Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Energy everywhere

20 minutes

Find Out: From potential to kinetic energy

25 minutes

Take Action: Stored energy safety

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

investigate how batteries store chemical potential energy
develop an understanding of how this energy is transferred and transformed into electrical and heat energy, including situations where energy release becomes unsafe.

Success criteria

Students can:

classify energy in battery systems as kinetic or potential
explain why heat is produced as a by-product of energy transfer
apply this understanding to identify safe handling and disposal actions supported by scientific reasoning.

Prior knowledge:

Students should be aware that energy can be stored, transferred and transformed.

Tune In: Energy everywhere

Step 1

Draw a line down the centre of the board and divide the class into 2 teams.

Give each team a whiteboard marker and explain that they will run a team baton relay. Explain that on ‘go’, the first person will run to the board, write 1 device that uses a battery, then run back and pass the marker (the ‘baton’) to the next person on their team. They will continue passing the marker through the team, with each student running to the board and writing their answer. If a team gets all the way through, they can start back at the first person and keep going.

Outline to students that they will have 2 minutes to list as many different devices that use a battery as possible. They get 3 points for each unique answer and 1 point for a duplicate answer (that the other team also listed).

Once the relay is complete and the points have been awarded, revisit the list with the class. Point out that:

we rely on a very wide range of devices with batteries
all cordless electrical devices have a battery (electric toothbrushes, vacuum cleaners, drones, toys, musical birthday cards, laptops, etc)
batteries come in a huge range of sizes, from tiny button batteries to EV batteries to community batteries
the job of batteries is to store and release energy
batteries are generally considered a very safe and stable way to store energy.

Step 2

Identify with your students that the role of batteries is to store and release energy. Ask them, ‘What might happen if the energy is released all at once?’

They might identify:

it could cause a fire
it could damage the device
it could potentially cause injuries

Explain to students that today they will investigate how batteries store and release energy, and how to use and dispose of batteries safely.

Find Out: From potential to kinetic energy

Step 1

Provide students with the Diagram of a Battery Worksheet. Ask them to annotate the diagram on the worksheet as you explain the following:

A battery stores energy as chemical potential energy. It's locked inside a chemical reaction that hasn't happened yet.
Every battery has 2 electrodes: a positive cathode and a negative anode. They may be side by side on a battery (for example, a car battery or a 9V battery), or at opposite ends (such as an AA battery or a button battery).
The electrodes are separated by a chemical paste or liquid called the electrolyte.
The chemicals in the anode ‘want’ to react and release electrons. However, those electrons can't travel through the electrolyte; they need an external path.
When you connect a circuit to the battery, electrons flow out of the negative anode, through the circuit, and back into the positive terminal. This flow of electrons is an electric current.
Inside the battery, ions travel from the cathode to the anode through the electrolyte, completing the circuit.
The chemical reaction gradually uses up the reactants. The anode will dissolve as it releases electrons, and the cathode will gain electrons. When the stored chemical energy has been fully converted, the battery is ‘flat’.

Learning extension: You can also explain to your students that when a rechargeable battery is connected to a charger, the polarity of the electrodes reverses: the cathode becomes negative and the anode becomes positive. This effectively recharges the battery by using energy to reverse the chemical reaction, thereby storing it again.

Step 2

Remind students that while batteries are convenient and generally safe, they have a large amount of stored energy, and this energy can be dangerous if it is discharged incorrectly. There are 3 main situations that can cause a battery to discharge energy unexpectedly: exposing the battery to heat, damaging to the battery, or creating an unintentional circuit.

Ask your students, ‘How do you think temperature impacts batteries?’

Guide them to understand:

heat causes batteries to release energy more quickly and unpredictably
extreme heat can physically damage the battery and cause it to fail
extreme cold prevents the ions from moving through the electrolyte, preventing the chemical reaction from releasing energy.

Brainstorm with your students situations where a battery could be exposed to heat energy. They may suggest:

when a device (like a phone) is left in a hot car on a sunny day
if a device is charged using the incorrect charger with a different voltage
when a device overheats while in use.

Ask your students, ‘What might happen if a battery is damaged?’

Students may suggest that it could:

short-circuit, discharging all of its energy quickly and dangerously
leak dangerous chemicals like lead and sulfuric acid
explode or start a fire
injure a person through chemicals, heat or electrocution.

Explain that a common way for batteries to be damaged and cause incidents is by being thrown into the rubbish. Batteries can be damaged by:

other rubbish inside a bin puncturing or crushing the battery
being compressed inside a waste truck
sorting machinery at a waste processing plant.

Ask your students, ‘Can you think of a way a circuit could accidentally be formed, releasing the energy in the battery?’

Students may suggest:

if batteries (including ‘flat’ batteries) are stored together and make contact
if a battery is submerged in water or swallowed
if the electrodes of the battery come into contact with metal (like on the inside of a waste truck).

Reiterate that batteries are a very convenient way to store and transport energy, and are a safe and reliable source of energy when used correctly. However, we need to make sure we use, store, and dispose of batteries correctly to reduce safety risks.

Take Action: Stored energy safety

Step 1

Explain to students that while the components of a battery are essentially the same, there are many different types of batteries that can be used for different purposes. These different types of batteries each have varying safety requirements. Outline that the students’ mission for the remainder of the lesson is to research 1 type of battery and identify:

the devices it is used in
the correct ways to store and use these batteries
how to correctly dispose of this type of battery when it has reached end of life
the risks that this battery can pose (use, storage and disposal)
responsibility of manufacturers in managing stored energy at the end of a battery’s life.

Divide your class into groups of 3–4 students and allocate each group 1 of the battery types listed below:

alkaline batteries (AA, AAA, D-cell)
zinc-carbon batteries
lithium-ion batteries (Li-ion)
lithium polymer batteries (LiPo)
nickel-metal hydride batteries (NiMH)
nickel-cadmium batteries (NiCd)
lead-acid batteries
button/coin cell batteries (silver oxide or lithium)
zinc-air batteries
solid-state batteries

Learning support and extension: Alkaline and zinc-carbon batteries are good options for students who need scaffolded learning, as there is a lot of readily accessible information. Zinc-air batteries are less common (but used in hearing aids), and solid-state batteries are an emerging technology, making both options good options for students who need an extension.

Step 2

Provide each group with the Student Worksheet. Instruct students to access the resources listed in the table below and use the information they find to answer the questions on their worksheets.

Resource	Link
Bcycle: Australia’s official battery recycling scheme	bcycle.com.au/resources/?_sft_resource_type=fact-sheets
Exitcycle: For nickel-based batteries	exitcycle.org.au/recycling-batteries
Recycle mate: Australia’s leading national recycling education platform	recyclemate.com.au
Planet Ark: Everything you need to know about recycling batteries	recyclingnearyou.com.au/material/home/batteries-single-use

If you need an alternative to students conducting their own research online, you can download and share the factsheets from these organisations.

Step 2

Once groups have completed their research, their next step is to use this information to plan and design a communication piece explaining the safe use, storage and disposal of this type of battery (for example, an infographic, packaging, a sticker, or another form of media, etc).

Explain to students that:

the audience will be the consumer (or user) of the battery
they will need to include a diagram of their battery explaining the components
they will need to explain how energy is stored and released, and the transformations it undergoes
they will need to explain to the audience how to safely store, use and dispose of this type of battery.

Provide students with time to plan, design and create their communication piece using the space provided in the Student Worksheet.

Step 3

Conduct a gallery walk with either the designs or the completed communication pieces. Provide the students with sticky notes and ask them to leave 2 stars and a wish (2 positive feedback comments and 1 question) on the other group’s posters.

If you want to use this for formative assessment, provide the students with the time and resources in the next lesson to implement the feedback and to finish their piece, using the checklist on the Student Worksheet as the criteria.

Reflection

Discuss these 2 reflection questions as a class:

How does understanding the science behind batteries help you to understand the real-world safety risks?
Who is responsible for managing stored energy safely? Consider the manufacturers, consumers, and waste-disposal workers. What individual choices could these people or organisations make that would help build safer systems?

The Science Behind Safe Battery Disposal

Go to

Summary

Learning intentions

Success criteria

Lesson Guides and Printables

Lesson Details

Skills Required

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Additional Information

Related Professional Learning

In this lesson