Bo-r-r-ring! You can almost see the word ooze from their heads as students stifle yawns and thumb their traditional science texts open to the next chapter – “Work and Energy.” Pictures of springs or objects rolling down ramps do little to excite them. After all, what could possibly be interesting about a topic they associate with taking out the trash and other chores? Yet, they perk up for the same concepts in the Series IV Mission Energy. Who wouldn’t, when they can learn about kinetic, potential, chemical, and mechanical energy by building LEGO® vehicles and experimenting with solar panels, capacitors, and “fizzy” tablets?

The Energy Mission defines the meaning of energy, giving the Sun and fossil fuels as examples of renewable and nonrenewable sources.

It discusses joules as the measurement of work and reveals that energy can change from one form to another. Students witness this when the potential energy of a spring in a mechanical toy called Bonga changes to kinetic energy as the “worm” walks on the workstation.

They experiment with the potential of solar power by testing to see how much light it actually takes to make a vehicle move. They also build either a windmill or a waterwheel to see the other energy sources at work.

In traditional modes of instruction, energy and work can be rather abstract and difficult concepts to understand. But through Energy’s hands-on activities, students will be able to link the concrete with the abstract for better understanding.