Curated OER
Waterwheel Work
Young scholars investigate the history of the waterwheel and common uses for water turbines today. They construct an experimental waterwheel using a two-liter plastic bottle, measure the rate of revolution of a waterwheel, and complete...
Curated OER
How the Waterwheel Works the Machinery
For this waterwheel worksheet, students examine a detailed picture of how a waterwheel works. There are 8 short paragraphs that label each part of this waterwheel, but there are no questions.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Put Your Water to Work: Using Hydropower to Lift a Load
Water creates a lot of energy, just look at the Grand Canyon. In this science fair project, you will demonstrate the power of water by converting the kinetic energy in moving water to mechanical energy, which will lift a small weight.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Waterwheel Work
Students learn the history of the waterwheel and common uses for water turbines today. They explore kinetic energy by creating their own experimental waterwheel from a two-liter plastic bottle. They investigate the transformations of...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Power Your House With Water
Students learn how engineers design devices that use water to generate electricity by building model water turbines and measuring the resulting current produced in a motor. Students work through the engineering design process to build...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Power, Work and the Waterwheel
Waterwheels are devices that generate power and do work. Students construct a waterwheel using two-liter bottles, dowel rods and index cards, and calculate the power created and work done by them.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Water Power
In this activity, students observe a model of a waterwheel to investigate the transformations of energy involved in turning the blades of a hydro-turbine into work. Students work as engineers to create a model for a new waterwheel while...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Work and Power: Waterwheel
Investigating a waterwheel illustrates to students the physical properties of energy. They learn that the concept of work, force acting over a distance, differs from power, which is defined as force acting over a distance over some...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: A River Ran Through It
Students learn how water is used to generate electricity. They investigate water's potential-to-kinetic energy transformation in hands-on activities about falling water and waterwheels. During the activities, they take measurements,...