Grades: Elementary 3rd-5th grades
Subjects: Electricity, engineering
Objective: Using popsicle sticks, tape, string, pencil and paper, students will work in teams to construct a model transmission tower. Instructor will use this hands-on project to describe to students why electric companies use transmission towers and how they work. Download the lesson and see the basics of electric transmission. Students will first sketch out a tower. Click here to see samples of towers and related descriptions. Students will then take the sketch and construct a model out of the popsicle sticks and tape, using the sketch as a guide. Students can then use the string to connect one tower to another.
Overview: This lesson is provided by Bonneville Power Authority, a federal nonprofit agency based in the Pacific Northwest that is part of the U.S. Department of Energy. About one-third of the electric power used in the Northwest comes from BPA including: Idaho, Oregon, Washington, western Montana and small parts of eastern Montana, California, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. See energy trends.org electricity generation trend maps: nuclear and hydroelectric to see the stats for the Pacific Northwest.