Name: ______________

Meriden School
Science Department
Year 8 2010

Electricity
Focus Assignment
Date due: May 21, 2010
Background
We have been studying electricity in class. This assignment focuses on one aspect of electricity –
energy sources. It is hoped that these tasks will help you understand more about how
electricity can be generated. In addition, this assignment has been designed to give you the
opportunity to discover more about how you learn.

Your Task
There are a number of different tasks in the table which you can choose from, each with a
different number of marks assigned to them. All students must do Question 1. You may choose
to do any of the other activities but your assignment must contain a total of 70 marks (you do
NOT need to complete all activities).

For example, you could complete question 1 (20 marks), and question 9(50 marks) for your total
of 70 marks. Or you could choose question 1 (20 marks), question 3 (20 marks) and question 5
(30 marks) for a total of 70 marks. Or any other combination that gives you 70 marks in total.

In order to complete the assignment, you will need to follow these steps (check them off as you
complete them to make sure you do not leave anything out):

 Select an activity OR activities from the list below

 Research and complete the chosen activities
 Complete the “The Focus Assignment Evaluation Sheet”. Only one evaluation sheet is
needed for the entire assignment, not one for each question

How to set out each activity

On the following page is a template of what your assignment should look like. For each activity
you have chosen, you must complete each section (questions 1-5).

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 Focus Assignment Answer Template
You must follow this template for each question.

Problem Statement:

Write the activity number and the question here

1. What do you know?

What knowledge do you already have that could help you solve this problem? Fill this in as
your first step. It will help you as you plan what you will need to do to complete the task.

2. What do you want to learn?

What do you need to find out to solve this problem? Where can you find out this
information?

3. Answer the problem

Write down your answer to the question here. The word count covers only this section.

4. What have you learnt?

Write down at least three new pieces of information that you have learnt while solving this
problem. Try not to just rewrite your answer to the previous question.

5. Bibliography?

Write down all the resources you used. Refer to your diary for correct bibliography writing.

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 The Activity List
Maximum Type of Question Word
Mark Question Count
20 Understanding 1. Outline how each of the following work: a wet 200
Compulsory cell, a dry cell, and a photovoltaic cell.
10 Applying 2. Make a list of 20 different devices that us 100
batteries and the type of battery that each of
them uses. You should include examples of wet
cell, dry cell and solar cell uses.
20 Understanding 3. Draw labelled diagrams of wet, dry, and 100
photovoltaic cells. Briefly describe the function of
each of the parts of the different cells.
Understanding 4. Describe two forms of renewable energy 200

30 Analysing 5. What would your life be like without electricity? 300

Describe the things you could no longer do, and
the things which you would need to do
differently.
Creating 6. Research how to make a battery using a fruit or 200
vegetable. Make your battery. Write up an
experimental report.
The CSIRO ‘Do It Yourself’ website may help.
Analysing 7. How does a power station work? Draw a 300
flowchart of the process. What energy
transformations are undergone?
40 Synthesising 8. Choose one form of renewable energy. Compare 400
and contrast it to conventional power generation.
Synthesising 9. Design and carry out an experiment to see which 300
brand of battery lasts the longest when used
continuously. Write up an experimental report.
50 Synthesising 10. You are part of a team of scientists who are 500
planning the first human colony on Mars. You
have been assigned the task of developing an
energy source for the colony. Describe the
problems you will need to overcome, and
propose the best solution.

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 Focus Assignment Evaluation Sheet

Complete this only once for your whole assignment

a) Why did you select the activity or activities that you completed for this assignment? (2 marks)

____________________________________________________________________________________

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b) What was the most important or interesting piece of information that you found out while
completing this assignment? (1 mark)

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

c) What was the most important or interesting skill that you developed while completing this
assignment? (1 mark)

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

d) If you had to do this assignment again, would you do anything differently? Why? (2 marks)

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