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Lead Acid Battery

Solar Battery Charging

Grades:
7-12
Unit:
Solar Battery Charging
Description:

Students will become familiar with circuits, cells, batteries, and photovoltaic cells, then plan, build, test, modify, and re-test a small solar battery charger designed to maintain batteries from a particular device.

Energy Content:
Batteries & Storage,
Circuitry,
Electrical Energy,
Electricity Generation,
Solar Photovoltaic
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More Details Less Details
Learning Goal(s):
Students will build series, parallel, and parallel series circuits from a schematic diagram. Students will master the basic concept of battery charging. Students will be able to plan and build solar battery chargers for a given battery system. Intermediate students will calculate time to charge a depleted battery to its full capacity given specifications of a solar module. Students will be able to explain how a solar cell works with diagrams and words. Students will use a digital multi-meter to measure voltage, current, resistance, and diode polarity.
Pedagogy & Practice:
Hands-on Materials,
Group Work/Collaboration,
Engineering Design
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:
2: Developing and Using Models,
3: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations,
5: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking,
6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions,
8: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Author:
Luke Robbins
Relevant NGSS PE:
MS-ETS1-1,
HS-ESS3-4,
HS-ETS1-2,
HS-PS3-3
Other Subjects Covered:
ELA: Vocabulary Development,
Math: Algebra,
Math: Measurement
Estimated Activity Length:
9 hours