Public Power Week

For over 10 years, fifth grade students from Springville area schools have been invited to attend the City’s Public Power Week open house at the Whitehead Utility Center.

To schedule a Public Power Week tour, please call (801) 491-7843 or send an email.
 

What Students Will Learn

• What the difference is between electric conductors and insulators.
• Why electricity seeks the path of least resistance to the ground or to a lower potential.
• Why the human body is a conductor of electricity and why it is never safe to play with electrical equipment.
• Why electrical lines are often buried and why it is difficult to distinguish between a buried electrical conductor and a communication line or sprinkler pipe.
• Why parents should always call Blue Stakes prior to digging in their yards.
• What to do if a ball, Frisbee or another item goes over a fence that surrounds an electrical sub-station.
• Why a battery can store electricity, but it is not practical to run a city on batteries.
• Why the power plant uses natural gas for fuel.

Hands-On Learning

• Students will be given a brief substation tour.
• Students will have an opportunity to make electricity by pedaling a bicycle that is attached to a small generator. The generator is connected to a series of light bulbs. As the students pedal, the load is increased and more lights switch on. Very few students or teachers have been able to keep all of the lights on for very long. Most students agree they would watch less TV.

 
To schedule a Public Power Week tour, please email us.
 


 
 
Photo gallery (coming soon)
 

To learn more about electricity, please visit Electrical Safety World.