Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Rock On! Recording Digital Data With Magnets
This is a straightforward project that shows you how data can be digitized and stored on magnetic recording media. You'll learn how alpha-numeric characters are digitized, and you'll use bar magnets to represent the individual data...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: How Far Can Sparks Jump?
Piezoelectric barbecue fire starters work by creating a spark that ignites the volatile lighter fluid, which then starts the charcoal burning. They are low current, high voltage devices. This project shows you a way to find out by with...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Where There Is Charge, There Can Be Sparks!
In this short science project you will learn how to build a capacitor using common household items. By testing different charge cycles, you will work to discover how much charge is stored in a Leyden jar capacitor.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: What Electric Bills Can Tell You About Energy Use
This project is a great way to "bring home" the concept of energy use. All you need to get started is a good-sized sample of monthly electric bills from households in your area. Building from this simple beginning, you can ask questions...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Spare a Watt, Save a Lot
In this science fair project, you will investigate the different uses of electricity in your home. By identifying appliances, and determining how much energy they use, as well as which are phantom loaders, you can determine if there are...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Waste Not, Want Not: Use the Microbial Fuel Cell to Create Elec
Gross. What is that in the toilet? But maybe it's not just gross. Did you know there are bacteria that digest organic waste and create electrons? What if there was a way to collect those electrons to power a circuit? In this science fair...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Tireless Tides: Extracting Energy From Ocean Tides
Renewable energy is the energy that is extracted from natural sources, such the Sun (solar), earth (geothermal), wind, and water (hydropower). These sources are renewable because they can be replenished by the same natural sources within...
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Interactive Simulations: Electric Field Hockey
Play hockey with electric charges in this interactive electric hockey simulation. Place charges on the ice, then hit start to try to get the puck in the goal. As the game is being played, view the electric field, and trace the puck's...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Magnetism
In this physical science lab, students will investigate ways to control an electromagnet, how adding coils of wire can change the magnet, and the differences between an electromagnet and a bar magnet. Students will explain in their...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Career Profile: Power Distributors and Dispatcher
Science Buddies profiles careers you perhaps never even considered. Do you know what a power distributor and dispatcher does? Someone has to control the flow of electricity along the transmission lines to be sure nothing takes the power...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education: Spotlight Biography Inventors
This site provides information on American inventors Benjamin Franklin, Robert Fulton, Eli Whitney, Thomas Jefferson, Isaac Singer, Wilbur Wright, Thomas Alva Edison, Elias Howe, and Alexander Graham Bell. It offers pictures from and...
US National Archives
Our Documents: Tennessee Valley Authority Act (1933)
An actual interactive copy of the original Tennessee Valley Authority Act that created cheap power in the Tennessee Valley. Links to larger images, a typed transcript, and a downloadable .PDF file are included on this site. Make sure to...
Society for Science and the Public
Science News for Students: Electric Eels Get on Their Prey's Nerves
Article reports on how electric eels use bursts of electricity to control the movements of their prey. Includes a list of key vocabulary and a video.
PBS
Pbs: Tesla Inside the Lab the Tesla Coil
This is the PBS companion site to a video about Tesla. This particular page reviews Tesla's accomplishments and follows the events of his life that prove to be both tragic and inspiring. This comprehensive resource provides powerful...
PBS
Pbs: Tesla, Master of Lighting
Inventor Nikola Tesla is the subject of this extensive PBS site. In addition to information on Tesla's life and work, the site offers insight into the ways in which society and invention affect each other.
PBS
Pbs: Tesla Inside the Lab the Tesla Coil
This is the PBS companion site to a video about Tesla. This particular page reviews Tesla's most notable invention, the Tesla coil. It's components are described as well as their general uses.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Which Materials Are the Best Conductors?
There are two main types of materials when it comes to electricity, conductors, and insulators. What are they made of? Find out by testing different materials in a circuit to see which ones conduct the most electricity.
Other
The Blobz Guide to Electric Circuits
An exciting interactive site of games, activities, information, and quizzes about electric circuits. You'll learn what makes circuits work, all about conductors and insulators, switches, changing circuits, and circuit diagrams. Learning...
Other
Physics.org: Lightning Has Energy to Toast 100,000 Slices of Bread
A beginner's guide to understanding what causes lightning in a thunderstorm. Highlights the major ideas while giving fun, interesting facts.
University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota: Ships: Science & Religion of Michael Faraday
Here's a whole different look at Faraday. His religion, Sandemanian, greatly influenced both his life and his science. This article looks deeply at that aspect of his life.
Other
Bc Hydro: Generation System
Gives a clear explanation of how BC Hydro's electric generation system and thermal generating system work. Its transmission and distribution systems are also explained. There are maps showing where facilities and dams are located, but...
Canada Science and Technology Museum
Canada Science and Technology Museum: Background Information for Electricity
The Canada Science and Technology Museum answers some of the most common questions about electricity. For example, get the definition of electricity, the difference between alternating and direct currents, and learn how a fuse works.
Other
Need: Exploring Nuclear Energy [Pdf]
This downloadable article addresses all aspects of nuclear energy. Visual charts make understanding of cycles and concepts easier. Most useful for older students and educators. PDF (requires Adobe Reader).
New York Times
New York Times: Crossword Puzzle: Electricity & Magnetism
The New York Times Learning Network has developed interactive & printable crossword puzzles. The theme of this puzzle is magnetism and electricity. Requires Java.