Energy Forms, States and Conversions
Energy conversion enables the many forms and states of energy in our world.Copyright (top) City of Winchester VA http://www.winchesterva.gov/gogreen/transportation.php (bottom) 2004 Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA. All rights reserved.
Students participate in many demonstrations during the first day of this lesson to learn basic concepts related to the forms and states of energy. This knowledge is then applied the second day as students assess various everyday objects to determine what forms of energy are transformed to accomplish the object's intended task. Students use block diagrams to illustrate the form and state of energy flowing into and out of the process.
Energy exists in many forms all around us. Engineers have determined how to capture and release that energy in forms that are most useful to create heat where required and the work done in many engineered devices. Process flow charts that show the inflow and outflow of energy through a process are one tool that engineers use to help design and evaluate different systems and processes.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Describe at least three examples of how energy is converted from one form to another.
- Demonstrate and diagram the conversion of energy into usable forms using a flow chart.
- State the law of conservation of energy.
- Identify five forms and two states of energy.
- Identify the form and state of energy in everyday items as we use them to do useful work.