Objectives
This 3 to 4-week unit attempts to enhance students' content mastery and analytical skills by examining common phenomenon (i.e., cellphone, combustion engine, light-emitting diode (LED) lights) that undergo a myriad of energy transformations to perform a specific function. Students will compare the net heat output of an LED light and incandescent bulb using an infrared thermometer over a period of 10 minutes using principles from thermodynamics and energetics. In addition, students will analyze their dataset to determine the efficiency differential between the two devices. The forms and types of energy have constraints with regards to their utility with current technologies which will be discussed as students delve deeper in the evaluation phase of the unit. Throughout the unit, we will investigate the underlying principles that allow electronic devices to be highly efficient by anchoring discussions to the conservative nature of energy and accounting for the number of energy transformations and pathways undergone by the device. The culminating activity will ask students to deconstruct the energy transformations in household devices and compare energy efficiency. Students will evaluate the work of each other to determine the most efficient and inefficient devices. It is my hope that students will gain a deeper understanding of energy efficiency by mastering energy transformations and the governing principle(s) with regards to conservation of energy.
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