This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). An important part of understanding energy is getting to know the different ways it can be stored and transferred. Finding ways to do this with...

A Year 11 module from the Salters’ Key Stage Four double award science course. This module deals with the generation, transmission and supply of electric power.

Understanding of the inductive effect is developed...

This Salters’ Chemistry Course unit from the University of York Science Education Group covered:
* Sources and uses of energy.
* Conservation of energy.
* Alternative and renewable energy sources.
* Solar energy as a fundamental source of biomass...

This chemistry extension module from the Salters’ Science course deals with the energy changes which accompany chemical reactions. Photosynthesis is considered as the fundamental source of energy to sustain life process, and respiration as the mechanism for coupling the energy to body processes. ‘Calorific values’...

This Nuffield Working with Science unit was designed to introduce students to the concept of Britain's impending 'energy gap', how it will occur, and what we might do to bridge it. The unit features a substantial decision-making element.

From the Institute of Physics, this learning episode shows that charge carriers in good conductors usually move very slowly. It illustrates the derivation and use of the equation I = nAvq.

A range of activities include:
• viewing the movement of permanganate ions in an electric field
•...

This activity from the Institute of Physics discusses energy transfer in electric circuits and links this, by analogy, to other more familiar examples.

The activities include:
• demonstrations of human and lemon-powered batteries to illustrate that that there is nothing special about the chemical...

This series of activities, from the Institute of Physics, help student to understand electrical resistance. What is resistance, how it can be measured, how it arises and what affects it? During the topic, resistance is related to current, voltage, type of material, temperature and light intensity. The electrical...

From the Institute of Physics, this learning episode provides a quantitative definition for resistance (R = V / I) which reinforces the qualitative notion that more resistance means less current. It looks at Ohm’s law, describing that this is not the same thing as the definition of resistance.

Activities...

Produced by the Institute of Physics, in this practical investigation students measure the current and voltage characteristics for several components and identify ohmic and non-ohmic behaviour. Students determine the V-I characteristics for: • a carbon resistor • semiconductor diode • a filament lamp In addition,...

In this learning episode, from the Institute of Physics, students derive the equation relating electromotive force (emf), terminal potential difference, current and internal resistance. They then tackle questions about the internal resistance of a power supply.

This demonstration or student practical activity, from the Institute of Physics, helps students learn to use an oscilloscope to measure voltages. It helps students to understand the use of a cathode ray oscilloscope by showing:
• how the oscilloscope plots a graph...

Produced by the Institute of Physics, this learning episode helps students to distinguish alternating from direct currents before revising why alternating current (ac) is so important.

The range of activities include...

In this learning episode from the Institute of Physics, students are introduced to capacitors. Through practical investigations, students look at their charge and discharge process.

The activities include:
•...

This learning episode, from the Institute of Physics, helps students understand how capacitors charge and the concept of capacitance. Students investigate the relationship between charge and potential difference across a capacitor.