The Crystal – Teacher’s Notes
Zone
9
Go Electric – You’re Electric
Page 1/2
The You’re Electric project links closely with Zone 9 ‘Go
Electric’, there are also sources of further information
and ideas in the extension materials.
This is a research and communication project
in which students learn about various ways of
utilising ‘clean’ energy.
The aim of the project is for students to understand:
• Alternative ways that electricity can be generated
• How people can become energy producers as well as energy consumers.
Students will need to think about:
• Alternative ways to provide energy
• The importance of the energy provided being clean
• How to convey their ideas to others.
Energy Transfer and Kinetic Energy
(guidance on student responses to student project sheet - page 5)
Movement
Energy transferred from…
Energy transferred to ….
A battery powered
toy car being used
Battery (stored as chemical energy)
(By electricity) to kinetic energy as the car
moves (and then to surroundings as heat
and sound)
A flying seagull
Food (stored as chemical energy)
To kinetic energy as bird flies (and then to
surroundings as heat and sound)
A rock rolling down a
mountain
Gravitational potential energy (due to
rock being raised up)
To kinetic energy as rock rolls down,
gathering speed (and then to surroundings
as heat and sound)
The hands of a (wind- Potential energy (in wound-up spring)
up) clock
To kinetic energy as clock runs down,
moving the hands (and then to
surroundings as heat and sound)
A person walking up
stairs
Food (stored as chemical energy)
Via kinetic energy (as person moves) to
gravitational potential energy (when at top
of stairs)
Microwave oven
Electrical energy
To kinetic energy (and then to
surroundings as heat and sound)
Twenty people
learning to Salsa
Food (stored as chemical energy)
To kinetic energy (and then to
surroundings as heat and sound)
The Crystal – Teacher’s Notes
Zone
9
Go Electric – You’re Electric
Page 2/2
The key concept here is the move away from having a small number of very large power stations to having
a large number of generators. Some of these may be large and others very small; they are likely to use a
wider range of different technologies than before.
Traditionally, most people are consumers of electricity; they buy in the energy they need. This might be
as electricity, as gas or wood, for example. In the future it is likely that energy supplies will become more
sustainable by more people becoming suppliers as well as consumers. They might put photovoltaics on
their roof, produce methane gas from rotting organic material or even have a small aero generator in a
large garden.
This means that some people will supply some of their own energy and buy other energy that they needed
and, if they generated excess energy, they could sell it. Extension Ideas
• Think about when the energy needs of your home are greatest and when they are least during a 24hour cycle.
-- Sketch a graph showing how you think it might vary hour-by-hour and annotate the graph to
suggest why.
-- Compare your graph to somebody else’s and see what’s the same and what is different.
-- See if you can find a graph for domestic energy consumption in the UK over a typical 24-hour
period and compare it with yours. The National Grid show data for the most recent 24-hour period
at: http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Electricity/Data/Realtime/Demand/demand24.htm. What’s
similar and why?
• Design an idea to generate electricity during off peak times, here are some websites to stimulate ideas:
SeaGen Strangford, Northern Ireland http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzc9-V9DSew and The
Electric Reliability Council in Texas http://www.economist.com/node/21548495?frsc=dg%7Ca
• One of the more common forms of renewable energy in the UK is the wind farm.
-- Research the difference between an onshore wind farm and an offshore one.
-- Design and complete a table showing the advantages and disadvantages of each.
-- Weigh up the arguments and form a view as to which you think is preferable and why.
• Some people support the idea of a centralised power system whereby all the electricity generated is
fed into one big system, which can then be used anywhere in that system. However other people have
argued for a localised system, in which people in one neighbourhood generate what they need in that
neighbourhood. Make a case for each, decide which you think is better and explain why.
• Some types of electricity generation, such as photovoltaics, are more sustainable than others, such as
fossil fuel power stations. Why haven’t we switched completely to sustainable sources? Produce a report
that explains why.