Conservation New

The recipe for electricity in B.C.

Make electricity in B.C. but be sure you have all the ingredients.

Grade

Duration

30 mins

Type

Hands on

Overview

In this activity students discover how we make electricity in B.C. using the power of water. They decide what ingredients are needed to make electricity and create their own picture from the lake to our homes. Students then generate ideas about how we use electricity in our lives.

Part of the Hydroelectricity and water use unit.

Instructions

What you'll need

Hydro to Home diagram, one copy
- Print one copy or display on screen
Recipe for electricity student handout
- Two single-sided pages
- One copy per student
Glue and scissors, one per student
Colour markers, one set per student

Share that in the summer it often does not rain, sometimes for long periods of time; we call this drought. We recommend you do the What is drought? activity first.
Now ask students if they know how we make electricity in B.C.? Share that in B.C. we use water to make most of our electricity with hydroelectric dams.
Show the class the Hydro to Home diagram which shows how water goes through dams, and then energy from the powerhouse travel to our homes and businesses. Explain how it works:
- A dam is a big wall that blocks water, like what beavers build. We build a dam across a river, which causes the area behind the dam to flood and create a reservoir lake.
- Water from the lake goes down large pipes through the dam and turns big wheels called turbines. The turning turbines make electricity, which moves through power lines to our homes and other buildings.
Next ask students what is their favourite meal to eat? Explain that often to make the food we like, we use a recipe. A recipe includes a list of ingredients that are needed to make the meal. Tell students we are going to figure out what ingredients (like in a recipe) will need to make hydroelectricity in B.C.
Give each student a Recipe for electricity handout, both pages single-sided, along with glue, scissors and markers.
From the images on page two of the handout, ask students to choose the ‘ingredients’ needed to make electricity. There are six that relate to making electricity: rain, penstock, dam, turbine, house, and reservoir; plus two decoy ones: tree and car.
- Explain that a penstock is a big pipe that brings water through a dam.
- Explain that a reservoir is a lake created when a dam blocks a river and traps water behind it.
The first page of the handout is a simple picture of a how electricity is made in B.C. Have students cut out the images and glue them on to the picture in the correct locations to create a dam. A few students may choose to show their pictures to the class and explain how the electricity is made pointing at the images.
Now ask students what happens to our electricity if it does not rain? Just like we need pasta noodles to make pasta, we need rain to fill our lakes to make electricity in B.C. But if there is a drought and we have no rain it affects our ability to make electricity.
Wrap up this activity by asking students to share ways we use electricity. Using the strategy “think, pair, share” first get students to think on their own ways we use electricity, then turn to a friend and share ideas and then as a class share ideas and make a list. The list may include examples like lights, heating and cooling, heating hot water, TV, and computers.

Modify or extend this activity

Continue to the Stay cool in the summer activity to complete this unit and learn how to conserve electricity in summer while keeping cool.
Have students share with their big buddies how electricity is made in B.C. using their pictures to guide them.

Curriculum Fit

Science 2

Big Ideas

Water is essential to all living things, and it cycles through the environment.

Content

Water conservation
The water cycle

Curricular Competencies

Processing and analyzing data and information

Sort and classify data and information using drawings, pictographs and provided tables

Communicating

Communicate observations and ideas using oral or written language, drawing, or role-play

Applied Design, Skills & Technologies 2

Big Ideas

Skills can be developed through play.

Curricular competencies

Ideating, making and sharing

Assessments

Assess students’ ability to choose the correct ingredients, colour, cut out and create their electricity picture.
Assess students’ communication skills with you and/or the class sharing how electricity is made using their pictures as a guide.
Assess students’ understanding of how important water is for making electricity in B.C.
Assess students’ collaboration and sharing their ideas on what uses electricity in our lives.

Teaching Notes

How hydroelectric power is generated

BC Hydro generates power by harnessing the power of moving or falling water to produce mechanical/electrical energy. BC Hydro generates over 43,000 gigawatt hours of electricity annually to supply more than 1.6 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. This power is delivered using an interconnected system of over 73,000 kilometres of transmission and distribution lines.

So how do we generate this power? The process begins before electricity even reaches customers. The steps to generating electricity from a dam and how it is transported are outlined below.

Hydroelectric dam
There is potential energy stored in a water reservoir behind a dam. It is converted to kinetic energy when the water starts flowing down the penstock, from the dam. This kinetic energy is used to turn a turbine.
Generator
The falling water strikes a series of blades attached around a shaft which converts kinetic energy to mechanical energy and causes the turbine to rotate. The shaft is attached to a generator, so that when the turbine turns, the generator is driven. The generator converts the turbine's mechanical energy into electric energy.
Step-up transformer
Voltage is the pressure that makes electricity flow. Generators usually produce electricity with a low voltage. In order for the transmission lines to carry the electricity efficiently over long distances, the low generator voltage is increased to a higher transmission voltage by a step-up transformer.
Grid high voltage transmission lines
Grid transmission lines, usually supported by tall metal towers, carry high voltage electricity over long distances.
Terminal Station
Terminal stations control power flow on grid transmission lines and reduce the grid voltage to subtransmission voltage.
Subtransmission lines
Subtransmission lines supply power from terminal stations to large industrial customers or distribution substations.
How it is used by the customer
Electric energy can be sold at transmission voltage to users of large amounts who own and operate their own substations. Most customers, however, are unable to accept energy at transmission voltage, and require that it be stepped down in a transformer.
Distribution substation
A distribution substation is a system of transformers, meters, and control and protective devices. At a substation, transmission voltage is reduced to lower voltages for distribution to residential, commercial, and small and medium industrial customers.

Ways we use electricity

Take a moment for the class to think about all the different ways we use electricity in our lives.

Transportation: Trains, buses, EVs, scooters, and e-bikes
Heating and cooling: Heat pumps, baseboard heaters, radiators, and air conditioning
Lighting: Street lights, lamps, light bulbs, and holiday lights
Kitchen appliances: Refrigerator, stove and oven, dishwasher, toasters, and kettles
Electronics: Phones, computers, TVs, printers, and projectors
Laundry: Washing machines and dryers.