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 Knex Solar Power Lesson
Plan
Amount of time Demo takes:​
5-10min
Materials:
1. Knex Solar Kit
2. At least 2 adults to help with watching materials, and helping test run cars
3. Light bulbs and lamps of different wattage
4. Official Knex directions and lesson plan binder
5. Pre-built knex materials (takes too long 30 min to build each on site) cars,
Crank man, shuttle ride
Set up instructions:
1. Set out pre-built solar cars and lamps with light bulbs with different wattage
2. Organize car materials, from other materials.
3. If outside, the cars will be able to run on sunlight, you can use the green
motor. It will not store energy.
4. If inside, use the gray round Knex battery, charge the battery with the solar
panel. If comparing to another light bulb of a different wattage, make sure you
charge the battery for the same amount of time and from the same distance
from the bulb.
5. Set up a “race track” to see how far the car can go on a charge from each Light
bulb.
SAFETY!
1. Do not place solar panel closer than the length of a gray rod, or about 6 inches.
Solar panel can overheat and become damaged.
2. When attaching power cord into the solar panel, make sure the polarity on the
plug matches on the plug and jacks. Make sure they are fully plugged in.
2. Not a safety issue, but keep in mind each Knex kit costs 200$, please only have
equipment out on the table while it is supervised. There should be 2 people at
this demo to keep an eye on equipment and help participants. If more are
needed, get another person to help out. People are not allowed to keep the
K’NEX!
Lesson’s big ideas:
● Alternative energy is energy from sources other than fossil fuels and nuclear
power. Most alternative energy options are cleaner and utilize natural sources of
energy such as wind, water or solar energy.
● Engineering skills: modify design provided by Knex to create a car that goes
farther or is faster. Solar panels work because the electrons in the panel get
excited by the energy from the sun and the negative charged electrons flow
away from the panel into the object using electricity or a battery. (very simplified
answer, read below for more information.)
● When using different bulbs to charge the Knex battery, discuss the difference
in the amount of light energy each bulb produces for the solar panel to collect.
http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt-hour
Instructional Procedure:
1. If you can find a way for this lesson to be more interactive, by having
participants replace wheels or modify car in some way that is fine. Make sure you
keep track of the Knex materials so they don’t walk away. If teaching in a small
controlled setting with 30-60 min, allow students to build cars with Knex
directions. They take about 30 min to make, 30 min to conduct experiments,
experiments are discussed in more detail in Knex teacher lesson plan book..
2. Discuss how solar panels work.
Assessment
Sample questions you can ask:
1. How does a solar panel work?
2. What difference did the different light bulbs have in how fast/far the cars
went?
Clean Up
Clean up between demonstrations if needed. When completely finished gather
all materials listed for this demonstration and make sure everything is accounted
for. If something was used up, broken or damaged, let someone know so it can
get replaced or fixed.
References :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoelectrochemical_cell
http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-solar-panels-work.htm
National Standards:
K-4 Content Standard F, Science in personal and social perspectives, Science and
technology in
local challenges
K-4 Content Standard B, Physical Science, Light, heat electricity and magnetism
5-8 Content Standard F, Science in personal and social perspectives
5-8 Content Standard B, Physical Science, Transfers of energy
9-12 Content Standard F, Science in personal and social perspectives
9-12 Content standard B, Physical science, Interactions of energy and matter