Virtual Workshop: Toys and Energy Transfers with Lance Campbell

Hello everyone out there in VIRTUAL SCIENCE LAND.

I’m sorry I can’t see your smiling faces, but I hope you are having fun.

Today I’m going to talk about energy transfers.

Energy has been a big topic in our world of late with the erratic cost of oil and the search for new alternative sources. It’s an important topic and one that Science Companion thinks our students should be intimately acquainted with.

To begin, I’d like us to think about all the ways we have used energy today.

While you think, I’ll start.

This morning I was awakened by my alarm clock.

This SOUND energy put an end to a perfectly good dream.

My clock is powered by ELECTRICAL ENERGY.

The digital readout on the clock is a form of LIGHT ENERGY.

When I turned the alarm off, I used MOTION energy.

As you can see, a number of different types of energy were a part of my first seconds of wakefulness this morning!

So what have you thought of? How has energy been a part of your day today?

Here are some possibilities:

Did you eat breakfast today? If so, then your body created CHEMICAL ENERGY when you digested your food.
Did you take a warm shower today? If so, then HEAT ENERGY was used to heat the water.
When you went outside today, did you float up into the sky? Or did you stay standing on the Earth? If you remained on the Earth, then you were exposed to GRAVITATIONAL ENERGY (If you floated into the sky, then you must have a really good wireless internet connection).

Energy Transfers

It is true that we use energy all the time. But, what we don’t always think about is how that energy is converted from one form to another.

Here’s a simple example. Blow up a balloon and rub it on your shirt (for best results use a wool sweater). We’ve all done this before, but we don’t usually think about the energy transfer that is taking place. As you rub the balloon, this MOTION ENERGY converts to ELECTRICAL ENERGY (static electricity) and TA DA:

Strange things happen!

Here’s another simple example (and a type of energy transfer your students are intimately familiar with). What happens you shoot a rubber band across a room? First you use MOTION ENERGY to pull back on the rubber band. This is converted to ELASTIC ENERGY, which is again converted to MOTION ENERGY when you let the rubber band fly.

The more MOTION ENERGY you use to pull back on the rubber band, the more ELASTIC ENERGY is created, and the farther the rubber band will fly.

Our everyday activities involve a variety of energy transfers. For example, here are some of the transfers that may take place during dinner:

We use MOTION ENERGY to cut our food
SOUND ENERGY is created as our silverware rubs against our food
We use MOTION ENERGY to chew and swallow our food
As we digest our food, CHEMICAL ENERGY is created
This CHEMICAL ENERGY is converted to MOTION ENERGY as it fuels our muscles
As we digest our food, we often warm up through the creation of HEAT ENERGY
The nutrients in our food provide ELECTRICAL ENERGY for the processes in our brains.

Further Thinking

As you go about your life today, think of the types of energy involved in your activities. You may be surprised to discover how many ways that you encounter energy and its transfer…

MOTION

SOUND

LIGHT

ELECTRICAL

ELASTIC

HEAT

GRAVITATIONAL

CHEMICAL

Finale

As for me, I think I’ll walk down to Café du Monde, snag one of those beignets, sip a café au lait, and ponder the energy transfers I encounter in the process.

Resources

This workshop is based on some of the activities found in our Energy Module for Levels 4, 5, and 6.

You can find out more about this Module by clicking here!

(Take me back to the Virtual NSTA home page!)