Your name: Azim Laiwalla
Title of Lesson: Alternative Energy Sources
School: Culver City High School
Grade Level: 10 (9-12)
Subject(s): Chemistry
Summary:
Students
will learn about alternative energy sources, including solar power, wind power,
and hydrogen fuel cells. A brief
demonstration describing the background, advantages and disadvantages of each
energy source is presented.
Students will experiment with each energy source using hand-on models.
In what way is your
lesson/activity inquiry-based?
The activity is mainly
inquiry based. Students, with
minimal instruction, are to investigate the devices (windmill, solar cell, and
fuel cell car) and come up with theories to explain the underlying the mechanism. Students were able to elucidate the
mechanism after a brief period of investigation and guided questions.
Time Required:
1
period – 55 minutes
Group Size:
6 students/per group
Cost to implement:
Wind energy power kit -
$50 each
Fuel cell car kit - $60
each
Renewable Energy Kit -
$150 each
Learning
Objectives:
After
this lesson, students should be able to:
Explain the specific
mechanism of energy transformation for each of the energy sources. Furthermore, students will be informed
of the need to develop alternative energy sources and their wide-ranging impact.
Introduction / Motivation:
Students are asked to draw
how they think solar, wind, and hydrogen fuel cells are used as energy
sources. Students will then be
provided with a brief background of each energy source. Hands-on demonstration materials are provided
at stations for the students to investigate how energy is converted from one
form to another. Students will
then be asked to refine their original drawings of each of the energy sources
after the discussion.
Procedure:
See above. For the
hands-on portion, students were divided up into groups, and asked to move
between stations where the following materials were provided: 1) Wind power, 2)
Solar power, and 3) Hydrogen Fuel Cells (cars). Students could stay in
classroom or go outside with the materials.
Materials List
1)
4 x Hydrogen fuel
cell car kits (Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, FCJJ-11)
http://www.horizonfuelcell.com/
2) 1 x Wind energy power kit
(Thames & Kosmos Wind Power, Renewable Energy Science Kit)
http://www.thamesandkosmos.com/products/wp/wp.html
3)
1 x Renewal
Energy Kit (Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, FCJJ-27)
http://www.horizonfuelcell.com/
4)
Small motors
with pinwheels attached, and alligator clips to attach to solar panels
From Science Wiz
Electricity Kit by Penny Norman, PhD
Safety Issues:
Use kits according to
instructions.
Lesson Closure:
Students will be asked to
refine their drawings after the discussion and to propose which energy source
they feel to be the most promising.
Is this lesson based upon
or modified from existing materials? If yes, please specify source(s) and explain
how related:
No.
References:
None provided.
Attachments:
Alternative_energy_source_student_handout.doc
List CA Science Standards
addressed:
Physical
Sciences:
Energy
and matter have multiple forms and can be changed from one form to another. As
a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know energy comes from
the Sun to Earth in the form of light.
b. Students know sources of stored
energy take many forms, such as food, fuel, and batteries.
c. Students know machines and living
things convert stored energy to motion and heat.
Lesson Implementation Comments
How
did the lesson or elements of the lesson work as desired?
Students were able to
determine the specific mechanism of energy transformation for each of the
energy sources.
How
did the lesson or elements of the lesson not work as desired?
In
periods one and two, the solar cell did not function due to the clouds.
What needs to be done or
was already done to revise the lesson to make it more effective?
The lesson was quite
effective.
Other comments about this
lesson include….
The lesson was a good mix
of chemistry and environmental sciences.
Students were engaged and participated in the discussions.