Pre and post-visit activities Energy transformations
Vocabulary List
Adult Education at Scienceworks
Pre-visit Activity 1: Understanding sound waves
Activity 2: Appliance science
Activity 3: Cooling effects of evaporation
Activity 4: Make a Coolgardie safe
Post-visit Activity 5: Domestic appliances
These activities are designed to familiarise Certificate II students with the concepts and vocabulary
they will encounter when they visit the House Secrets exhibition at Scienceworks, and to reinforce and
extend their knowledge afterwards.
You may need to modify or extend some of the ideas presented to best suit the needs of your students
or student groups. Students should become familiar with the following words and their meanings,
particularly those used in the exhibition synopsis and on-site activities, before they visit Scienceworks.
Energy transformations
http://museumvictoria.com.au/Scienceworks/Education/
Vocabulary list - Energy transformations
Adult Education at Scienceworks
Words
Activities
Words
Activities
compressions and rarefractions
observations
pitches
represent the direction
slinky
xylophone
Activity 1:
Understanding
sound waves
hessian
invert
Activity 4:
Making a
Coolgardie
safe
On-site
activities
basing (your answer)
collage
devices
illustrating
Activity 2:
Appliance
science
capillary action
evaporating
plot a graph
Activity 3:
Cooling effects
of evaporation
appliances
convert
crank
electrical to movement energy
energy efficient appliance
energy transformations
pitch (of the voice)
refrigerator
energy efficient appliance
Activity 5:
Domestic
appliances
Energy transformations
http://museumvictoria.com.au/Scienceworks/Education/
Activity 1: Understanding sound waves
Aim
Investigating sound waves.
What you need
• A slinky
• A toy xylophone
• 5-6 similar jars
• Rubber bands (various thickness)
• Empty boxes and plastic containers of different sizes
Adult Education at Scienceworks
What to do
1 Use a slinky to demonstrate sound waves by stretching a number of coils in the slinky
(about six) back and then letting go. Observe the motion of the spring and identify
compressions and rarefractions in the spring.
2 Listen to different pitches on a toy xylophone.
3 Make a xylophone by filling the jars with different amounts of water.
Questions
1 Describe the movement of the coils in the slinky.
Draw the motion of the spring representing the movement with arrows.
2 Which direction did the energy travel through the slinky?
Represent the direction of the movement using an arrow on a diagram of the slinky.
3 Higher sounds have shorter wavelengths and more energy. Represent a high sound with
the slinky then draw your observations.
4 Lower sounds have a larger wavelength and less energy. Represent a low sound with the
slinky then draw your observations.
5 How does the height of the water in a jar vary the pitch of the sound produced?
6 Why can’t we hear sounds in space?
Energy transformations
compression
rarefraction
xylophone
http://museumvictoria.com.au/Scienceworks/Education/
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Activity 2: Appliance science
What you need
• A copy of the Appliance worksheet
What to do
On the Appliance worksheet, fill in the household electrical appliance name, its use and
the forms of energy produced, as shown by the example.
Adult Education at Scienceworks
Questions
1 Which ones are the most efficient, and produce only the energy we want or need?
What information are you basing your answer on?
2 Which of these devices could you easily live without?
3 Were these devices available fifty years ago? If not, what was used as the
alternative? For example you might consider a hand whisk instead of an electric
beater.
4 Cut out pictures of appliances from various catalogues and glue them onto an A3
sheet and create a collage illustrating the appliances that produce particular types of
energy.
Energy transformations
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Appliance worksheet
Name of appliance
Energy we want
Other forms
of energy produced
Alternative
(before electricity)
Example: light globe
light
heat, some sound
candle
Adult Education at Scienceworks
Energy transformations
http://museumvictoria.com.au/Scienceworks/Education/
5
Activity 3: Cooling effects of evaporation
Aim
Investigate the cooling effects of evaporating water.
Adult Education at Scienceworks
What you need
• Empty drink can
• Cotton cloth
• Rubber bands
• Plate
• Thermometer
• Electric fan
• Water
What to do
1 Wrap the cotton cloth around the can, hold it in place with the rubber bands.
2 Stand the can on the plate.
3 Wet the material by adding water to the plate (observe the capillary action that forces the
water up the material.)
4 Place the thermometer in the can.
5 Blow air across the can using the fan.
6 Record the temperature inside the can every minute for ten minutes.
7 Plot a graph of how the temperature inside the can changed with time.
Questions
1 What happened to the temperature inside the can?
2 Suggest a reason why the temperature did this.
3 Describe how you feel on a hot windy day when you get out of a swimming pool.
4 Where does the energy needed to change water from a liquid into a gas come from?
Energy transformations
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Activity 4: Make a Coolgardie safe
Aim
Make a model Coolgardie safe that keeps things cool in hot weather.
Adult Education at Scienceworks
What you need
• Washed milk carton
• Rubber bands
• Scissors
• Hessian material
• Strips of cloth
• Stapler
• Sticky tape
• Thermometer
• Electric fan (optional)
• Water
What to do
1 Cut the top from the carton at about 2 cm below the base of the sloping bit.
2 Staple the top, seal with sticky tape.
3 Cut 5cm x 10cm rectangles from each side of the carton.
4 Wrap a 30cm x 12cm rectangle of hessian around the sides, hold in place with rubber
bands or staples.
5 Invert the top and sit it in the top of the safe.
6 Fill the top tray with water, use strips of cloth to draw water onto the hessian
7 Test the safe, using the fan and thermometer.
Questions
1 Describe what happens to the temperature inside the safe when air flows around it.
2 Describe the process that causes the temperature to do this.
3 Where does the energy needed to change water from a liquid into a gas come from?
Energy transformations
Water Reservoir
Cloth
Rubber
Bands
Hessian
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Activity 5: Domestic appliances
What you need
• Research facilities
What to do
1. Find out about the star rating found on appliances. What does the star rating represent?
How many stars does an energy efficient appliance have?
2. Describe how the invention of appliances, especially in the home have changed family life
in today's society?
Adult Education at Scienceworks
Energy transformations
http://museumvictoria.com.au/Scienceworks/Education/
A Museum Victoria experience
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