This lesson plan will take approximately 50 minutes.
Potential energy is the kind of energy that is at rest.
When that energy goes into motion, it is called kinetic energy. A big rock sitting on the top of a cliff has lots of potential energy. If the falling rock lands on one side of a seesaw, this moving energy will lift the other side of the seesaw into the air. A lake sitting behind a dam also is full of potential energy. If the water is allowed to flow, its potential energy becomes kinetic energy.