Energy Webquest

In this self-directed and interactive webquest, students conduct an in-depth research exploration about energy! It starts with an overview of "energy" and the law of conservation of energy in order to build a conceptual understanding of energy and energy transformations. It then moves into exploring the different forms of energy through interactives: potential, gravitational, kinetic, chemical, electrical, mechanical, etc. It then moves into the different types of energy transfer: electrical, thermal and mechanical. Next, the webquest explores the sources of energy and energy consumption: Students explore energy sources of the United States, and compare and contrast renewable versus non-renewable energy. Students explore the difference between renewable energy sources and non-renewable sources and why this is such an important difference. Following conceptually, students explore different sources of renewable energy: hydropower, geothermal power, solar power, wind power, etc. Students move on to explore awesome case studies of renewable energy movements in action and share their explorations. The webquest concludes with key conceptual follow-up questions. The webquest ends with a host of awesome energy and renewable energy games! The webquest is engaging, informational, rigorous, exciting, and real-world meaningful and relevant. This activity encourages students to be self-directed! It is aligned to 7th-grade science essential standards (Energy Unit).