Toaster Coaster
Videos
Grades6, 7, 8Physics, Engineering
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Provided by Green Ninja
What it is
- This short animated video celebrates National Toast Day by showing how different household items, such as toasters, can be powered by pedaling a bicycle generator.
- The video follows the story of seven students who figure out how to convert mechanical energy into electricity.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This video provides an easy-to-understand introduction to the concept of energy transfer.
- Students are introduced to a small-scale form of clean energy.
Additional Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with terms like energy, power, and electricity.
Differentiation
- Towards the beginning of the video, some complex terms like "inverters" and "arrays" are used, which you may want to define for students or have them research prior to the video.
- Challenge older students to identify the form of energy transfer demonstrated in the video.
- As a follow-up activity, have students brainstorm other ways of powering the toaster and identify the form of energy transfer from their idea.
- Use this interactive web application to learn more about where energy comes from and generating electricity.
From the scientist review
This video centers around a group of friends, along with the Green Ninja, investigating alternative sources of energy. This video would make a great addition to a classroom discussing climate change and the use of alternative energy to help reduce greenhouse gases.
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