I teach high school physics and definitely agree that the whole concept of potential and potential difference is baffling to most kids, even the very bright ones.
The way I teach it is by relating it to gravitational potential energy, a concept most kids are pretty comfortable with. I have...
Suppose I burned a log. If I collected all the products of the burning process (the smoke particles, the ashes, etc.) would they have the same exact mass as my original log? Or would they have less mass because they are at a lower energy state then the original log (Energy-mass equivalence)...