Where do batteries come from?
Learn how batteries are an important part of our energy mix now
and in the future.
Time Needed: 45mins
Grade: 7
Subject: Geography, Science
Key Themes: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
ear i
You will need
bjecti es
Students will learn what batteries are made of.
- White Board and Markers
Students will learn the different kinds of batteries.
- Computers, Book on Natural Resources and/or
Minerals
Students will learn where battery materials come from.
- A variety of Batteries (AA, D)
Students will learn the environmental impact of battery
production.
Students will learn how batteries represent an important
part of our energy resources now and in the future.
Students will be able to sketch various batteries by
representing their composition and shapes.
cti ity
Vocabulary
- Minerals
- High-drain device
- Low-drain/intermittent device
Introduction - Battery Scavenger Hunt (10 minutes)
1. Ask the students: Where are batteries found at home and at school?
2. Get students on their feet and moving. Give them three minutes to brainstorm as many things in the
classroom and at home that require batteries to operate.
3. Make a list of things at school for which batteries are needed. Use “Different Types of Batteries”, document
attached below to talk about the specific types of batteries. Ask: What are the different types of batteries?
4. Discuss the different uses of each kind of battery. Did you identify any of these in your Scavenger Hunt?
Explain the difference between high-drain and low-drain devices. If possible, bring in examples of both types
of devices. Low-drain or intermittent device: an electronic device that uses electricity occasionally (e.g.
remote control) or only a little bit over a long time (e.g. alarm clock, smoke detector, wireless mouse)
High-drain device: an electronic device that use a lot of power in a short time (portable video game,
MP3/iPod, cell phone)
5. Ask, What natural resources are required to create batteries?
Copyright 2013 © EcoKids.ca and Earth Day Canada, reproduction is permitted for educational purposes only.
Charitable registration #13195 378RR0001.
Activity
6. Once students are familiar with the different types of batteries, talk about what the inside of batteries look like. Use
attached sheet: Inside a Battery.
7. Next, talk about how each battery part is made up of a different mineral. Mineral: a solid inorganic substance that
occurs naturally.
Activity - Learning more about minerals (30 minutes)
1. Using the jigsaw procedure, place students into six groups and assign each group a natural resource (iron ore,
pyrolusite, natural gas, potassium, copper and zinc).
2. Ask students to become experts in their resource by completing these requirements:
- Draw a picture that will help students understand the resource.
- Learn how the resource is formed.
- Find its location (within or outside of Canada)
3. Have students plot the locations on a map of Canada, or the globe.
4. Discover its role/importance to humans in history.
5. Learn what the environmental impacts are from extracting the resource.
6. Have students share with the rest of the class the important things they have learned.
7. Using attached sheet: “Environmental Impact of Battery Production”, discuss with the students any impacts that were
overlooked.
Consolidation - (5 minutes)
1. Review that batteries are an important part of our energy use; we use them every day (recall hook activity and
discussion).
2. Ask students to imagine life without batteries. What would be different? Ask students if, in the future, they think that
more or less things will be battery-powered.
Copyright 2013 © EcoKids.ca and Earth Day Canada, reproduction is permitted for educational purposes only.
Charitable registration #13195 378RR0001.
Activity - Diagrams and Resources
ASSESSMENT
Students will use a self-assessment rating scale about the knowledge they learned and about how well
their group worked together. Afterwards they will write a brief statement about what they liked about
the group and include their ideas for improvement.
Knowledge of
Content
Weak (1)
Average (2)
Good (3)
Excellent (4)
How your resource is
formed
Where it is found
Its role/importance to
humans in history
Group Skills
All members
participated in the group
activities.
Group members
practiced cooperative
skills.
Group members stayed
on the task assigned.
What I really liked about our group was…
Ideas for improvement:
EXTENDED ACTIVITIES
Ask students to list of different facts collected from other groups about batteries and write which ones
were most interesting and why.
PRINT AND WEB SITE REFERENCES
Location of mines in Canada:
http://www.infomine.com/countries/SOIR/Canada/welcome.asp?i=canada-soir-3
Natural Resource Canada - Minerals and Rocks:
http://www.gac.ca/publications/factsheets/MineralsRocks_e_4.pdf
Mineral Resources Education Program (BC): http://www.bcminerals.ca/i/pdf/SoMComplete_ME.pdf
Copyright 2013 © EcoKids.ca and Earth Day Canada, reproduction is permitted for educational purposes only.
Charitable registration #13195 378RR0001.
Activity - Diagrams and Resources
Different Types of Batteries
Type of battery
Common uses
Minerals used
Alkaline battery
These are general
purpose batteries - can be
used in low-drain or
intermittent devices such as
remote controls, flashlights,
clocks.
The electrodes are zinc and
manganese dioxide. The
electrolyte is an alkaline
paste.
Rechargeable battery
(Nickel-cadmium battery)
Found in high-drain devices,
like digital cameras,
cellphones, MP3 and CD
players, and portable video
games.
The electrodes are nickelhydroxide and cadmium.
The electrolyte is
potassium-hydroxide.
Used in automobiles.
The electrodes are made of
lead and lead-oxide with a
strong acid as the
electrolyte.
Used in many low-drain
portable electronic devices
such as clocks, cameras,
watches, thermometers, and
calculators.
They are made with lithium,
lithium-iodide and leadiodide.
Found in laptop computers,
cell phones, power tools and
other high-drain portable
equipment.
The negative electrode is
commonly graphite. The
positive electrode can be
lithium cobalt oxide,
lithium iron phosphate, or
lithium manganese oxide.
The electrolyte can include
ethylene carbonate or
diethyl carbonate.
Lead-acid battery
Lithium battery
Lithium-ion battery
Copyright 2013 © EcoKids.ca and Earth Day Canada, reproduction is permitted for educational purposes only.
Charitable registration #13195 378RR0001.
Activity - Diagrams and Resources
Inside of a Battery Above image used with permission from Call2Recycle. Copyright 2013 © EcoKids.ca and Earth Day Canada, reproduction is permitted for educational purposes only.
Charitable registration #13195 378RR0001.
Activity - Diagrams and Resources
Environmental Impact of Battery Production Miningofrawmaterials
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Environmentalimpact
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Iron Ore
Pyrolusite
Zinc
Potassium
Copper
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Transportation
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Environmentalimpact
Mine to primary processing facility
Primary processing facility to secondary
processing facility
Secondary processing facility to battery
factory
Battery factory to retail warehouse
Retail warehouse to store
From store to your home
Primaryprocessingofrawmaterials

Secondaryprocessingofrawmaterials
Air emissions: pollution, GHG, CO2
Pollution
Habitat and wildlife impacts
Waste generation
Release of hazardous waste
Environmentalimpact
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Air emissions: pollution, GHG, CO2
Pollution
Habitat and wildlife impacts
Waste generation
Release of hazardous waste
Environmentalimpact
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Packaging
Air emissions from burning fossil fuels:
pollution, GHG, CO2 Environmentalimpact
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Manufacturingofbatteries
Erosion
Loss of biodiversity
Air, surface water, groundwater and land
pollution
Greenhouse gas (GHG) and CO2 emissions
Loss of trees (logging)
Destruction of ecosystems and habitats
Air emissions: pollution, GHG, CO2
Pollution
Habitat and wildlife impacts
Waste generation
Environmentalimpact
Plastic
Paper/cardboard
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Air emissions: pollution, GHG, CO2
Pollution
Habitat and wildlife impacts
Waste generation
Release of hazardous waste
Deforestation
Copyright 2013 © EcoKids.ca and Earth Day Canada, reproduction is permitted for educational purposes only.
Charitable registration #13195 378RR0001.
Activity - Diagrams and Resources
Parts of an Alkaline Battery
Steel container
Cathode
Separator
Anode
Electrolytes
Brass Pin
Mineral used
Iron ore that occurs naturally in the
earth's crust transformed through
heat to produce steel
manganese dioxide mix comes
from the mineral pyrolusite
a fabric made of natural gas
zinc metal from natural mineral
deposits of ore in the earth's crust
potassium hydroxide can be
obtained from the mineral
potassium mixed with water
A mixture of two metals (copper
and zinc)
Copyright 2013 © EcoKids.ca and Earth Day Canada, reproduction is permitted for educational purposes only.
Charitable registration #13195 378RR0001.