Energy Basics
This is the ability to make things move or change.
What is energy?
This is a group of parts that work together.
What is a system?
A machine that converts electrical energy into another form of energy is called this.
What is an electrical device?
What happened to Ergstown’s electrical system during the blackout?
Something went wrong with the electrical system.
This type or kind of energy includes sound, heat, light, and motion.
What are forms of energy?
True or False: Systems can have just a few parts or many parts.
What is True?
Name two examples of electrical devices found at home.
Answers may vary: lamp, fan, TV, etc.
What evidence shows that something went wrong?
In graphic 1, lights are on; in graphic 2, lights are off; in graphic 3, lights come back on.
This form of energy travels through wires.
What is electrical energy?
True or False: When a system changes, it always breaks.
What is False?
Explain how you know a device uses electrical energy.
It plugs in, uses batteries, or has wires that transfer energy.
What natural event might cause a power outage?
What is a thunderstorm or tornado?
A person who uses science knowledge to design something that solves a problem is called this.
Who is an engineer?
True or False: Parts of a system help the system perform its function.
What is True?
What type of natural resource powers a solar panel system?
What is sunlight / the Sun?
When a town loses electricity, what form of energy has stopped flowing?
What is electrical energy?
This means what something can do or what job it performs.
What is a function?
Name one example of a system in your classroom and describe how its parts work together.
Answers may vary
Describe what happens when an electrical system stops working correctly.
Something went wrong with one or more parts of the system.
Why is it important to study systems when investigating a blackout?
Because a system’s parts work together—if an important part fails, the whole system may stop working.