Energy, Machines and Motion

In Part 1, students investigate energy transformations and how forces do work to transform energy. They build a battery and develop evidence that there is energy stored in the battery. Students see how chemical energy can be transformed into light, heat, and mechanical energy and how charging time is related to the amount of energy stored in the battery. They investigate the nature of elastic forces, gravity, and sliding friction and learn how these forces can do work. Through experimentation they determine the optimum operation conditions for a small electric motor.

In Part 2, students conduct inquiries to learn how simple machines work. They explore the relationship between effort force and effort distance using inclined planes, pulleys, and levers. They then learn how to determine the mechanical advantage and efficiency of each machine.

In Part 3, students explore the motion of three student-built vehicles. They build a fan car, mousetrap car, and roller coaster and determine how the forces applied change the speed of these vehicles. They also describe the motion of the cars in terms of energy transformations and apply the principle of conservation of energy to explain their observations.

Energy Machines & Motion Lesson Sequence (pdf)

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Sponsored By

The Energy Machines & Motion units have been generously sponsored by Dominion.

 Power Up!                                                                 

Your city needs energy! Now it is your job to build the right combination of power plants and bring it up to full power. Players must power a city by choosing different types of power plants. The challenge is to stay within a budget and to keep harm to the environment within a certain parameter. If you spend all your funds, you will have nothing to power your city!