50 Year Energy Plan - Unit Plan
Throughout this creative, hands-on Unit, students are challenged to scale up every Disciplinary Core Idea and Science & Engineering Practice they’ve learned - from simple electricity generation, to building their own stereo speakers and DIY electric...
How Do We Evaluate Energy Sources?
Building on student’s understanding of energy production methods developed over previous lessons, Lesson 5 asks the class to identify and measure trade-offs between environmental impacts – human needs – and practical costs of different power generation...
What is Our Plan?
With all the pieces in place, this Unit’s final lesson asks students to code a spreadsheet that calculates and mathematically predicts the environmental impacts of different energy sources and strategies over a 50 year timespan. Divided into five...
Unit Plan: A Community Powered by Renewable Energy
In this three-part comprehensive place-based and project-based unit, students will learn and apply rebnewable energy content to devise action plans at an individual, family, and local level. Students will use primary and secondary research explore energy...
Part 1- Lesson 3: Home Energy Audit
During this lesson, students will focus on where energy is used within their homes, how energy consumption is calculated, and how energy consumption can be reduced. Students will conduct a home energy audit and determine multiple ways to reduce energy...
Part 2 - Lesson 1: Renewable Energy Panel
Students will meet with local planners or other available energy experts to discuss public policy regarding the use of wind turbines and solar arrays to generate electricity. Students develop questions for a panel of professionals regarding considerations...
Part 2 - Lesson 2: Wind Energy
Students will learn about wind and how wind varies across geographies. Students will use Vernier Wind Turbine kits or homemade wind turbines to experiment with blade angles and wind speed. During experimentation, students will collect data as blade angles...
Part 3 – Lesson 1: A Plan for Renewable Energy Goals
Students will utilize their home energy audits from Part 1, the information they gathered from the wind and solar assessments in Part 2, and the knowledge they gained from the solar project in Part 2 to devise a plan for your city or town to meet renewable...
Solar Site Assessment
Students will do an actual site assessment to determine the available solar resource for a chosen location.
Can Portable PV Charge Vehicles?
In this lesson, students will begin to explore the potential and challenges related to using photovoltaics to supplement the power needed to charge batteries in BEVs. Students will test a variety of wiring options related to series and parallel wiring....