Ask students to create flashcards that contain the name of a specific form of energy, such as kinetic, nuclear, electric, elastic and gravitational energy. Give each student a flashcard, then demonstrate a specific case where energy is used, such as "A cyclist rushed to go to work" or "I plugged the TV to watch a program." Give students five seconds, then ask them to raise the flashcard of the energy form used. The student with the most correct answers at the end of the game is the winner.
Energy in a closed system is neither lost not gained. Only the form of the energy changes. Ask students to form pairs and give each pair a type of energy, such as chemical. Let students think of how the type of energy you gave them can be converted to another type. For instance, the chemical energy we get through consuming food becomes kinetic energy when we play sports. Kinetic energy can become electric energy through wind turbines. Disqualify pairs that do not come up with a correct conversion. The last pair standing are the winners.
Create a classroom version of the Jeopardy game show. Draw categories such as "Energy Sources," "Forms of Energy" and "General Energy Knowledge" on top of the board. Below each category, add squares representing the available questions, along with the value of each question. Prepare easy questions for lower value boxes and hard questions for higher value ones. Divide the teams into three groups, with one student in each group acting as the team leader. You handle the role of the game show host. From there, follow the rules of the TV version of Jeopardy. Play only the first round of the game, with the three leaders consulting their teams before answering a question.
Divide students into groups of four. Create flashcards that contain a source of energy, such as coal, oil, wind, natural gas, biomass and sunlight. Make a set of energy source flashcards for each group and distribute them. Ask each group to work together and separate renewable from non-renewable sources in 30 seconds, for example, or find current and potential energy sources for cars. The group that finishes with the fewest mistakes wins.