Renewable City
[vc_row][vc_column][mkd_section_title title="Sustainable Town Model" title_size="large" title_color="" title_text_align="" margin_bottom="" width=""][vc_column_text]This free-form activity challenges elementary students to create a physical model of a sustainable town that includes energy production from renewable sources, energy storage and distribution in a grid. Students can use printed cut and fold templates for common structures or build their own from scratch.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_hoverbox image="18252" primary_title="" primary_align="left" hover_title="QUESTION" shape="square" el_width="30" align="left"]What does it take to make your town sustainable?[/vc_hoverbox][vc_empty_space height="40px"][mkd_accordion style="boxed_toggle" el_class="GLOWING COLORS"][mkd_accordion_tab icon_pack="" title="Background"][vc_column_text]Some define sustainability as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Often this includes the use...
Draw a Circuit: Fun with Graphite
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1713215921953{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}"]Students explore the conductive properties of graphite and graphene as they create simple circuits.[/vc_column_text][mkd_accordion style="boxed_toggle"][mkd_accordion_tab icon_pack="" title="Question"][vc_column_text]Can thin layers of graphite conduct electricity?[/vc_column_text][/mkd_accordion_tab][mkd_accordion_tab icon_pack="" title="Background"][vc_column_text]What we call “pencil lead” is actually a substance called graphite, which consists of many stacked sheets of carbon atoms. Like a metal, graphite is conductive and therefore can act like a wire on paper to create the circuit. Each sheet of carbon atoms is bonded in honeycomb structure and the single layers are known as graphene (see picture on front page or toy model; also if available, look under microscope at a real graphene flake!). These...
Modeling Solar Grid Integration with Math
Overview The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the students to the challenges of integrating solar energy to the electricity grid with the use of numerical simulations. More specifically, it is meant to shed light on the advantages (mentioned in the introduction of this document) and on the challenges (challenges 1 and 2 from the introduction) of solar energy. Solar Integration Lesson Essential Question: How can we optimize energy prices by controlling load and production? NGSS Standards: Standard Number Standard text HS-ETS-1 Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants. HS-ETS-2 Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by...
Water Model of Electricity
Created by Nathan Wilson for the University of Washington Clean Energy Institute Overview: The goal of this activity is to allow students to apply their knowledge of Ohm’s law to a more intuitive and visual system: water flowing through tubes. The total time for this activity is around 30 minutes. Students are assumed to be familiar Ohm’s law (V/R=I) where V is volts, R is resistance, and I is current, as well as the formula for calculating the resistance of a resistor (R=ρl/A). where p is resistivity in ohms/meter, l is length, A is area of the conductor. Essential Question: How can we model the behavior of electricity...