Students will understand that there has to be exactly enough power on the grid for what is being used by consumers after watching the assigned videos and reading the assigned articles. Students will use their knowledge of how to recognize and construct sine functions to determine how frequency, amplitude, and DC offset will change what a light bulb does. They will conduct an experiment that will show the effects on two different light bulbs. The class will use their discoveries to discuss how this experiment relates to the sine function and real-life situations. They should address how our world would be affected if we had a power outage.
Tag Archives: Power Grid
Power Grid Scavenger Hunt
Your assignment is to find as many of the following “pieces” of the power grid as you can. If you think you’ve found one of them, take your own photograph of it and note the location. Many of the pieces you can find by walking around your neighborhood, but some of the pieces you might only see while traveling around in a vehicle.
Mapping the Power Grid
Students will be exposed to a series of maps aerial photos, topographic, geologic maps from prior to, during and after the Kingston Fly Ash Spill.
Students will use geologic maps to investigate rock types, time periods, faults and folds, and investigate technologies used to create maps.
Future of the Power Grid
Students will consider the future of the power grid in light of the data they have been studying about consumption and production if nothing is done to improve the grid, upgrade the grid, and/or change human behaviors. Students will present suggestions for quick solutions that we could do today and participate in a classroom discussion about Smart grids.
Building a Model House
In this activity students will work in groups to plan and build the house for their group. Students will review circuits, electron flow, current and voltage. They will construct a house out of cardboard and wire it to reflect the wiring of modern houses today.
Understanding the Power Grid
Students will understand the pressures on the power grid and discover smart grid technology and how it will relieve some of these pressures by observing various graphs, websites, and tables.
Power Generation to Energy Consumption
“Help students explore how electrical energy arrives at its final destination, as well as introduce alternative sources of energy. Each student will construct a model home from the pattern provided. The students will then assemble a simple LED and resistor light circuit that is installed into the model house. The model then snaps into the power grid base and picks up current from overhead wires. Students can take measurements using a multimeter. Students can then take their house off the grid and supply electrical energy with solar voltaic cells and even the optional wind turbine generator.” (Kelvin website) Students will be creating a small scale power grid in order to study the makeup, power generation, transmission to energy consumption.