This hands-on activity explores the concept of static electricity. Students attract an O-shaped piece of cereal to a charged comb and watch the cereal jump away when it touches the comb. Students also observe Styrofoam pellets pulling towards a charged comb, then leaping back to the table.

In this activity, you'll make an electric motor--a simple version of the electric motors found in toys, tools, and appliances everywhere. The activity includes three short online videos: Introduction, Step-by-Step Instructions, and What's Going On. Also available: a concept map and a "Going Further" document that suggests variations on this activity.

Students will use the Design Process to build and test multiple wind turbine designs in order to generate electricity.

Students will use the Design Process to build and test multiple wind turbine designs in order to generate electricity.

In this hands-on activity, students construct a simple switch and determine what objects and what types of materials can be used to close a switch in a circuit and light a light bulb.

Students come to understand static electricity by learning about the nature of electric charge, and different methods for charging objects. In a hands-on activity, students induce an electrical charge on various objects, and experiment with electrical repulsion and attraction.

Contenidos del curso Circuitos de Corriente Directa (Teel 1011) ofrecido en el Colegio Universitario de San Juan (Puerto Rico).

Students explore how the efficiency of a solar photovoltaic (PV) panel is affected by the ambient temperature. They learn how engineers predict the power output of a PV panel at different temperatures and examine some real-world engineering applications used to control the temperature of PV panels.

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members show you how to make your very own electroscope. You can use it to find out if an object is electrically charged.

This lesson is an introductory topic in thermodynamics, on the conversion of energy. The aim of this video is to support students in visualizing the conversion of energy and its importance in real world applications. For this reason, everyday examples are used to help students see the conversion of energy around them. Energy conversion is explored through a simple example of generating electricity for lighting up a shadow puppetry play in a village. The chain process of energy conversion is illustrated until the end product of electricity. This example of electricity generation is further illustrated in an actual industrial setting by taking the viewers to a Power Plant, where viewers will see and hear the explanation of a mechanical engineer on the equipment used to produce electricity that we use in homes and businesses. This important concept of energy conversion is crucial for students to understand as a basis for learning other concepts in Thermodynamics.

Students build their own two-cell batteries. They also determine which electrolyte solution is best suited for making batteries.

Students learn more about magnetism, and how magnetism and electricity are related in electromagnets. They learn the fundamentals about how simple electric motors and electromagnets work. Students also learn about hybrid gasoline-electric cars and their advantages over conventional gasoline-only-powered cars.

Stanford University’s Understand Energy Learning Hub provides free access to Stanford course content on energy resources from fossil fuels like oil and coal to renewable resources like the wind, the sun, and efficiency; energy currencies like electricity and hydrogen; and energy services such as transportation and buildings. Explore the Hub and build your energy literacy to address climate change and sustainability issues, engage on equity and human development challenges, participate in energy industry markets and technology innovations, and make informed energy decisions.

Sixth grade students at Eckstein Middle School use their understanding of electricity to explore electrical current in a circuit with photovoltaic cells.Using a lamp to model the sun, students work in teams and connect different power sources in series and parallel circuits to determine the effects on light bulbs or small motors. Discussion between students about the differences in voltage and the flow of electrons from negative to positive terminals provide opportunities for students to explain their learning and for the teacher to assess their understanding.Learning is extended beyond the experiment as students use photovoltaic cells to power equipment and offset electrical load in the classroom.

Calculus-Based Physics II: Unified Approach

Long Description:
I’ve taught PHY2049 at UNF since 2014 (on 12 different semesters). I moved from using an expensive textbook to an OER textbook (OpenStax) around 2016-2017. The main focus of this class is on concepts related to electricity and magnetism, which by the end of the 19th century was unified as two aspects of the same phenomenon. All available textbooks for this class (there’s many out there) including the available open source texts, treat these concepts as a set of independent topics – giving very little (if any) insight to the now well-understood unified theory of electromagnetism. During the Pandemic I began to reformulate this class with an emphasis on the unified nature of electromagnetism with the intention to provide the students a strong intuitive grasp of the subject. Without any available textbooks at the appropriate level that supports this “Unified Approach” to electricity and magnetism, I severed ties with all textbooks and started to build a content library of video lectures. These video lectures served as a “video textbook” and I started implementing this in Summer of 2020. These content videos provided the backbone for this “Unified Approach to PHY2049” that was offered in the Spring 2021 and Summer 2021 semesters as well as the current Fall 2021 semester. These offerings have been completely free to the students (without any textbook and other costs). Moreover, the data gathered from the Spring 2021 and Summer 2021 offerings of this “Unified Approach” to PHY2049 (based on a nationally implemented testing tool) shows a distinct normalized gain in the learning outcomes compared to that of the traditional approach commonly used for this course (and followed by all available textbooks).

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Electricity in the United States has seen remarkable growth, with a significant shift from coal to renewable energy sources. Government policies and technological advancements have played a crucial role in shaping the energy landscape. President Biden's goal of achieving 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035 highlights the need for continued progress in policy, technology, and public perception.

Video clips from federal and regional agencies show scientists at work with tools used to collect data about the climate and weather. This article, from the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, will help students visualize the tools and how they are used in the atmosphere, at sea, and other hard-to-access locations.

Voltage is a cornerstone concept in electricity. We create an intuitive mental image by comparing voltage to gravity. Created by Willy McAllister.

This is an animated, visual illustration of the history of nuclear power plants in the United States.

Students discuss the characteristics of storms, including the relationship of weather fronts and storms. Using everyday materials, they develop models of basic lightning detection systems (similar to a Benjamin Franklin design) and analyze their models to determine their effectiveness as community storm warning systems.