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
- Electric circuits Grade 4
- Multiply a whole number by a power of ten Grade 5
- Multiply decimals by 10, 100 and 1,000 Grade 5
- Divide decimals by 10, 100 and 1,000 Grade 5
- Food webs and energy flow Grade 5
- Protecting water, energy and materials Grade 5
- Write a power as repeated multiplication Grade 6
- Evaluate powers of whole numbers Grade 6
- Evaluate powers of 10 Grade 6
- Evaluate powers with positive bases Grade 8
- Evaluate powers with negative bases Grade 8
- Evaluate powers with any integer exponent Grade 8
- Power of a power: find the exponent Grade 8
- Exponent laws: product, quotient and power Grade 8
- Evaluate a product of powers with the same base Grade 8
- Evaluate a quotient of powers with the same base Grade 8
- Evaluate a power of a power Grade 8
- Evaluate powers with a negative exponent in a product Grade 8
- Write repeated multiplication as a power Grade 8
- Powers of fractions Grade 8
- Powers of fractions with negative exponents Grade 8
- Ohm's law Grade 10
- Moles and molar mass Grade 10