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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cooking with the Sun

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore using energy from the sun for heating and cooking as they build and compare the performance of four solar cooker designs. This excellent two-day lesson has groups of students build and test a variety of solar cookers....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Make Your Own Temperature Scale

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Differentiate between temperature and thermal energy. Your class will build a thermometer using simple materials and develop their own scale for measuring temperature. Discuss with your class and consider why engineers need to understand...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar Kit Lesson #3 Parts of a Solar Panel - Part I

For Teachers 4th - 6th
A solar cell is similar to a rechargeable battery in many ways. Science lab groups connect each in a series circuit to run a mini motor and then compare and contrast them by answering questions and completing a Venn diagram. This is an...
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Lesson Plan
American Chemical Society

Matter on the Move

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Start this mini unit on matter out by demonstrating how food coloring behaves when placed in cold and in hot water. Then have the class experiment with warm water and soap film. Pupils will learn that an increase in thermal energy also...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Grow it Now, Drive it Later?

For Teachers 7th
What do corn and career exploration have in common? A lot, if you're considering an agricultural career that contributes to alternative fuel resources. Through a series of films, presentations, activities, and readings, learners will...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Planet: Black Carbon - a Dusty Situation

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Introduce your young meteorologists to black carbon produced by the burning of fossil fuels by showing the video, "Changing Planet: Black Carbon." Viewers discover that deposition of this carbon on polar ice impacts the absorption of...
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Activity
Texas State Energy Conservation Office

Investigation: Chemical Models

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Science teams make models of four different hydrocarbon compounds that we commonly use for fuel. Then they demonstrate chemical reactions that result when energy is produced. This can be used as an enrichment when your class is studying...
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Lesson Plan
US Department of Energy

Draft-O-Meter

For Teachers K - 8th
Help your class improve the energy efficiency of their homes with the draft-o-meter. Simply tape a sheet of plastic wrap to a pencil and use it to observe any air leaking through windows, doorways, and other locations around the house....
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Lesson Plan
Carnegie Mellon University

Hydroelectricity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Use a simple PowerPoint presentation to introduce you environmental studies class to hydropower. Hold a debate about the pros and cons of developing this form of alternative energy. Power up your class with this simple lesson on a topic...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Comparing Light Bulbs

For Teachers K - 8th
An average home produces twice as many emissions as an average car. Teach your class how to reduce energy consumption by replacing standard incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. Perform an experiment to compare...
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Lesson Plan
Carnegie Mellon University

Renewables Workshop

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Youngsters examine resource maps to find out which states are using solar and wind power and discuss as a class various other renewable energy sources. They use a provided data table to record pros and cons to each technology, build and...
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Lesson Plan
Green Learning

Build Your Own Solar Oven

For Teachers 6th - 12th
This is not exactly a lesson plan, but rather a six-page document detailing how to build a solar oven. A bit of background information, materials list, diagrams and photos, and clearly-written procedures are all included. There are no...
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Activity
Teach Engineering

Efficiency of a Water Heating System

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
Tired of waiting for hot water? Groups of three determine the efficiency of an electric water-heating device. They calculate the amount of energy it takes to heat the water and the theoretical amount of energy required to heat the water....
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Lesson Plan
University of Georgia

The Power of Peanuts

For Students 9th - 12th
Measure the amount of energy in a peanut by igniting a chemical reaction. Classes use a laboratory setup to burn a peanut and measure the amount of heat it releases through a temperature analysis. They calculate the number of Joules of...
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Lesson Plan
Physics Classroom

All Work and No Play Lab

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Don't let the term, "slotted wood board" detract you from the value of this experiment. Class members tie a string to a cart and, with even horizontal force, drag it up an inclined plane. The objective is to compare the work done with...
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Organizer
Curated OER

Energy Balance Tracker

For Students 4th - 10th
Use this graphic organizer to record what food and drink is consumed in one day. Also record all activity performed on this same day. The class will need some charts regarding the calories in food items. Also needed are charts regarding...
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Lesson Plan
US Department of Energy

Effects of Solar Radiation on Land and Sea

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Earth science enthusiasts experiment to compare the heating rates of soil and water. They relate their findings to the weather conditions near bodies of water. Consider also having middle schoolers measure the cooling rates to...
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Organizer
Curated OER

Energy Balance 101 - Do More, Do Enough, Do Less Cards

For Students 3rd - 5th
Young learners can cut out physical activity words (provided) and paste them on a graphic organizer chart. They do this in order to set goals for three days of activity. Sixty minutes seems like a lot of activity in one day, but if it's...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Potential and Kinetic Energy

For Students 9th - 12th
In this energy worksheet, high schoolers read about potential energy and kinetic energy. Then students complete 16 matching, 8 fill in the blank, and 9 word problems.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Understanding the Conservation of Energy

For Students 8th - 12th
In this conservation of energy worksheet, students read about the law of conservation of energy and about energy distribution. They answer three critical thinking questions about what the law of conservation of energy means to us for...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Potential and Kinetic Energy

For Students 9th - 12th
In this kinetic and potential energy worksheet, high schoolers read about energy of position and energy of motion and are given the equations to find each. Students match 11 terms with their definitions about both types of energy and the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wasting Energy at Home

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students act as energy conservation engineers and identify the ways energy is conserved or wasted. They also discover many ways to personally conserve energy everyday. Students discover how engineers perform home energy audits to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Energy Debate - Energy of Peanut

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students articulate the difference between the terms heat and temperature. They calculate the amount of energy associated with a given temperature rise and design an experiment to measure the energy of a fuel.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is Energy?

For Teachers 7th
In this energy worksheet, 7th graders study the varying types of energy.  Students read the 7 types of energy listed and complete the chart giving an example for each.

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