Energy and electricity
Forms of energy, circuits, and where our power comes from.
Lessons
Power Up: Where Electricity Comes From
Where does the electricity in our classroom come from, and why is it made differently in different places? Students trace the wires, build a wind machine that does real work, and weigh up solar power like an energy planner.
Winter Science: Ice, Snow and Staying Warm
Why roads get salted, which mitten really works, how a seal stays warm in icy water, and why a mouse is cosier under the snow than on top of it. Four hands-on lessons on ice, heat and insulation.
Simple Circuits: Make It Light Up
Light a bulb with one wire, hunt for materials that let electricity through, find out why string lights all go dark at once, and build a burglar alarm. Four hands-on lessons on closed loops, safe and cheap.
Keep It Cool: Ice, Insulation and Staying Comfortable
Why salt makes ice melt faster, which wrap keeps a drink coldest, how a seal and a fennec fox each keep their body temperature steady, and how to build a cool box that beats the heat. Four hands-on lessons that start from a freezer and work in any climate.
Hot Stuff: Heat, Temperature and Cooling
Does hotter always mean more heat? Why is sand too hot to stand on while the sea is cool? Why does a drink cool fastest at the start? How do you keep it hot? Four quantitative lessons with thermometers and a kitchen scale: Q = mcΔT, specific heat capacity, Newton's law of cooling and a drink-keeper design problem, with uncertainty throughout.
Online practice
- Multiply a whole number by a power of ten Year 6
- Multiply decimals by 10, 100 and 1,000 Year 6
- Divide decimals by 10, 100 and 1,000 Year 6
- Write a power as repeated multiplication Year 7
- Evaluate powers of whole numbers Year 7
- Evaluate powers of 10 Year 7
- Evaluate powers with positive bases Year 9
- Evaluate powers with negative bases Year 9
- Evaluate powers with any integer exponent Year 9
- Power of a power: find the exponent Year 9
- Exponent laws: product, quotient and power Year 9
- Evaluate a product of powers with the same base Year 9
- Evaluate a quotient of powers with the same base Year 9
- Evaluate a power of a power Year 9
- Evaluate powers with a negative exponent in a product Year 9
- Write repeated multiplication as a power Year 9
- Powers of fractions Year 9
- Powers of fractions with negative exponents Year 9
- Ohm's law Year 11
- Moles and molar mass Year 11