Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Power Generation Town Council
Students will work together to implement decision-making processes used by governmental agencies to select a power generation system for a small town. This will enable students to develop critical thinking and questioning skills while...
Other
National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Geothermal Heat Pump Basics
Basic information about how these heat pumps function and where they can be used.
Other
Seeds Foundation: Energy Literacy Series: Wind Energy
Explains all about wind energy, what it is, how it is produced, potential benefits and costs, etc.
Energy4Me
Energy4me: Geothermal
Find out how geothermal energy is used as a source of usable electricity.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Build Your Own Windmill Generator
Build your own windmill and see how the wind can be converted into energy to produce electricity. This science fair project should help you understand the use of wind as a source of alternative energy. The Science Buddies project ideas...
Encyclopedia of Earth
Encyclopedia of Earth: Noise Pollution: Wind Power
Discusses wind energy, how it is created, its history, benefits, negative effects, and what the future holds for this alternative energy source.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Human Impact
In this comprehensive interactive tutorial you will learn how we can reduce our carbon footprint by using alternate energy sources.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Hydrogen Oxygen Reaction Lab
This lab exercise exposes students to a potentially new alternative energy source-hydrogen gas. Student teams are given a hydrogen generator and an oxygen generator. They balance the chemical equation for the combustion of hydrogen gas...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: A Case of Innovation
A white paper is a focused analysis often used to describe how a technology solves a problem. In this literacy activity, students write a simplified version of a white paper on an alternative electrical power generation technology. In...
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: Ology: Rising Co2! What Can We Do?
With this resource, students learn how much fossil fuel emissions have increased since 1600 by exploring a graph showing carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Then answer questions and read facts about climate change over the centuries....
Climate Literacy
Clean: Solar Water Heater
Student teams design and build solar water heaters to capture energy in the form of solar radiation and convert it to thermal energy. Once the model devices are constructed, students perform efficiency calculations and compare designs.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Power to the People
Students read and evaluate descriptions of how people live "off the grid" using solar power and come to understand better the degree to which that lifestyle is or is not truly independent of technological, economic and cultural...
Discovery Education
Discovery Education: Science of Everyday Life: 3 M Wind Energy Virtual Lab
Do you think you can design a wind turbine that supplies energy to 400 homes at the highest efficiency and lowest cost? Try your hand at turbine design in this interactive activity that allows you design, build, and test a device to...
Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Stem Resources: Wind Generator
Using a voltage sensor, students will measure how much "electricity" is produced by the wind turbine that they design and build. Students will experiment with blade designs to see which one collects energy from the wind the most...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Waste Not, Want Not: Use the Microbial Fuel Cell to Create Elec
Gross. What is that in the toilet? But maybe it's not just gross. Did you know there are bacteria that digest organic waste and create electrons? What if there was a way to collect those electrons to power a circuit? In this science fair...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Form vs. Function
Students take a closer look at cars and learn about some characteristics that affect their energy efficiency, including rolling resistance and the aerodynamics of shape and size. They come to see how vehicles are one example of a product...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Crafting a Sustainability Message
This activity asks students to convey a sustainability message by developing text for a descriptive information board or kiosk to be placed at Growing Places Farm and Energy Park.
Discovery Education
Discovery Education: 3 M Science of Everyday Life: Wind Energy Virtual Lab
Design, build, and test an energy efficient wind turbine that will supply 400 homes with electricity for one year.
National Geographic
National Geographic: Using Waste Heat to Generate Electricity
Students learn about waste heat capture, how it can be re-used to generate electricity and develop a podcast educating others about it. Includes student handouts and links to many online resources.
Other
Union of Concerned Scientists: Science for a Healthy Planet and Safer World
The official website for Union of Concerned Scientists provides information on environmental issues and suggestions on actions people can take to curb environmental harm.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Grid
The class forms a "Presidential Task Force" for a week, empowered by the president to find answers and make recommendations concerning the future of the national power grid. Task force members conduct daily debriefings with their...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Greenewables
Students form expert engineering teams working for the (fictional) alternative energy consulting firm, Greenewables, Inc. Each team specializes in a form of renewable energy used to generate electrical power: passive solar, solar...
Other
Fuel Our Future Now: Grade 9 12 Module: Vehicle Design Virtual Lab [Pdf]
Students act as a community of STEM research professionals, working together to solve energy efficiency problems in today's vehicles. Students then design and test vehicles that are suitable for different consumer needs based on...
Seeker
Discovery News: Weather & Extreme Events: Wind Farms Warming Texas
This article looks at findings by researchers in Texas that wind farms actually warm the ground beneath them at night, leading to increased night-time temperatures. A cautious approach to implementing alternative energy strategies is...