Classroom Materials for Grades 5-12
Below are resources to help teachers introduce students to the new and exciting world of hydrogen and fuel cells. While these technologies are complex, the principles behind them can be understood by middle school and high school science students. In fact, hydrogen and fuel cell concepts can be used to complement science lessons already taught in the classroom. Resources include—
Lesson Plans & Materials
Lesson plans and materials are available for middle school and high school science classes. Materials that must be purchased are indicated with $$.
Middle School
Fuel Cells: Futuristic Battery - Provided by the Florida Solar Energy Center, this activity involves the electrolysis of water and the use of a fuel cell to power a motor and propeller.
Middle School Guide - Developed by the Fuel Cell Technologies Program, this guide includes a complete set of classroom materials to help introduce middle school students to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Materials include an activity guide, classroom presentations, a classroom poster, and a fuel cell animation.
H2 Educate! Teacher (PDF 6.9 MB) and Student (PDF 6.7 MB) Guides - These new guides were developed by the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project's Teacher Advisory Board for the DOE Hydrogen Program. Sentech, Inc., the U.S. Fuel Cell Council, the National Hydrogen Association, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and the Fuel Cell Store provided support and technical assistance. For more information about NEED, visit http://www.need.org/. For a free hard copy of the H2 Educate! materials, please call NEED at 800-875-5029. Download Adobe Reader.
Fuels and Energy - Developed by General Motors in partnership with Weekly Reader, this teacher and student guide helps increase awareness of energy, the environment, and fuel cell technologies.
High School
Hydrogen Sprint - These hands-on activities cover all the steps for building a model hydrogen-powered car for competition in the Florida Solar Energy Center's Hydrogen Sprint. The six activities explore the design challenges of building such a vehicle, with a focus on material strength, torque vs. speed, fuel cell power output, friction, and aerodynamics.
Laboratory Experiments & Demonstration Kits
Hydrogen and fuel cell laboratory experiments and demonstration kits suitable for the classroom can be purchased from the following online sources:
- The Fuel Cell Store $$
- Heliocentris $$
- Sargent-Welch $$
- TekStak $$
- Thames & Kosmos $$
Videos
Videos about hydrogen, fuel cells, and related topics can be purchased from the following sources:
- The Fuel Cell Store - Videos on hydrogen and fuel cells $$
- Hydrogen 2000 - Videos and companion guides on hydrogen, fuel cells, and safety $$