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Workshop Descriptions
Workshop 1. What Is
Energy?
Interviews about energy with children, scientists, and people on
the street reveal the wide range of concepts that teachers encounter.
In this session, you will look at the differences between the everyday
language of energy and the scientific concept, see highlights of
its history, and learn its importance in our understanding of the
world.
Workshop 2. Force
and Work
Scientists define energy as the ability to do work. In this session,
see how work is defined in physics and examine how energy and work
are related.
Workshop 3. Transfer
and Conversion of Energy
Change happens when energy is transferred or converted. In this
session, examine conversion between potential and kinetic energy.
Through examples, see how events that involve a small amount of
energy can trigger much larger events.
Workshop 4. Energy
in Cycles
Energy can be seen in cycles every day, from the bouncing of balls
to the swinging of pendulums. In this session, further explore the
relationship between kinetic and potential energy to understand
how cycles begin and are sustained, and why they decay.
Workshop 5. Energy
in Food
All life forms use energy. In this session, explore the transfer
and conversion of the potential energy in food, and see how that
energy is stored. Through animations, witness photosynthesis, the
process by which plant cells capture the ultimate energy source
for all food — sunlight.
Workshop 6. Energy
and Systems
Physicists use the concept of a system to trace and quantify the
flow of energy. In this session, take a close look at a number of
energy systems and see how this concept is closely linked to the
Law of Conservation of Energy.
Workshop 7. Heat,
Work, and Efficiency
A machine's energy output cannot be greater than its input. In this
session, look at the energy that goes into useful work, examine
how some always ends up as heat, and see why systems are never 100%
efficient.
Workshop 8. Understanding
Energy
Energy lights our homes, fuels our transportation systems, and much
more, but affordable energy is in limited supply. In this session,
look at the global impact of these limits and see how being smart
about using energy will become more important in our daily lives.
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