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: Off the Grid
Students learn and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of renewable and non-renewable energy sources. They also learn about our nation's electric power grid and what it means for a residential home to be "off the grid."
Other
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts: The Energy Report: Wind Energy [Pdf]
Chapter 11 of a report on the energy industry in Texas. It looks at wind energy, its history, and how it is used. The wind power industry in Texas is described, its economic importance, how it is produced and transmitted, and its...
Other
Pembina Institute: Renewable Energy Lesson Plans
There are a variety of lesson plans here on solar and wind energy, and on sustainable transportation.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Windmill of Your Mind: Distributed Energy Goes to School
Students research the feasibility of installing a wind-turbine distributed energy (DE) system for their school. They write a proposal (actually, the executive summary of a proposal) to the school principal based on their findings and...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Fewer Watts and Fatter Wallets
Students learn about incentives for alternative energy programs and the role played by non-price determinants in energy choices.
US Department of Energy
U.s. Department of Energy: Wind Program: How Does a Wind Turbine Work?
This animated illustration shows how a wind turbine can generate electricity for homes and communities.
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...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Transportation and the Environment
Looking at transportation and the environment, students learn that some human-made creations, such as vehicles, can harm the environment. They also learn about alternative fuels and vehicles designed by engineers to minimize pollution....
US Department of Energy
U.s. Department of Energy: Water Power Program: Types of Hydropower Plants
Learn about the three types of hydroelectric power plants used to capture the energy from water at a hydropower dam site.
US Department of Energy
U.s. Department of Energy: Fuel Cell Technologies Program: Fuel Cell Animation
A series of animated illustrations show how a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell works. PEM fuel cells are the most common type used in flex-fuel vehicles.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Environmental Challenges in China
Students learn about the wonderful and fascinating country of China, and its environmental challenges that require engineering solutions, many in the form of increased energy efficiency, the incorporation of renewable energy, and new...
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...
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...
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...
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: Environment
Through 10 lessons and more than 20 hands-on activities, students are introduced to the concept of an environment and the many interactions within it. As they learn about natural and human-made environments, as well as renewable and...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Corn for Fuel?!
In this activity, students examine how to grow plants the most efficiently. They imagine that they are designing a biofuels production facility and need to know how to efficiently grow plants to use in this facility. As a means of...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Cars From the Future
Students learn about air pollution caused by cars and what engineers are doing to try to help with the problem. Students then design their own environmentally friendly car and give a presentation to experience how engineers have to be...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Antimatter Matters
Antimatter, the charge reversed equivalent of matter, has captured the imaginations of science fiction fans for years as a perfectly efficient form of energy. While normal matter consists of atoms with negatively charged electrons...