy wasting energy all over the community. You must use your wits to solve the clues to find Electrana and stop Professor Ohm’s shenanigans, before all the energy in our town is wasted!
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:
OBJECTIVE
Students will theorize and explore how thermometers work. Then they will make a working thermometer.
PURPOSE OF ACTIVITY
Identify Details, Apply Skills, Define
COGNITIVE LEVEL
Strategic Thinking, Extended Thinking, Skills and Concepts
CLASS TIME
30 minutes
MATERIALS
- One clear straw
- Water at three different temperatures: cold, room temperature and very warm
- One glass bottle
- Dark (blue or green) food coloring
- Two large containers
- Clay
PROCEDURE
- Fill the glass bottle with 400 ml of room temperature water. Add 10 drops of dark food coloring to the water in the bottle.
- Hold the straw in the bottle so that its end is in the water. Mold the clay around the top of the bottle to hold the straw. Make a tight seal.
- Put the bottle into a container. Pour in hot water until it is almost full. Observe the water in the straw for three minutes.
- Put the bottle in the other container and fill it with cold water. Observe the straw for five minutes.
- Record your observations.
When we put the bottle into hot water, the water in the straw will move up the straw as the hot water heats the air in the bottle, causing it to expand and push the water up the straw.
What do you think will happen to the water in the straw when we put the bottle into cold water?
When we put the bottle into cold water, the water in the straw will move down the straw as the cold water cools the air in the bottle, causing it to contract and create a vacuum that pulls the water down the straw.
Lesson 2:
OBJECTIVE
Students will learn that solar collectors absorb radiant energy, convert it into heat and hold the heat.
PURPOSE OF ACTIVITY
Identify Details, Apply Skills, Define
COGNITIVE LEVEL
Strategic Thinking, Extended Thinking, Skills and Concepts
CLASS TIME
30 minutes
MATERIALS
- Four plastic containers
- Black and white construction paper
- Water
- Four thermometers
- Plastic wrap
- Rubber bands
- Scissors
PROCEDURE
- Cut two circles each of white and black construction paper to fit the bottom of the containers. Place the circles on the bottom of the containers and cover with 100 ml of cold water. Record the temperature of the water.
- Cover one black and one white container with clear plastic wrap held in place with rubber bands.
- Place the containers in a sunny place so that the sun is directly over the containers. Record the temperature of the water after 10 minutes.
- Calculate and record the changes in temperature.
| WHITE NO COVER | BLACK NO COVER | WHITE WITH COVER | BLACK WITH COVER | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Temperature | ||||
| Temperature After 10 Minutes | ||||
| Change in Temperature |
The color of the bottom of a glass affects how much solar energy is absorbed because different colors absorb different amounts of light. Dark colors, like black, absorb more light and heat than light colors, like white.
Why does a glass with a black bottom absorb more solar energy than a glass with a white bottom?
A glass with a black bottom absorbs more solar energy than a glass with a white bottom because black color absorbs all colors of light, while white reflects all colors of light.
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.
