Celebrations and Energy: Math Task Cards

These energy math task cards help students practice energy, power, efficiency, and unit conversions using real-world celebration scenarios connected to New Year traditions around the world. Each station includes a setup card that provides context and data, plus a challenge card with multi-step problems. The scenarios include party food energy, countdown screens, speaker power, fireworks energy transfers, decorative lighting efficiency, bonfire energy comparisons, and sparkler energy and power.

What students practice

• Calculating energy consumption using power and time
• Converting between joules, watt-hours, and kilowatt-hours
• Distinguishing power vs energy and explaining why they are different
• Comparing device efficiency and cost using real electricity rates
• Identifying and describing energy transformations in everyday events
• Using quantitative reasoning to defend answers and explain trade-offs

How teachers use this resource

• Stations or rotations: Set up 7 stations using the setup cards. Groups rotate every 10 minutes while completing the challenge cards.
• Small group presentations: Assign one or two cards per group and have students present reasoning and calculations.
• Individual practice: Use as worksheet-style problems for practice, review, or enrichment.

Built-in differentiation

• Use only selected cards to fit a shorter class period
• Assign easier scenarios first, then add challenge questions for extension
• Mix groups so students can divide roles between calculator, recorder, and explainer

Teacher supports

• Answer key included for all task cards
• Optional extensions such as an energy budget challenge or energy transformation diagrams

For more energy basics, check out our Introduction to Energy lesson.