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Energy for Keeps: Electricity from Renewable Energy, Teacher Edition Grades 6-12 (2003). "Educators for the Environment developed this guide to introduce your middle and high school students to the history, availability, technologies, and management of the [renewable and nonrenewable] energy resources we use to generate electricity." www.energyforkeeps.org
The Energy Story from the California
Energy Commission contains 20 chapters on energy and its various sources.
The 4 page solar energy chapter provides a basic overview of solar hot
water, thermal and photovoltaic uses, including attractive color pictures. "How Solar Cells Work" by Scott
Aldous. This readable and illustrated explanation from the How Stuff Works
site includes an application of solar cells to a house. Montana Greenpower. The Power of
Solar Energy: A Curriculum Unit for Grades 7-12. The National Center for
Appropriate Technology has developed 9 lessons that use simple activities
and inexpensive or free materials. Of particular note, lesson 8 uses 2
calculators – one economic and one environmental – for students to judge
PV's cost-effectiveness, and lesson 9 helps students compare other solar
schools with their own. A very good links page, as well. New Mexico Solar Education Association.
This extensive site contains teacher primers on energy as well as student
lessons (grades 3-12) that utilize low cost or free materials and that can
be configured as varied curriculum units. Renewable Energy: The Infinite Power of Texas,
Texas State Energy Conservation Office. The lessons at this site include a
number of interesting fact sheets, including: 11. Introduction to PV
Systems, 21.Solar Water Heaters for Swimming Pools, 23. Cooking with the
Sun, and 24. Estimating PV System Size and Cost. Renewables Are Ready: A Guide to Teaching
Renewable Energy in Junior and Senior High School Classrooms.
(2003) Union of Concerned Scientists This free 95 page guide contains
hands-on activities for solar water heater, solar box cooker, solar houses
and photovoltaics, plus more. Download full report from School Power...Naturally, NY State
Energy Research and Development Authority has developed or assembled 45
lessons, grades 6-12, on energy, fossil fuels, solar energy & photovoltaics.
A full listing of the lessons according to these categories is here for
Middle School &
High School. Another 15 Solar Kit Lessons
that are meant to be used with small PV demonstration kits that can be
assembled by teachers from ordered components are also freely available on
line. Solar Energy Education Resources,
Solar Energy Association of Oregon (2001). These four lessons (Energy
Sources, Passive Solar Design, Solar Heating, and Photovoltaics) include
student worksheets, answer sheets and color illustrations that could be used
with transparencies or PowerPoint. Although written for middle school, these
lessons can be adapted for high school students. "Solar and Photovoltaic – Historical
Background," Source: U.S. Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy
Annual 1996; a 1 1/4 page reading. Solar Thermal Timeline (1974-1995),
Solar Photovoltaic Timeline (1950s –
1995) and Solar Water Timeline (1890s – 2000) at US Department of Energy’s
"Energy Kid’s Page" Solar Wonders, This lecture-based
solar energy science unit for high school students was developed by Blanche
Sheinkopf for the Florida Solar Energy Center in 2000. Eight PowerPoint
presentations use examples and pictures from around the country and around
the world to make the case for solar energy. Students can access the
presentations on the web; the presentations can also be downloaded and shown
to the entire class. Each presentation concludes with questions for
discussion. |