It’s time to get to work with five fun and fascinating fast facts about energy, an interview with Lee Constable, a presenter and author of books about sustainability, and an energy transformation activity for you to try yourself at home.

Presented by Jenny Lynch and Matilda. Written and produced by Jenny Lynch. Music by Purple Planet Music. Sound effects by Pixabay.

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Episode content:

00:24 Introduction and fast facts

05:37 Interview with Lee Constable

13:14 Energy transformation activity

Lee Constable: https://leeconstable.com

Energy transformation activity

You will need: an object you can drop, such as a ball or a rolled-up pair of socks, and a rubber band.

Energy cannot be created nor destroyed. This is called the ‘Law of Conservation of Energy’. However, energy can change into different forms. How many energy transformations can you observe in about a minute?

1. Rub your hands together as fast as you can. You are turning moving energy into heat energy, with help from the force of friction.
2. Hold the ball or socks high above the floor. What you are holding now has gravitational potential energy, otherwise known as stored energy, let go and the gravitational potential energy turns into moving energy as the object falls to the floor, because of the force of gravity.
3. Feel the rubber band and notice if it feels cold or hot. Use both hands to stretch out the rubber band over and over again for a few seconds and then feel if the rubber band has heated up. If it has, some of the moving energy has turned into heat energy.
4. Stretch out the rubber band again so it has lots of stored elastic energy and then aim the rubber band away from you and anyone who is with you. Let go, so the rubber band flings through the air, turning the elastic energy into moving energy.

Look around you and see what other energy transformations you can see, for example, turning on a light.