Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Can a battery be made of water?

20 minutes

Find Out: Exploring energy at Kidston

25 minutes

Take Action: Mapping the Kidston Project

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students will:

explore the energy transfers and transformations in the Kidston Pumped Hydro Project
understand the importance of energy storage systems like batteries in supporting renewable energy.

Students can:

categorise energy types as potential or kinetic during various stages of the Kidston Pumped Hydro Project
describe the different types of energy involved in the Kidston Pumped Hydro Project and outline their transformations and transfers
outline the importance of the type, order and timing of particular energy transfers and transformations occurring in the system and summarise their importance for enhancing sustainability.

Tune In: Can a battery be made of water?

Curriculum connections

In the previous science lesson of this unit, Energising Communities: Communicating the Science of Renewable Power, students investigated different types of energy, transfers and transformations in renewable energy sources. In this lesson, students build on and expand this knowledge by looking at the Kidston Pumped Hydro Project in detail, which is essentially a big battery storage device attached to a solar farm. In the Design and Technology lessons, students investigate how force, motion, and energy combine in pumped hydro systems by building water turbines and understanding how they generate electricity. Cool.org recommends that Science and Design and Technologies teachers collaborate to deliver these content materials across their respective subjects so students can understand the content from multiple STEM perspectives.

Preparation

For this Tune In section, you will need some batteries for student observation and a jug or beaker filled with water.

Step 1

If you have batteries on hand, bring them out for students to observe. Otherwise, use the images on the first slide of the attached Visual Explainer.

Ask students to describe what a battery is and what it does. Lead students to discuss how batteries are a way to store energy when it is convenient. Batteries transform chemical energy into electrical energy for different devices, which is transferred or transformed into the desired output.

Now, ask students to determine what is different about the energy of free batteries compared to when they are placed into a device like a remote control (refer to the picture on the right on the first slide of the Visual Explainer).

Students should be able to articulate that they possess potential chemical energy when the batteries are not connected to anything (they can do work but are not currently being utilised). When the batteries are in the remote control, the energy is no longer potential, as the chemical energy from the chemicals in the battery is transformed into electrical energy to be used.

Step 2

Explain to your students that batteries are extremely important in renewable energy. Renewable energy types like wind and solar power can only be used when the sun or wind is shining. However, this isn’t always the case. Society is moving towards battery storage, which is a way of storing the energy generated by these renewable sources when they can’t generate electricity. For instance, harnessing solar energy to use at nighttime.

Show students the next slide of the attached Visual Explainer, which includes examples of large battery storage systems.

Step 3

Now, draw students' attention to the jug/beaker of water that you’ve prepared for this lesson. Invite a volunteer student to come to the front of the class and demonstrate how this container of water could have potential energy (a sink nearby would be beneficial!).

The student should lift the water container in the air and tilt it slightly, showing that it has gravitational potential energy. Invite suggestions from the class as to:

how this potential energy could be transformed into kinetic energy (pour the water out into the sink)
how that kinetic energy could be transformed into electrical energy (if the flow of water could be used to power a water turbine that is able to generate electricity).

Step 4

Pose this question to your students: ‘How could we use water to create a battery?’

Give students a few minutes to draw or write their responses into their Student Worksheet, explaining how a battery could be made using water instead of chemical reactions. Encourage them to be creative in their response.

Find Out: Exploring energy at Kidson

Step 1

Explain to students that a pumped hydro system is an example of a battery or energy storage device created using water.

Share the following videos of 1 of these energy storage devices with your students. The first video shows how the storage system works using an animation, and the second shows what this looks like in real life.

March 2018 - The Kidston Renewable Energy Hub: Renewable Energy on Tap - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egBJHR6xmiw)

Queensland gold mine lives on as pumped hydro plant - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYeBQFw_sPA)

As you watch the videos, encourage students to list the different types of energy they see being used and answer the questions in the Student Worksheet.

Step 2

Discuss students' responses, asking them to share kinetic and potential energy examples from the video. The images of the Kidston Project on the next 2 slides might help guide your discussion.

List the types of energy you see or hear about. Are they potential or kinetic?
How is this project like a big battery?

Suggested responses:

Kinetic energy: the water's kinetic energy transfers to the turbine blades, spinning them and generating electricity. Solar panels convert sunlight into electrical energy, which is a form of kinetic energy that involves the movement of electrons.
Potential energy: when the water is in the upper reservoir, it possesses gravitational potential energy.

Step 3

Using slide 6 of the Visual Explainer, show students the graphic of the pumped hydro system. Using the same image on their Student Worksheet, ask students to think about the energy types, transfers and transformations occurring at each stage (1-6) of the process and fill in the table with their responses in pairs. If they aren’t sure what is happening at a particular stage, they can leave it blank so they can fill this out in the next step.

Step 4

Once students have completed their tables, show them the next slide on the Visual Explainer, highlighting each stage's energy transfers and transformations. Talk through the process and encourage students to fill in any gaps they might have left.

Take Action: Mapping the Kidston Project

Step 1

Divide your students into small groups and provide each group with this A3 Poster showing an aerial image of the Kidston Project, including reservoirs and the solar farm. Each group’s task is to:

map the energy transfers and transformations occurring throughout the Kidston Project
provide an overview of when and why these processes occur
identify any jobs that are related to running each part of the project.

Groups should aim to use the questions below (also listed on their Student Worksheet) as prompts to create a detailed poster that provides a thorough overview of the project, how it works, how the parts work together, and why certain processes happen at certain times. Encourage students to label key energy transfer points (eg, solar panels, turbines, pumped hydro system) and indicate the type of energy involved at each point.

Students can annotate the aerial view of the actual Kidston project or, if they need a little more guidance and scaffolding, they can use the cartoon side view schematic of the project also provided on the poster.

Part of the project	Guiding questions
Solar farm	• What purpose does this part of the project have • When does the solar farm generate electricity to pump water? Why? • Why is this location good for solar? • What transfers and transformations happen here? How do you think the energy gets to the pumped hydro section? • What jobs are involved in the solar farm part of the Kidston Project? Use the Future Energy Jobs Guide to help you.
Pumped hydro	• What purpose does this part of the project have? • When is the water pumped from the lower to the upper reservoir? Why? • When is it pumped the opposite way? Why? • What transfers and transformations happen here? • What jobs are involved in the pumped hydro part of the Kidston Project? Use the Future Energy Jobs Guide to help you.
Transmission	• What purpose does this part of the project have • When is electricity transferred out to the transmission lines and communities? • When is electricity transferred into the pumped hydro system from the outside grid? Why? • What jobs are involved in the transmission part of the Kidston Project? Use the Future Energy Jobs Guide to help you.

Note: The poster image doesn’t show all of the infrastructure located at Kidston, as there are components underground in tunnels or not pictured. Encourage students to annotate their posters to the best of their ability and use their resources to help them work out what should be labelled where. The smaller body of water is the lower reservoir, and the larger is the upper reservoir. Refer to the modelled example on the third page of the poster, as well as the Teacher Content Information, to help guide your students in this task.

Encourage groups to conduct their research, as well as use the following resources from the lesson, to help them:

Extension opportunities

For groups requiring extension, early finishers or students requiring a different task:

Step 2

Display the groups’ posters around the room and provide students with Post-it notes. Invite students to go on a gallery walk to see how each group presented their information. Each group should leave at least 2 Post-its on another group's work – 1 for an aspect they liked, and 1 for a question about the information or how it is presented.

Step 3

Bring the class back together to discuss the posters.

What did they find interesting about the project?
Were they surprised at how many transfers and transformations they found in the project?
What did some groups learn about peak and off-peak electricity, and how did this impact the project?

Reflection

Reflect on the lesson with your students using the following question:

Why are batteries (chemical or energy storage devices like pumped hydro) important for society as we transition to more renewable energy?

Energy Transformations in Action: Exploring Pumped Hydro

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Summary

Lesson guides and printables

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