How Can We Provide Energy to Meet Diverse Needs?

This module is currently being field tested and is not yet available for purchase.

How Can We Provide Energy to Meet Diverse Needs? is part of Smithsonian Science for the Classroom, a curriculum series by the Smithsonian Science Education Center. It is designed to address a bundle of fourth grade engineering and physical science standards. In this module, students:

• make observations of battery-wire-bulb configurations to determine configuration characteristics that allow energy to flow and a bulb to light up
• design, build, and test portable light systems, evaluating them against defined criteria and constraints
• research how electricity is generated by making observations of systems and by obtaining information from texts
• use multiple texts to research environmental impacts of natural resources used to generate electricity
• access and evaluate state-specific electricity generation data and combine this information with other research to propose and compare new energy plans to solve a power outage problem
• design, build, and test adaptive doorbell systems using three different energy sources, evaluating them against defined criteria and constraints

Below are digital resources that support teaching of this module.