Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY. Day 2: Activity 2/Experiment Generating Voltage from the Wind DAY 2

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1 Paxton ActionLABS c ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Day 2: Activity 2/Experiment Generating Voltage from the Wind DAY 2 Purpose: In this activity you and your partner will learn about electric motors and generators. You will perform experiments that demonstrate how electricity can be produced using wind power. Materials: Electric Fan Wind Generator Volt-ohm meter Meter Stick Power Strip Test Leads Voltage Worksheet Electric Motor Motor stand Propeller Procedure: STEP 1: Read the following information: In the previous activity you learned a little about how an electric motor works. You learned that if you apply electricity, in this case from a battery, the armature of the motor will turn. A motor and a generator are nearly the same device. If you were to put a crank on the end of the motor and start cranking, the motor would produce electricity instead of using electricity. The faster you crank the more electricity you will produce. If you were to look inside the Wind Generator you would find a motor that looks very much like the one you viewed on the web site in Activity 1. 1

2 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS DAY 2 STEP 2: In your Module Map Screen, go to your File Locker and click the Module Files tab. Click on the files for the Voltage Worksheet. Close the File Locker and Minimize the Module Map Screen. On your Desktop, double-click the Class Files folder. Locate your files and double-click to open them. Print the worksheets. STEP 3: Place the Wind Generator, meter stick, and electric fan on your work surface. STEP 4: The meter stick should be in front of the fan with the Zero end even with the fan base. Place the Wind Generator 30 cm away from the fan. STEP 5: Locate the Volt Ohm Meter (VOM) and plug the red lead into the middle hole at the bottom of the meter and plug the black lead into the right hole at the bottom of the meter. See the picture to the left. STEP 6: Turn the selector dial to 20v DC as shown. STEP 7: Connect the clip ends of the test leads from the VOM to the Wind Generator, red to red and black to black. Properly connected your setup will look like the picture to the left. STEP 8: Turn the fan on low speed and allow the fan and the Wind Generator to get up to full speed. Once the number on the VOM becomes steady, record the voltage in the proper box on your Voltage Worksheet. STEP 9: Observe the light on the top of the Wind Generator. STEP 10: Change the fan speed and distance from the fan until you have filled out your worksheet. 2

3 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY STEP 11: Turn the VOM off and put it back in its proper storage location. DAY 2 STEP 12: Locate the electric motor, motor stand and propeller. Using a red and a black jumper, connect the motor to the Wind Generator. STEP 13: Place the Wind Generator 90 cm from the fan and turn it on low speed and allow the fan and Wind Generator to get up to full speed. Did the motor propeller begin to turn? STEP 14: Turn the fan up to medium then to high. Observe the propeller as you move the Wind Generator closer to the fan. STEP 15: Put all of the equipment back in the proper storage location. Conclusion: It is obvious that the closer the Wind Generator is to the fan and the faster the fan goes, the faster the Wind Generator goes. The faster the Wind Generator goes the more power is produced. If you are building a wind farm you need to look for a balance between wind speed, amount of land, how the environment will be affected, and even the neighbors tolerance for noise. In this activity you have learned that electricity can be produced using a wind generator. You have also learned that the faster you can turn a wind generator the more electricity you can make. RETURN TO THE PAXTON ActionLABS PROGRAM 3

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5 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Day 3: Activity 2/Project Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car DAY 3 Purpose: In this activity you will learn about using hydrogen as a fuel alternative to gasoline. You will learn how to separate water into its two basic elements and how to convert these two elements into electricity. Materials: HyRunner car Squeeze Bottle Distilled Water Power Supply Junior Power Strip Procedure: STEP 1: Read the following information: The h-tec HyRunner car you will be experimenting with today demonstrates how hydrogen could be used as an alternative fuel for automobiles. The HyRunner car utilizes reversible fuel cell technology. With this kind of fuel cell, you can provide clean distilled water and a small electrical current; the fuel cell will then separate the water into its two component gasses, Hydrogen and Oxygen. The hydrogen and oxygen as gasses can be passed back through the membrane of the fuel cell and the fuel cell will create electricity and the only emissions will be heat and water. STEP 2: Gather the materials listed above. 5

6 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS DAY 3 STEP 3: Compare your HyRunner to the diagram below and be able to identify the parts on your HyRunner car. STEP 4: Examine the storage tanks on your car and notice that one is labeled O2 (Oxygen) and the other is labeled H2 (Hydrogen). Oxygen storage tank ON/OFF switch Hydrogen storage tank Inlet socket Reversible fuel cell Oxygen side HyRunner Hydrogen side STEP 5: Locate the red electrical connection below and to the left of the inlet socket on the Oxygen side of the HyRunner. Next locate the black electrical connection on the Hydrogen side of the HyRunner. These two connections are where you will apply the electricity to gas-up the HyRunner. STEP 6: Locate the Power Supply Junior and squeeze bottle. Have your instructor fill the squeeze bottle with fresh distilled water. STEP 7: Remove the black closing cap from the inlet socket on the fuel cell s oxygen side. STEP 8: Attach the tube from the squeeze bottle to the fill tube on the oxygen side of the fuel cell and squeeze the bottle to start putting water into the storage tank. Fill the tank to the A mark then release pressure on the squeeze bottle so the water is sucked back out. Stop when the water level is at the B mark. Pinch the tube from the water bottle with your fingers and remove the water tube from the fill tube on the fuel cell. Replace the black rubber cap on the fuel cell. STEP 9: Repeat this process for the hydrogen side of the fuel cell. 6

7 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY STEP 10: Locate the On/Off switch at the rear of the HyRunner and make sure it is turned Off. DAY 3 STEP 11: Connect the Power Supply Junior to the HyRunner car, red to red and black to black. STEP 12: Plug the Power Supply Junior into the power strip at your work station. Watch the clear tubes leading from the fuel cell to the storage tanks. You will see bubbles start to form and get pushed into the storage tanks. After a couple of minutes the water will rise toward the top of the tanks and the gas will start to bubble out of the tops of both fuel tanks. When this happens on both tanks, disconnect the Power Supply Junior from the HyRunner and the Power Strip. Your HyRunner is now gassed up and ready to go. STEP 13: Place the HyRunner on the floor, turn the On/Off switch to On and watch the car go. After a observing the car for a couple of minutes turn the car off and recharge the fuel tanks by hooking the car back up to the Power Supply Junior. STEP 14: Predict in minutes how long you think the car will run on a full tank and record this in your Journal. STEP 15: Find an empty 12 x 12 floor space. If that much space is not available in your lab, ask your instructor if you can take the car out into the hallway. STEP 16: Turn the wheels so the car will run in circles. Set it on the floor, turn it on and let it run until it runs out of gas. Using your wristwatch, time the car to see how long it runs on the one tank of gas. How close was your prediction? STEP 17: Attach the squeeze bottle back up to the HyRunner and suck as much of the water out of the tanks as possible. STEP 18: Return all equipment to its proper storage location. 7

8 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS DAY 3 Conclusion: In this activity you learned how to separate water into its two component parts Hydrogen and Oxygen. You also learned about fuel cells and how Hydrogen can be used to power a small car. RETURN TO THE PAXTON ActionLABS PROGRAM 148

9 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Day 4: Activity 1/Project Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car, the Sun and the Wind DAY 4 Purpose: In previous activities you have learned how to create electricity from the wind using a Wind Generator and how to split water into Oxygen and Hydrogen by passing an electric current through distilled water via a PEM fuel cell membrane. You have also created electricity by passing hydrogen through a fuel cell. In this activity you are going to charge (gas up) your HyRunner car using wind and solar power. Materials: HyRunner car Electric Fan Solar cell Wind Generator Distilled Water Squeeze Bottle Halogen Light Meter Stick Test leads Power Strip Procedure: STEP 1: Read the following information: Today you are going to experiment with alternative ways to charge or gas up the HyRunner car. In the previous activity you plugged a power adapter or converter into wall current to charge the HyRunner. This required that you plugged the car into the existing power grid. Today you will be charging the HyRunner using only wind and solar power. STEP 2: Gather the equipment listed above. Ask your instructor to fill the squeeze bottle with fresh distilled water. STEP 3: Fill the storage tanks on the HyRunner with distilled water using the same procedure you followed in Day 3. 9

10 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS DAY 4 STEP 4: Place the HyRunner car on your work surface and plug the solar panel into the electrical connectors on the car, red to red and black to black. STEP 5: Place the halogen light 30 cm from the solar cell and plug it in to turn it on. STEP 6: Let the light shine on the solar cell and observe the tube running from the fuel cell to the storage tanks on the HyRunner. In a short while you will start seeing the gas bubbles form and start filling up the storage tanks. STEP 7: Let the car charge for about 10 minutes and see how much hydrogen gas was generated. Unplug the light to turn it off STEP 8: Set the HyRunner on the floor, turn the wheels so the car runs in circles and let it run until it stops (runs out of gas). STEP 9: Return the halogen light to its proper storage location and bring out the Wind Generator. STEP 10: Connect a long red test lead to the red terminal on the Wind Generator and a long black lead to the black terminal. STEP 11: Place the electric fan on your work surface and place the Wind Generator about 30 cm away from the fan. STEP 12: Connect the free ends of the test leads to the HyRunner car, red to red and black to black. STEP 13: Turn the fan on to high. Let the fan run for about 10 minutes and see if you have created any hydrogen fuel for your car. STEP 14: After 10 minutes, turn the fan off and disconnect the HyRunner from the Wind Generator. STEP 15: Place the HyRunner on the floor and let it run out of fuel. 10

11 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY STEP 16: Take the squeeze bottle and remove as much water from the HyRunner as possible and return all of the equipment to its proper storage location. DAY 4 Conclusion: Sun light is a free and abundant source of power and using solar cell technology you were able convert sunlight directly into electricity. Sunlight does more that just produce light. Sunlight also warms the air, land, and water. Sunlight warms the air, land, and water at different rates and warm air likes to rise. A direct result of warming or cooling air, land and water is the movement of air. This movement of air is wind. In the last part of this experiment you used the Wind Generator to gas up the HyRunner. In this activity you have created hydrogen for your fuel cell car using two elements that are both free and inexhaustible. RETURN TO THE PAXTON ActionLABS PROGRAM 11

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13 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Day 4: Activity 2/Experiment The Cost of Driving DAY 4 Purpose: The purpose of this activity is for you and your partner to become familiar with the cost of driving a car, and how much it costs to drive two different types of cars. Materials: Cost of Driving Worksheet Calculator Procedure: STEP 1: Read the following information: Your dad has been driving the same car for the last 6 years. He works on the south side of the city and you live on the north side so every day your dad drives 50 miles to get to work and 50 miles to get home, 100 miles round trip. Dad s car is only getting about 15 miles per gallon and gas is getting expensive. He is considering two different cars, a new Stratus and a new Prius. The Stratus is a regular 6 cylinder sedan. The Prius is a Hybrid gas electric. He has about $25,000 to spend on the new car but doesn t know which one he should buy. The Stratus costs $23,755 and the Prius costs $21,725. Both cars are in his price range. He really likes the Status and if he kept the car for another 6 years the difference in cost between the two cars would be around $340 a year (Stratus - Prius divided by 6). Your task is to show your dad the true cost difference driving each car for a year. STEP 2: In your Module Map Screen, go to your File Locker and click the Module Files tab. Click on the file for the Cost of Driving Worksheet. Close the File Locker and Minimize the Module Map Screen. On your Desktop, double-click the Class Files folder. Locate your file and double-click to open them. Print the worksheets. 13

14 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS DAY 4 STEP 3: Assuming your dad works 5 days a week, record the number of miles each car would be driven per week on the worksheet. STEP 4: In the late 1960 s, gas was about $.33 (33 cents) a gallon. By the late 1970 s gas was about $.90 (90 cents) a gallon. Now gas is substantially more expensive. For the price of gas per gallon, we will use $3.00 a gallon. Enter this amount on the worksheet for each car. STEP 5: To determine the number of gallons of gas your dad would need for each car you need to know the average number of miles per gallon of gas each car gets. According to the stickers on the car windows, the Prius gets an average of 47.9 miles per gallon and the Stratus gets 22 miles per gallon. Using the calculator in the module divide 500 by 22 to get the number of gallons of gas for the Stratus. Divide 500 by 47.9 to get the gallons of gas for the Prius. Round off your answer to the nearest tenth of a gallon (e.g. 6.7) Record these answers on your worksheet. STEP 6: To get the cost of gas per week, multiply your answer from step 9 by 3.00 ($3.00 per gallon). Record your answer for each car on your work sheet. STEP 7: Your dad gets two weeks of vacation so he actually works 50 weeks a year. To determine the cost of gas for the year, multiply your answer from step 10 by 50 and record your answer for each car on your worksheet. STEP 8: On your worksheet there is a space for the Cost difference of the two cars. We determined earlier that the Stratus cost $340 a year more than the Prius. This was the difference in the cost of the cars divided by 6 the number of years your dad expects to keep the car. In the line for Cost difference enter $ for the Stratus and 0 for the Prius (the Prius cost less than the Stratus so there is no additional cost). 14

15 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY STEP 9: For the Stratus, in the cost to drive per year add the $ difference in cost to the cost of gas per year and enter your answer in cost to drive per year. For the Prius re-enter the cost of gas per year. You now know how much each car will cost to drive per year. Subtract the Cost to Drive per year of the Prius from the Cost to Drive per year of the Stratus. How much money would your dad save per year with the Prius? DAY 4 STEP 10: Finish the worksheet and have your instructor check your work. Conclusion: In this activity you have learned how to calculate the cost of driving a car for a year and how to determine cost differences between two cars. RETURN TO THE PAXTON ActionLABS PROGRAM 15

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17 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Day 5: Critical Writing Narrative DAY 5 Directions: While your partner is completing the test on the computer, you will complete the critical writing activity on a separate page supplied by the instructor. When you have both finished with this activity, trade places. You will now complete the test on the computer and your partner will complete the critical writing activity. Critical Writing: Now that you have had the opportunity to learn some things about the hydrogen fuel cell car, use this writing assignment to explain how the fuel cell could be used to power other types of products that require electricity. Scenario: Consider things like: Yard work Police Department equipment Personal transportation like scooters and people movers Computers Cell phones Underdeveloped countries where electricity delivered by power lines is not feasible Explain your idea or ideas in this Narrative Writing Assignment. 17

18 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS DAY 5 Narrative/Persuasive Pre-Writing to Writing Process Follow this process when writing your narrative or persuasive assignments. Prewriting: Plan your writing by thinking about the topic and your purpose. Are you explaining or arguing a point of view? A narrative piece requires you to describe in order. Persuasive writing requires you to first state your point of view, then tell why you think it is correct and present facts to support your opinion. 1. Identifying Choose the main elements you wish to write about. There should not be more than three. 2. Drafting Jot your ideas down in rough form. 3. Revising Change and improve the rough draft. Get rid of unnecessary parts. Add important material based on your writing goal to explain or defend. 4. Proofreading Correct any errors in spelling, punctuation, and clarity. Care should be taken to make the writing communicate clearly. 5. Publishing After final editing, finish the writing and make it available for others to read. Edit your piece one more time before you rewrite (publish it) for the audience to read. AFTER COMPLETING THE CRITICAL WRITING AND THE PROGRESS TEST, RETURN TO THE PAXTON ActionLABS PROGRAM. 18

19 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Day 6: Activity 1/Project Solar Panels DAY 6 Purpose: In this activity, you will perform several experiments using the SOLAR ONE trainer. The trainer uses 2 solar photovoltaic panels with technology similar to what you might find on a modern solar home installation. These two solar panels are also similar to the type of solar array that is found on the space shuttle and other deep space applications. You will perform experiments to see the differences on solar efficiency between indoor and outdoor light. You will gain an understanding of voltage drop and load. You will also discover the effects of shade on a solar panel and then finally build a solar array joining two panels together. Materials Needed: SOLAR ONE Trainer Jumper leads Halogen light (if indoors) SOLAR ONE worksheet Ruler Scissors Card stock Procedure: STEP 1: Read the following information: The SOLAR ONE trainer is very easy to use. The basic components are two solar panels, 2 electric motors with fans, and two voltmeters. The trainer is set up so that both you and your partner have components with which to work. The connections for the trainer are color coded. All of the black terminals are the minus (-) terminals while the red terminals are the plus (+) terminals. Make sure you follow the colors according to the instructions. There are a number of jumper leads with banana plugs on the ends. These leads have banana jacks on the ends so the leads can be piggy backed. You will have enough leads to do all of the experiments. 19 2

20 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS DAY 6 When you see the symbol shown at the left, it means that the wires are NOT connected at this point but are simply crossing over one another. There are two methods by which to use the SOLAR ONE trainer. If weather permits, you and your partner can work outside. If you need to work indoors you can use the 500 watt halogen light. Be careful when using the halogen light as it can get very hot. STEP 2: Go to your File Locker and click the Module Files tab. Click on the files for the SOLAR ONE Worksheet. Close the File Locker and MINIMIZE THE PAXTON ActionLABS PROGRAM. On your Desktop, double-click the Class Files folder. Locate your files and double-click to open them. Print the worksheets. The SOLAR ONE Trainer is set up so that you and your partner can each use the left and right sets of components and you can both do the experiments at the same time. In Solar Array Experiment 6, one of you will need to use both sides of the solar panel to complete the experiment. Experiment 1 (Indoor) In this experiment, you will calculate the number of square inches of solar panel surface that is available to generate electricity. STEP 3: Use the ruler to measure the length and width of each solar panel. STEP 4: Use the formula for area which is length x width = area to calculate the number of square inches of each solar panel and record this information on your worksheet. 20 1

21 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Experiment 2: Generating Power (Indoor) As you have discovered earlier in the unit, an electric motor and a generator are almost the same. You are going to use a solar panel to power the motor and fan, but in this first simple experiment you will see the fan and motor generate some electricity. DAY 6 STEP 1: Using the jumpers, connect the black and red terminals of the voltmeter to the blue terminals on the motor/fan. Do this for both sides of the SOLAR ONE Trainer. STEP 2: Give the fan a spin with your finger and record the voltage on the voltmeter on your worksheet. Conclusion: What you have seen is the fan and motor acting as a generator to produce a small amount of electricity. Experiment 3: Exploring Light Sources, Part 1 (Indoor) In this experiment, you will see if the solar panel will generate electricity using the available light in your classroom. While your classroom may be well lit you will determine whether there is enough light to generate some power and whether you can operate the fan. STEP 1: Connect the black terminals together between the solar panel and the voltmeter. STEP 2: Connect the red terminal from the solar panel to the red terminal on the voltmeter. STEP 3: Record the voltage on the voltmeter on your worksheet. STEP 4: Connect the fan to the circuit by joining one of the blue terminals on the fan to either the black terminal on the solar panel or the voltmeter. Connect the other blue terminal on the fan to either the red terminal on the solar panel or red terminal on the voltmeter. 21 1

22 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS DAY 6 Conclusion: Does the fan start on its own? What is the voltage reading on the voltmeter? On your worksheet write down your conclusion as to why you and your partner believe the fan did not start and why you believe the voltage dropped to zero. STEP 5: Remove all the leads from the SOLAR ONE Trainer. Experiment 4: Exploring Light Sources, Part 2 (Outdoor with sun or indoor with halogen light) STEP 1: Connect the solar panel to the voltmeter again by connecting the black terminals from the solar panel to the voltmeter. Then connect the red terminal on the solar panel to the red terminal on the voltmeter. Point the SOLAR ONE Trainer into the sun and make sure there are no shadows. If you are indoors point the halogen light at the solar panel, holding the light about 6 inches away. Test both the left and right panel. STEP 2: Record the voltage on your worksheet STEP 3: Connect the fan to the circuit by joining one of the blue terminals on the fan to either the black terminal on the solar panel or the voltmeter. Connect the other blue terminal on the fan to either the red terminal on the solar panel or the red terminal on the voltmeter. If you are indoors point the halogen light at the solar panel, holding the light about 6 inches away. Test both the left and right panel. If the fan does not start right away, give it a little spin with your fingers. Conclusion: Does the fan run? What is the voltage reading on the voltmeter? On your worksheet write down your conclusion as to why you and your partner believe the fan now runs. Can you draw a conclusion about the voltage showing on the voltmeter? STEP 4: Leave the connections in place and move on to the next experiment. 22 1

23 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Experiment 5: Effects of Shade on Solar Panels (Outdoor with sun or indoor with halogen light) STEP 1: Cut a piece of card stock approximately 18 square inches making sure that one of the dimensions is between 3 inches and 4 inches. DAY 6 STEP 2: Place the card on the solar panel. If you are indoors point the halogen light at the solar panel, holding the light about 6 inches away. Test both the left and right panel. If the fan does not start right way give it a little spin with your fingers in a counter-clockwise direction. STEP 3: Cut a piece of card stock approximately 9 square inches making sure that one of the dimensions is between 3 inches and 4 inches. STEP 4: Place the card on the solar panel. If you are indoors point the halogen light at the solar panel, holding the light about 6 inches away. Test both the left and right panel. If the fan does not start right way give it a little spin with your fingers. Conclusion: What happens to the speed of the fan and the voltage reading and why? Write your conclusion on your worksheet. STEP 5: Remove all the connections from the components. Experiment 6: Solar Array (Outdoor with sun or indoor with halogen light) In this experiment, you will build a solar array. A solar array is the joining of multiple solar cells into one powerful electrical source. A typical solar home installation might have dozens of large solar panels connected together to provide enough electricity for the entire home. STEP 1: Connect one of the solar panels to the voltmeter again by connecting the black terminals from the solar panel to the voltmeter. Then connect the red terminal on the solar panel to the red terminal on the voltmeter. Connect one of the fans to the circuit by joining one of the blue terminals on the fan to either the black terminal on the solar panel or the voltmeter. Connect the other blue terminal on the fan to either the red terminal on the solar panel or the red terminal on the voltmeter. 23 1

24 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS DAY 6 STEP 2: Connect the second solar panel to the circuit by connecting the black terminal of the second panel to the black terminal of the first panel. Connect the red terminal of the second panel to the red terminal of the first panel. If you are indoors point the halogen light at the solar panel, holding the light about 6 inches away from it. Point the SOLAR ONE Trainer into the sun and make sure your body does not cast a shadow. Conclusion: What can you tell about the speed of the fan with two panels now connected in an array? On your worksheet write down your conclusion as to the speed of the fan. To check your work, go to the back of the guidebook for an explanation and conclusion about each experiment. STEP 3: Disconnect all of the jumpers. RETURN TO THE PAXTON ActionLABS PROGRAM 24 1

25 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Day 7: Activity 1/Project Design Brief Purpose: Today s project will introduce you and your partner to a design brief. Throughout the remaining days of this module you will be gathering information to assist you in completing this brief. Your project must meet the criteria listed in the evaluation section of the design brief. Make sure you and your partner work as a team. Materials Needed: Design Brief (see your instructor) DAY 7 Procedure: STEP 1: Work with your partner for the next few days to complete your design brief. STEP 2: At the end of the period, clean up your module work area and return all supplies to their proper location. Conclusion: Signal your instructor to check your progress. RETURN TO THE PAXTON ActionLABS PROGRAM 25

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27 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Day 8: Activity 2/Project Design Brief Purpose: Today you will continue working on your design brief. Make sure you and your partner continue to work as a team. DAY 8 Materials Needed: See your instructor for any additional materials you may need. Procedure: STEP 1: Work with your partner for the next few days to complete your design brief. STEP 2: At the end of the period, clean up your module work area and return all supplies to their proper location. Conclusion: Signal your instructor to check your progress. RETURN TO THE PAXTON ActionLABS PROGRAM 27

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29 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Day 9: Activity 2/Project Design Brief Purpose: Today you will continue working on your design brief. Make sure you and your partner continue to work as a team. DAY 9 Materials Needed: See your instructor for any additional materials you may need. Procedure: STEP 1: Work with your partner to complete your design brief. STEP 2: At the end of the period, clean up your module work area and return all supplies to their proper location. Conclusion: Signal your instructor to check your progress. RETURN TO THE PAXTON ActionLABS PROGRAM 29

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31 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Day 10: Critical Writing Persuasive DAY 10 Directions: While your partner is completing the test on the computer, you will complete the critical writing activity on a separate page supplied by the instructor. When you have both finished with this activity, trade places. You will now complete the test on the computer and your partner will complete the critical writing activity. Critical Writing: In this module you have learned about various Alternative Energy sources. Your task in this writing assignment is consider what the world will be like in 25 years and write several paragraphs about why it is important that we learn to both conserve energy and also continue to work on alternative energy solutions. Scenario: Things to consider: The price of gasoline today. Are there any potential alternative energy sources where you live -- such as places where a wind farm could be constructed or lots of land where switch grass could be grown? Do you have a good low cost transportation system in your area or do you still rely on busses and cars powered by gasoline? What are you doing to conserve energy at home? Have you talked with your parents about energy conservation? 31

32 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS DAY 10 Narrative/Persuasive Pre-Writing to Writing Process Follow this process when writing your narrative or persuasive assignments. Prewriting: Plan your writing by thinking about the topic and your purpose. Are you explaining or arguing a point of view? A narrative piece requires you to describe in order. Persuasive writing requires you to first state your point of view, then tell why you think it is correct and present facts to support your opinion. 1. Identifying Choose the main elements you wish to write about. There should not be more than three. 2. Drafting Jot your ideas down in rough form. 3. Revising Change and improve the rough draft. Get rid of unnecessary parts. Add important material based on your writing goal to explain or defend. 4. Proofreading Correct any errors in spelling, punctuation, and clarity. Care should be taken to make the writing communicate clearly. 5. Publishing After final editing, finish the writing and make it available for others to read. Edit your piece one more time before you rewrite (publish it) for the audience to read. AFTER COMPLETING THE CRITICAL WRITING AND THE PROGRESS TEST, RETURN TO THE PAXTON ActionLABS PROGRAM. 32

33 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Design Brief #1 Introduction You and your partner work for the Pacific Energy company (PEC). PEC owns and operates several coal fired power plants but the cost of the coal keeps rising and the government is constantly increasing the clean air requirements. The company is considering building a wind farm on some property it owns near a pass though the mountains, in an effort to not only generate more electricity but lower their costs as well. They have chosen this location because it is windy almost all of the time. The CEO of the company Oscar H. Martin has listened to the sales pitches of several sales reps telling him how efficient their turbines are with the different blade designs and number of blades that they use. Mr. Martin doesn t know who to believe and he is looking at a very large investment. Your Task Your task is two fold. First, you will be required to test a wind turbine with 2, 3, and 6 blades. You will need to determine how fast they rotate at different wind speeds and how much energy (electricity) they produce. Second, you will need fill out a spreadsheet that shows the results of your tests and explain to Mr. Martin (your instructor) which is the best number of blades for the turbines for the proposed wind farm. Material List 16 Electric Fan Wind Generator Meter Stick Wind Wizard Wind Generator Worksheet Allen Wrench Set Strobe Light Power Strip Manual appendix found at the end of this guidebook Wind Generator Worksheet Web sites: Try Google search words like: Wind farm, Wind turbine, Wind mills, Wind energy Historical Research In an effort to collect the necessary information to solve this design brief, examine the available materials and respond to the following statements. 1. What is a wind turbine? 2. What is a wind farm? 3. How does a wind turbine create electricity? 4. How much electricity is currently produced by wind turbines? 5. What are some of the different designs of wind turbines? DB1

34 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS Parameters While working to solve this design brief, you should remain within the following parameters: 1. You should conduct research using the internet, books and magazines. 2. You should provide a written explanation for each question listed in the historical research section. 3. You should be able to show Mr. Martin (your instructor) how you setup and ran your experiments. Evaluation Your solution will be graded on the following criteria: 1. Written explanation to Historical Research questions 2. Properly filled out spreadsheet 3. Students understanding of the experiment DB2

35 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Design Brief #2 Introduction You and your partner work for the Fun Time Food Company. The company caters to company picnics, family gatherings, graduations, and other activities that involve fun in the sun. The company has no problem cooking the meat in the big cookers but is looking for a solution for keeping food warm without having to have some kind of big gas oven. In addition the company is looking for a way to warm a new pastry desert they are developing. Electricity is not always available and the company would like to keep the deserts warm most of the afternoon. Your Task Working as a team, you and your partner will design and build a solar cooker. This will be a model of the cooker you are proposing to build to solve the problems listed in the introduction. You cooker will need to raise the temperature of a Pop Tart 5 to 10 degrees. Material List Cardboard Shears Masking tape Aluminum Foil 500 Watt Halogen Work Light Power Strip Black Paint Plastic Wrap Dial Thermometer Old newspaper Ruler Any equipment or materials in the Alternative Energy Module Any materials you wish to bring in. Web sites. Try Google search words like: Solar oven, Solar cooker, Heavens flame Historical Research In an effort to collect the necessary information to solve this design brief, you will need to do some research on the Web and answer the following questions or respond to the statements below. 1. What is a solar cooker? 2. Is solar cooking a new technology? 3. Is there more than one design for a solar cooker? 4. What are some positive and negative aspects of solar cooking? DB3

36 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS Parameters While working to solve this design brief you should remain within the following parameters; 1. You should conduct research using the internet, books, and magazines. 2. You should provide a written explanation for each of the questions listed in the Historical Research section; 3. Your solar cooker should be no less that 6 square at the base or larger than Your cooker may have additional mass to retain heat. 5. Your cooker will need to raise the temperature of a Pop Tart between 5 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit Evaluation Your solution will be evaluated according to the following criteria: 1. Solar Cooker: Did the solar cooker raise the temperature of the Pop Tart 5 to 10 degrees? 2. Appearance of the solar cooker: Was the solar cooker neatly and carefully constructed? 3. Research: Did the team show ample evidence of research done on solar cookers? 4. Written explanation: Did the team include a written explanation of the questions posed in the Historical Research section? DB4

37 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Manual Appendix Wind Generator Purpose: Listed below are the materials and steps necessary to complete Design Brief #1. Materials: 16 Electric Fan Wind Generator Meter Stick Wind Wizard Wind Generator Worksheet Allen Wrench Set Strobe Light Power Strip Information: Electricity is a product we all use everyday. Electricity powers our televisions, lights, computers, radios and thousands of other products. Creating electricity is not difficult; all you need is a conductor (coil of wire) and a magnet. If you spin the coil around the magnet or the magnet around the coil of wire, an electric current is produced in the conductor. To produce a large amount of electricity you need large magnets and large coils of wire. On an industrial scale, steam is used to provide power to turn turbines that turn the coils of wire inside the magnets. To produce the steam large amounts of coal, oil, and natural gas are burned. Even in a nuclear power plant, the process is the same. The nuclear reaction of the radioactive elements produces a tremendous amount of heat which, in turn, heats the water to make the steam, to turn the turbine, to generate the electricity. There are a couple of problems with this process. Coal, oil, and natural gas when burned create greenhouse gasses that pollute our atmosphere. Coal, oil, natural gas, and uranium are finite materials and we will run out. None of these materials can be replaced; when they are gone, they are gone. Wind, on the other hand, is created by the sun and we will never run out it. Procedure: STEP 1: Click on the File Locker icon in the Paxton ActionLABS program. STEP 2: Click on the Module Files tab and click on the file Wind Generator Worksheet to download a copy to the Class Files folder on your desktop. STEP 3: MINIMIZE THE PAXTON ActionLABS PROGRAM. A1

38 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS STEP 4: Open the Class files folder on your desktop and open the Wind Generator Worksheet file. Print a copy for each person in the group. STEP 5: Place the fan on your work surface and plug it in. Place the meter stick on your work surface in front of the fan with the zero end of the meter stick directly below the front of the fan. STEP 6: Turn the fan on low and hold the Wind Wizard 30 centimeters (cm) in front of the fan. Record the wind velocity on your Wind Generator Worksheet. STEP 7: Repeat this process for all of the fan speeds and distances. STEP 8: Place the wind generator with all six blades attached on the work surface 30 centimeters in front of the fan. Make sure there is a white dot on the end of one of the wind generator s blades. STEP 9: Connect a red and a black wire to the wind generator and connect the Volt Ohm Meter to the wires, red to red and black to black. Turn the VOM on and set it to Volts DC. STEP 10: Plug in the strobe light. STEP 11: Turn the fan on to low and allow the wind generator to spin up. STEP 12: Turn the strobe light on, aim it at the wind generator, and adjust the speed the light flashes until it looks like the white dot is standing still. Record this number on your work sheet. Notice there is a little light on the top of the wind generator. As you work through the different speeds and distances, observe the light. Does it get brighter or dimmer as the number of blades and the revolutions per minute (RPM) change? STEP 13: With the fan still running, record the voltage being generated in the proper space on your worksheet. It s time to do the math: Let s say that to get the dot to stand still you set the light to 5 flashes per second. To figure out the RPM of the wind generator, use this equation: Flashes per Second x 60 (seconds in a minute) = Revolutions Per Minute In our example, 5 x 60 = 300 rpm A2

39 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY STEP 14: Record your findings in the RPM 6 Blades section of your worksheet. STEP 15: Repeat this process for all of the fan speeds and distances on your worksheet. STEP 16: Using an Allen Wrench, loosen the three screws on the front of the wind generator and remove every other blade. Tighten the screws. STEP 17: Place the wind generator 30 cm in front of the fan; turn it on low and using the strobe light, calculate the RPM for each of the distances and fan speeds on your worksheet. Record the RPM and voltage in the RPM 3 blades section of your worksheet. STEP 18: Remove one of the three remaining blades. Move one of the remaining two blades so that it is directly across from the other blade to maintain balance. STEP 19: Fill in the rest of the worksheet. STEP 20: After you have finished your worksheet, put the blades back on the wind generator and return all of the equipment to its proper storage location. A3

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41 Paxton ActionLABS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Activity 6: Appendix Explanation of Experiments Experiment 1: A simple math activity to determine the number of square inches in each solar panel. The panel is 6 wide x 6 long = 36 square inches. The answer should be 36 square inches. Experiment 2: When the motor and the voltmeter are connected together and the fan is given a spin some voltage will show on the voltmeter. This is the same principal that we showed you in an earlier experiment. When you have a coil of wire (connected to the fan) spinning inside two magnets (the motor case) you will generate a small electric current. Picture this on a huge scale as you learn about hydroelectric dams. Experiment 3: When the solar panel is connected to the voltmeter, the voltmeter should indicate 2 or 3 volts depending on the intensity of the light in the classroom. The light in the classroom is far less powerful that the light from the sun. When the motor is connected, the motor will not turn because the solar panels are not generating enough electricity for it to operate. When you connect the motor to the circuit the voltage will drop to zero. This is called voltage drop because the motor takes all the voltage but there is not quite enough for it to run. This is the same thing that happens in your home when a large appliance is started and the lights quickly flicker or dim. The more appliances, fans, motors and computers you add to a circuit the more the voltage will drop. Experiment 4: In this activity the circuit is set up the same as Experiment 3. Using the halogen light if you are indoors should make the fan turn but you may have to spin it counter-clockwise to get it started. If you are outdoors in full sun the fan will spin very fast on its own and should start by itself. This is the ideal condition for using solar panels. The closer the solar panel is held to 90 degrees to the sun the faster the fan will spin. A5 1

42 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Paxton ActionLABS Experiment 5: Solar panels do not work well if they are partially shaded. The cards you place on the solar panels should cause the voltage to drop and the fan to slow down. This is why it is important to make sure than in a solar panel installation that the panels are clear of trees and roof overhangs. It is also important that the panels be placed so that they take maximum advantage of the sun. Generally panel installations face south. There are some special panel mounts that actually move with the arc of the sun so the panels are operating at maximum efficiency at all times. Experiment 6: With the two solar panels connected together the fan should spin noticeably faster than with just a single panel. Continuing to add panels increases the electrical energy to the motor. A6 Copyright 2006 Paxton/Patterson LLC - All Rights Reserved. All printed and electronic materials in Paxton ActionLABS Learning System are copyright protected including but limited to student guidebooks, graphics, tests, rubrics, videos, and instructor and student orientations.