Students explore the states of water and its physical properties.
Students use their understanding of the states of water and apply this understanding to a lesson on water purification and the water cycle. Specifically, students will construct a model that both simulates the water cycle and purifies water by changing the states of water from a liquid to a gas and then back to a liquid.
Students drop water from a height and relate the splash it makes to the potential energy it has before it falls.
Students compare how fast water passes through a flow meter when the slope changes. Students will be able to conclude that more work (mechanical energy) can be created with a steeper slope because an increase in slope will equal an increase in flow rate and force.
Students will assemble a water wheel and explore how variables such as the amount, rate, and direction of water flow can influence the amount of work done. The model they build will convert the force of falling water from potential energy to mechanical energy.
Students will participate in a hands-on simulation that will enable students to take on the roles of hydropower managers by manipulating and reacting to three essential variables: precipitation and runoff, power production needs, and spillage.
Students will examine water samples collected at various depths and note any organisms found. Then, they will brainstorm and list plants and animals that might be found in a river ecosystem and discuss the ways that these organisms might interact with each other.
Students examine where our power comes from, how the resource mix has changed over the years and how it might change in the future. They will examine the costs and benefits of using different sources of energy to generate electricity and rate the sources.