How to use this program  

Thank you for taking the time to educate your students and their families about energy conservation and natural resources. We want you to know that participating in this program and using its supplementary materials is easy and can integrate seamlessly with your established teaching methods. Please note that our programs are aligned with state educational standards as well as the Next Generation Science Standards.

These online teacher resources have activities that emphasize the Four Cs of 21st Century Education Skills – Collaboration, Communication, Creativity and Critical Thinking. Along with suggested grade levels, purpose of each activity and cognitive level of thinking, this allows you to tailor the learning to meet the needs and abilities of your entire class.

Before the Performance  

• Watch the Educator Preview Video
• Start a K-W-L (Know-Wonder-Learn) exercise with your students.
• Review the student playbook to identify the appropriate leveled activities for your class.

Day of the Performance

• Watch the Student Preview Video with your students.
• Continue the K-W-L exercise with your students. What do you know about the subject matter we are about to see? What do you want to know?
• Attend the live performance scheduled for your class.

After the Performance  

• Watch the Post-Performance Video with your students.
• Conclude your K-W-L by asking the students what they learned from the performance.
• Use the student playbooks and share the additional lessons and expanded information.
• Use the other games and activities located here.
• Evaluate the program by clicking on the Hey,Teachers! icon and entering the code you received from the actors.
• Complete the program evaluation for your chance to win $250 for your classroom.

Educational Standards  

Find the related state and Next Generation Science Standards here.

Captain Wattage Educational Standards

Words to Know  

Hover over the image to reveal the definition.

A small attachment on a faucet to save water in kitchens and bathrooms

To save or use wisely

Producing very little waste

A useful source of energy used in many ways

The ability to do work and the force that makes things change

A lightbulb that uses less energy than an incandescent bulb

A showerhead that saves water and energy

A card that shows the temperature of your water to help you save energy

One thousand watts of electricity

Things we use to make electricity, like coal and natural gas

Using 1,000 watts of electricity for one hour

To use thoughtlessly or carelessly

A unit of electricity

Lesson 1: Electricity Every Day  

Introduction

Electricity is a form of energy. Electricity powers many of the things people use every day. Despite its importance in our daily lives, few people probably stop to think what life would be like without electricity. But we use electricity to do many jobs for us every day – from lighting, heating, and cooling our homes to powering our televisions and computers. This activity helps illustrate the effect electricity has on our daily lives.

Objective

Students will understand the effect electricity has on their daily lives.

Purpose of Activity

Review, Identify Details, Communicate, Create

21^st Century Skills

Communication, Creativity

Cognitive Level

Strategic and Extended Thinking

Class Time

30 minutes

Procedure

• Ask the students to identify things in the classroom that use electricity. Write these answers on the board. Have them continue to identify things at home that also use electricity.
• The students will write (or draw a picture) about everything they do all day that uses electricity. (Example: My alarm clock woke me up, I turned on the lamps, I dried my hair with a hair dryer, made toast, etc.)
• Present the stories to the class.

Lesson 2: Use Wind to Power a Turbine  

Introduction

In the live performance, we learned that a turbine is a giant rotating fan. In this activity, wind is used in place of steam to spin the turbine.

Objective

Students will work together to engineer a wind turbine to demonstrate how wind power works.

Purpose of Activity

Apply Skills, Create

21^st Century Skills

Collaboration

Cognitive Level

Strategic and Extended Thinking

Class Time

30-45 minutes

Procedure

Divide the class into teams. Teams of 3 or 4 work best.

1. Make the paper cups lighter by cutting the rolled edges off the tops.
2. Find and mark the exact center of the cardboard strips.
3. Cross the cardboard strips to make a plus sign. Staple them together.
4. Staple the cups to the ends of the cardboard strips making sure the cups all face the same direction.
5. Push the pin through the center of the cardboard and attach the cardboard cross with the cups on it to the eraser point of the pencil. Blow on the cups to make sure the cardboard spins around freely on the pin.
6. Place the modeling clay on an outdoor surface. Stick the sharpened end of the pencil into the clay so it stands up straight.
7. Observe the motion of the cups.

Expanded Info: How We Generate Electricity  

Introduction

Read the passage below to your students and ask them the discussion questions that follow.

Read to your class

 
🔊 Click here for the passage to be read out loud.

We use electricity every day to power our TVs, computers, video games, lamps and about a million other things. But where does electricity come from, and how does it get into those funny looking holes in the wall?

Let’s go backwards. The outlets in your wall are connected to a series of wires that lead to utility poles outside of your house or apartment building. These wires then lead to transformers or substations, which, in turn, lead to a power plant. It’s in the power plant that the electricity is created.

In the 1800s, scientists discovered that when a magnet is dragged across a series of copper wires, it creates a field of electricity. The problem is, in order to keep your lightbulb lit, there has to be a constant current of electricity flowing through it, which means the magnet has to be continually moving. To solve this problem, the magnets in the power plant are surrounded by wires on all sides. So if the magnets spin in a circle, they create a nonstop current.

But how do we keep that magnet spinning? One way is to attach it to a turbine. A turbine is like a giant fan. Imagine a child’s pinwheel. If the magnet were attached to that pinwheel, then it would spin any time the child blew on it. In the power plant, the pinwheel-like turbine isn’t spun by a child with amazing lung capacity, but instead with steam. By focusing steam through smaller and smaller pipes, it becomes so powerful it can spin the turbine with great ease.

All that steam comes from boiling large amounts of water. The more water we boil, the more steam we produce; which takes us to resources. All of that water has to boil somehow, and we make that happen by burning resources like coal, oil and natural gas. The more electricity we make, the more resources it takes to make it. And because there’s only so much coal, oil and natural gas in the world, it’s more important than ever that we conserve, or save, electricity wherever possible.

Expanded Info: Watt’s Up with Electrical Terms?  

Introduction

Read this passage to your students and ask them the discussion questions that follow.

Expanded Info: Electrical Safety Tips  

Read these electrical safety tips to your class.

• When unplugging something, pull the plug, not the power cord.
• Keep anything that is flammable away from space heaters.
• Make sure space heaters are at least three feet away from curtains.
• An adult should turn off space heaters when not in use.
• Never touch lights or plugs, especially with wet hands.
• Don’t climb trees near power lines.
• Keep ladders and tools at least 10 feet from power lines.
• Adults should only use a clean, dry, wooden or fiberglass ladder near electric power lines.
• Never touch overhead power lines.