Solar Car Student

Solar Car Challenge: Redesigning Your Solution & Results of the Design Process Activity

Grades:
6-8
Unit:
Solar Car Challenge
Lesson Number:
8
Description:

Students will play around with the solar car kits to familiarize themselves with the materials in preparation for the solar car engineering challenge.

Energy Content:
Solar Photovoltaic
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More Details Less Details
Learning Goal(s):
To introduce students to the problem that this project will attempt to solve: building a solar car that will go straight, far, and fast to win a race.
Pedagogy & Practice:
Engineering Design,
Establishing a Culture of Science,
Group Work/Collaboration
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:
6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Author:
Karen Nelson
Relevant NGSS PE:
MS-ESS3-3,
MS-ETS1-1,
MS-ETS1-2,
MS-ETS1-3,
MS-ETS1-4
Estimated Activity Length:
2 hours

Passive Solar Water Heating: Collecting and Reporting Data, Making Recommendations

Grades:
4-5
Unit:
Understanding Energy
Lesson Number:
9
Description:

Students will explore ways that the sun can be used to heat water and the variables involved in the efficiency of using the sun to heat water for use in homes or businesses. They will determine this through taking measurements of their solar water heaters...

Energy Content:
Solar Thermal,
Thermal Energy (Heat)
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More Details Less Details
Learning Goal(s):
Students will identify variables related to the sun heating water such as time of exposure, air temperature, and color of container. Student groups will design and build solar water heater containers using five-gallon water jugs. Students will design containers using color, cover material, and surround as variables. Students will predict which container and location will collect the most heat from the sun.
Pedagogy & Practice:
Engineering Design,
Establishing a Culture of Science
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:
3: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations,
4: Analyzing and Interpreting Data,
6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Author:
Eric Gronseth
Relevant NGSS PE:
4-PS3-2,
4-PS3-4,
4-ESS3-1
Other Subjects Covered:
ELA: Writing,
Math: Graphing & Representation,
Math: Measurement
Estimated Activity Length:
1 hour

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