Activity 3.1.1 Energy Comes in Many Forms

Introduction

Can you imagine a world without energy? You wouldn’t be able to play computer games, ride a bicycle, or talk on the phone. Cars and trucks wouldn’t move. Lights wouldn’t shine. Plants wouldn’t grow. Without energy, nothing would happen! Energy is the ability to change or move matter. Just about everything you see, hear, and feel depends on energy. Energy comes in many forms.

Think about how you use energy every day. Where does this energy come from? You use electricity when you turn on lights, watch TV, or use a computer. A kitchen stove might run on electricity, natural gas, or propane gas. The heating system in a home or apartment might run on heating oil, natural gas, propane, or even wood. A school bus could be powered by diesel fuel, gas or propane.

Energy can be transferred, or moved, from one object to another. When you ride a bicycle, you transfer mechanical energy from your legs to the pedals. The pedals transfer the energy to the bicycle gears, which transfer the energy to the tires. The rolling tires move the bike along the street. When a cat sits on a sunny windowsill, radiant energy from the sun is transferred through the window to the cat’s fur. The radiant energy heats up the fur and the cat’s body.

Energy can also be transformed, or changed, from one form to another. Suppose you eat a hamburger for lunch. Later that afternoon, you run in a race. Your body, through the digestive process, changes the chemical energy in the hamburger to the mechanical energy of your arms and legs so you can run. A toaster changes electrical energy to thermal energy. Electricity flows into the toaster’s heating elements, which are made of wires. The flow of electricity heats the wires. Heat from the wire is transferred to the slice of bread. Up pops your toast! A car changes the chemical energy of gasoline to the mechanical energy of wheels turning. Inside a car’s engine, gasoline is burned in small bursts. Each burst of energy creates motion in the engine’s crankshaft and other moving parts. This motion is transferred to the wheels of the car, making them turn.

In this activity you will explore the energy sources that you use everyday and the form of each energy source.

Equipment

  • PLTW Gateway notebook
  • Pencil

Procedure

  1. In the chart below list at least eight items that you use that require energy (do not use the example items). Next to each item on the list, write the energy sourcethat it uses.In the third column, list the form(s) of energy that apply to each of the items on your list.

Energy-Using Item / Energy Source / Purpose of Energy / Energy Converted To
Example: Space heater / Electricity / Heat (Thermal) / Electrical,
Light (Radiant)
Example: Fireplace / Wood or Natural Gas / Heat (Thermal) / Chemical,
Light (Radiant)

Conclusion

  1. Define energy.
  1. Describe a situation where potential energy is converted into kinetic energy.
  1. Describe a situation where kinetic energy is converted into potential energy.
  1. Do you have energy? What kind of energy do you display in physical education class?

© 2011 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

PLTW Gateway – Energy and the Environment Activity3.1.1Energy Comes in Many Forms– Page 1