The Electrical System
Solutions for Ergstown
Weighing Trade-Offs
Criteria & Concepts
Finish the Vine
100

Which part of the system carries electricity to homes and buildings?

The electrical grid (wires)

100

Which solution costs nothing but saves a little energy?

Encourage LED lightbulbs.

100

Which solution is good for saving energy but makes people hotter in the summer?

Limiting the use of air conditioners.

100

What does “reliable” mean when choosing a solution?

It works most of the time.

100

Road work ahead? ____________

200

What are the four main parts of the electrical system?

Energy source, source converter, electrical grid (wires), and electrical converter (device)

200

Which solution is cheap but pollutes the air and is nonrenewable?

Build another fossil fuel power plant.

200

Which solution could make people’s electric bills lower but costs more to replace?

LED lightbulbs

200

Which criterion focuses on whether a solution harms animals or pollutes?

Safe for the environment.

200

Look at all those ____________

300

If the lamp itself is broken, which part of the system failed?

The electrical converter (device)

300

Which solution protects wires from storms but is expensive and harder to repair if broken?

Move the grid underground.

300

Which solution works well during sunny days but is unreliable at night or when cloudy?

Solar panels.

300

Which criterion would be most affected if a solution created noise pollution from machines?

Won’t bother the people of Ergstown.

300

Get to Del Taco. They have a new thing called _______

400

What is the job of a source converter in an electrical system?

To change the source’s energy into electrical energy.

400

Which solution could harm fish and doesn’t work well during droughts?

Build a hydroelectric power plant.

400

Which solution is renewable, does not cause air pollution, but is unreliable and dangerous to flying animals?

Wind turbines.

400

Which solution would meet the criterion of being “cheap” but not the criterion of being “safe for the environment”?

Build a fossil fuel plant.

400

What are those?

500

If the energy source is working and the wires are not damaged, but the lamp still will not turn on, which part(s) of the system must have failed?

The source converter or the device itself

500

Which solution saves the most energy overall, but causes electric clocks without batteries to reset every day?

Shutting down the system from 2–3 a.m.

500

Which solution can keep electricity flowing if one wire breaks, but still fails if a storm damages both wires?

Adding backup wires.

500

Which criterion is met by LED lightbulbs because they lower electricity bills?

Saves energy (or energy efficient).

500

What did you do? ____________

Why did you do that? ________

I shaved my eyebrows

I don't know

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSfn-FQFZD4