Enjoy Learning About Energy with Your Kids this Spring

Here are a few great ideas to get your kids interested in energy issues and to learn something, too.

Potato Battery Time

• Did you know that you can create “lightning” on a small scale with simple materials that you have right at home? All you need is a balloon, a piece of wool fabric, like a sweater, and a darkened room. Just blow up the balloon, rub it about 10 times on the sweater to give the balloon a ‘charge’ and then discharge the balloon by placing it near something metal, like a door knob. You will see a spark of electricity jump from the balloon to the metal. Cool!

• Some older folks among us may remember making a battery from an uncooked potato. It’s a really awesome project sure to mesmerize your kids. For detailed instructions on how to get two potatoes to run a clock that usually uses batteries, go to this site: http://www.kidzworld.com/article/4726-how-potato-batteries-work 

• Now that spring is here and the summer sun is on its way, consider making a solar cooker. You can follow the directions here: http://www.txu.com/en/about/community/solar-academy.aspx and learn about alternative sources of energy while having a great time with your kids.

IDT Energy wishes our readers a great summer of learning about energy issues and having fun while doing it.

Vegetable Electricity: Potato Power

Can your everyday vegetable power a light?  How about a clock?  You betcha.  Looking for a fun weekend project with the kids that just might 'jolt' some excitement into learning?  We gotcha covered.

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Electricity generated at power plant is generally generated from burning fossil fuels.  The heat from the fuel heats up water and the water becomes steam.  This steam then spins turbines which turns a generator (or magnet) and unbalances the charges in atoms and supplies a current of electricity. That electricity then flows through the utilities lines and into our homes.

Batteries are able to generate electricity through a chemical reaction between two types of electrodes (like zinc and copper) and an electrolyte.  The connection of these substances creates a circuit that allows a flowing path of electricity.

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Here's how you do it:

Materials
2 Potatoes
2 Short pieces of copper wire
2 Galvanized nails
3 Alligator clips
1 Piece of sand paper
1 Low voltage clock

Directions

1. Remove the battery from the clock
2. Number the potatoes "1" and "2"
3. Insert one nail into each of the potatoes
4. Insert one piece of wire into each of the potatoes
5. Connect one alligator clip to the copper wire in potato #1 to the positive (+) terminal in the clocks battery compartment
6. Connect the other alligator clip to the nail in potato #2 and the negative (-) terminal in the clocks battery compartment
7. Connect the last alligator clip to connect the nail in potato #1 to the copper wire in potato #2

A pretty neat alternative energy supply right? Talk about going green!

Now, of course, this method of electricity is not that reliable. So we suggest keeping your utility and an energy supplier like IDT Energy for a more reliable source of electricity.

Check out more cool energy related projects on our Pinterest.

Sources: Education.com and teachengineering.org/