Year 7 Science · Unit 3 · Lesson 10
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Learning Goals
Because… chain
A solar-powered fan converts sunlight into spinning motion. Fill in the missing effects in each step of the energy chain. Each cause leads to the next effect.
Overall outcome — name the starting energy form and the final energy form:
Real-world context
Snowy Hydro 2.0 is a major pumped-hydro project in the Snowy Mountains, New South Wales. When electricity demand is low (such as overnight), surplus electricity from solar and wind farms is used to pump water from a lower reservoir up to a higher reservoir — storing energy. When demand is high, the water is released downhill through tunnels, spinning turbines that generate electricity. The project will have a storage capacity of about 175 hours of energy supply for the National Electricity Market.
(a) Identify the energy transformations that occur when water is pumped uphill and stored in the upper reservoir. Use the correct energy form names in your answer.
(b) When the water is released and flows downhill to spin the turbines, describe the full sequence of energy transformations. Does any energy get "lost"? Explain using the law of conservation of energy.
1. Explain the difference between an energy transformation and an energy transfer. Give one example of each from everyday Australian life.
2. A coal-fired power station burns coal to generate electricity. Trace the energy transformations from coal to the light produced by a lamp in your home. Name each energy form in order.
Wrap Up
In one sentence, what was the main idea of this lesson?