Chapter 3
The Technologies that Generate Electricity
Goals
- Describe the six basic steps of steam-electric power generation.
- List boiler components and processes that increase power generation efficiency.
- Diagram the main components in the steam-electric power generation process.
CTE Energy & Natural Resources Career Subcluster
This subchapter does not explicitly map to the Energy & Natural Resources career cluster, though it contributes to foundational understanding.
Goals
- Describe the journey natural gas takes from underground through a power plant.
- Identify and describe two generation methods that use natural gas to produce electricity.
- Diagram the main components of a natural gas turbine generator.
CTE Energy & Natural Resources Career Subcluster
Resource Extraction
Utilities
Goals
- Explain where coal comes from.
- Describe the journey from underground through a power plant that coal takes.
- List potential environmental impacts of coal-fired electricity.
CTE Energy & Natural Resources Career Subcluster
Resource Extraction
Utilities
Goals
- Describe the fuel used to generate nuclear power through fission.
- Identify and diagram the main components of a nuclear power plant.
- Distinguish between the two main types of nuclear power plants in the United States.
- Identify the federal agencies responsible for regulating nuclear power.
CTE Energy & Natural Resources Career Subcluster
Clean & Alternative Energy
Ecological Research & Development
Environmental Protection
Resource Extraction
Utilities
Goals
- Describe how the power in the wind is turned into electricity.
- List standard parts of a wind turbine and how they influence energy production.
- Characterize the types of places where wind farms are installed.
- Explain how the power in wind changes with wind speed.
CTE Energy & Natural Resources Career Subcluster
Clean & Alternative Energy
Conservation & Land Management
Environmental Protection
Utilities
Activities
Understanding Forms and Sources of Energy
Students will learn about the differences between forms and sources of energy in order to talk about and make informed energy choices.
160 min.
$$
Sail Cars
Students will build sails to catch the wind in order to move the Sail Car as far as possible. Experiment with the number, design, shape, and angle of sails to control direction, speed, and distance.
45 min.
$$
MacGyver Windmills
Students will use materials to design and build functioning windmill models that lift weights. Using the scientific method, they will conduct trials, change variables, and work to improve the performance of their windmills.
45 min.
$$
Firefly
Students will use a small wind turbine called a Firefly to understand how rotational movement can convert wind power into electrical energy.
45-80 min.
$$
How Can I Design Better Blades?
Students will explore the engineering design process by experimenting with wind turbine blade designs. They will investigate how variables such as blade shape, size, and angle affect power output.
45-80 min.
$$
PBS Power Grid Lab
Students take on the role of energy system designers tasked with building a clean, cost-effective energy for a U.S. city, exploring the trade-offs between different energy sources.
90-150 min.
Free
Original Simple Generator
Students construct a basic AC electric generator. This activity introduces core concepts of electromagnetism, energy transformation, and circuit design.
80-240 min.
$$
Where is the Clean Water Power Around Me?
Students map hydro, wave, and wind power plant locations near their school.
60 min.
Free
Exploring Different Forms of Water Power
Students will build and test wind, hydro, and wave generators.
Varies
$$$$
NEED Energy Sources
Free downloadable curricula and infobooks on energy sources. These resources cover all grade levels.
Varies
Free
NEED Wind and Offshore Wind
Free downloadable curricula and infobooks on wind and offshore wind. These resources cover all grade levels.
Varies
Free
Goals
- Describe the process of generating electricity from moving water.
- Name and diagram the main components of a hydroelectric power plant.
- Assess the environmental impacts of hydroelectric dams.
CTE Energy & Natural Resources Career Subcluster
Clean & Alternative Energy
Conservation & Land Management
Ecological Research & Development
Environmental Protection
Utilities
Activities
Understanding Forms and Sources of Energy
Students will learn about the differences between forms and sources of energy in order to talk about and make informed energy choices.
160 min.
$$
Renewable Energy Discovery Island
Acting as energy planners, students design an energy system by evaluating trade-offs between solar, wind, hydropower, and diesel.
45-90 min.
Free
Moving Water Into Moving Electrons
Students will generate driving questions about water power.
60 min.
How Do Variables Affect Power Generation In A Hydroelectric Dam?
Students will build a hydropower system and test the variables that will affect the output.
60 min.
$$$
Creating a Hydroelectric Power Plant
Students will discover a relationship between amperes and voltage to watts as a hydro-electric power plant produces electricity.
180-240 min.
$$$$
Where is the Clean Water Power Around Me?
Students map hydro, wave, and wind power plant locations near their school.
60 min.
Free
NEED Energy Sources
Free downloadable curricula and infobooks on energy sources. These resources cover all grade levels.
Varies
Free
NEED Hydropower
Free downloadable curricula and infobooks on hydropower. These resources cover all grade levels.
Varies
Free
Clean Energy Bright Futures Water Power Curricula
This library has a variety of classroom curricular resources. Teachers can change their sequence of activities for their grade level.
Varies
Free
Open EI: Hydropower
Educators at all levels can quickly find curricula, activities, and other tools that will help energize students about hydropower.
Varies
Free
Goals
- Describe the process of generating electricity from sunshine.
- Identify and diagram the main components of a solar PV system and how they interact.
- Explain what an inverter does.
- Assess the limitations of solar power and environmental impacts.
CTE Energy & Natural Resources Career Subcluster
Clean & Alternative Energy
Conservation & Land Management
Ecological Research & Development
Environmental Protection
Utilities
Activities
Understanding Forms and Sources of Energy
Students will learn about the differences between forms and sources of energy in order to talk about and make informed energy choices.
160 min.
$$
Solar Scavenger Hunt
Students will learn about some of the main variables that determine what can be powered by a solar panel.
90 min.
$$$
Solar Town
This activity introduces students to basic circuitry and how energy flows through a system. Students will work individually to build their own Solar Houses, then join together to form a Solar Town.
60 min.
$$
Solar Cork Boats
Students will engineer paddles and propellers and use solar power to create a boat that can move in the sun. Students will learn about buoyancy, balance, and drag.
90-135 min.
$$$
Solar Fountains
This activity demonstrates how solar energy is transformed into electricity. Students will use solar panels to power a small water pump and build a fountain.
45-90 min.
$$$
Solar Rover
Build a Solar Rover that uses power from the sun, then design wheels to explore imaginary planets (or your backyard)!
45-90 min.
$$$
PBS Power Grid Lab
Students take on the role of energy system designers tasked with building a clean, cost-effective energy for a U.S. city, exploring the trade-offs between different energy sources.
90-150 min.
Free
Horizon Educational Solar Hydrogen Science Kits
This kit lets students invent their own clean energy applications using fuel cells and renewable hydrogen created using solar energy and water.
240-360 min.
$$$$
NEED Energy Sources
Free downloadable curricula and infobooks on energy sources. These resources cover all grade levels.
Varies
Free
NEED Solar
Free downloadable curricula and infobooks on solar. These resources cover all grade levels.
Varies
Free
CREATE Solar
This site has a variety of solar PV related teaching materials, with each lesson having dedicated student and teacher resources.
Varies
Free
Goals
- Define biomass and biogas and identify some key differences.
- List common sources of biomass and biogas.
- Describe how biomass and biogas are used to generate electricity.
CTE Energy & Natural Resources Career Subcluster
Conservation & Land Management
Utilities
Activities
PBS Power Grid Lab
Students take on the role of energy system designers tasked with building a clean, cost-effective energy for a U.S. city, exploring the trade-offs between different energy sources.
90-150 min.
Free
NEED Energy Sources
Free downloadable curricula and infobooks on energy sources. These resources cover all grade levels.
Varies
Free
NEED Biomass
Free downloadable curricula and infobooks on biomass. These resources cover all grade levels.
Varies
Free
Goals
- Identify states and regions where significant geothermal resources are located.
- List and describe the main components of a geothermal power plant.
- Discuss geothermal energy's environmental impacts, both good and bad.
CTE Energy & Natural Resources Career Subcluster
Clean & Alternative Energy
Conservation & Land Management
Environmental Protection
Resource Extraction
Utilities
Activities
Understanding Forms and Sources of Energy
Students will learn about the differences between forms and sources of energy in order to talk about and make informed energy choices.
160 min.
$$
PBS Power Grid Lab
Students take on the role of energy system designers tasked with building a clean, cost-effective energy for a U.S. city, exploring the trade-offs between different energy sources.
90-150 min.
Free
NEED Energy Sources
Free downloadable curricula and infobooks on energy sources. These resources cover all grade levels.
Varies
Free
NEED Geothermal
Free downloadable curricula and infobooks on geothermal. These resources cover all grade levels.
Varies
Free
Educator Resources
- KidWind Spark Sessions: Offshore Wind
- KidWind Spark Sessions: Solar on Schools
- KidWind Spark Sessions: Solar & Storage
- KidWind Tinker Time Webinar on Blade Design
- KidWind Tinker Time Webinar on Gears
- The Boy Who Harness the Wind: Book
- The Boy Who Harness the Wind: TedTalk
- The Boy Who Harness the Wind: Movie
- How to Use a Multimeter - YouTube
- How Does a Wind Turbine Work? - YouTube
- USGS U.S. Wind Turbine Database
- Clean Power Resources
- Learn Wind
- Blue Economy
- NREL Water
- What is Voltage? - YouTube
- What is Electric Current? - YouTube
- What is Resistance? - YouTube
- Series and Parallel Circuits - YouTube
- Teaching Solar - Solar Schoolhouse
- Vernier - Investigating Solar Energy
- Vernier - Solar Energy Explorations
- Foundation for Water and Energy Education
- Teach Engineering: Hydropower
- Watermill - How it Worked
- Today I Learned: Geothermal - Podcast
- Today I Learned: Nuclear Power - Podcast