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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy Conservation Lesson 1: Fossil Fuels and the Ticking Clock

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students explore energy production by participating in a class discussion. In this renewable energy lesson, students discuss the differences between solar, coal, wind and fossil fuel energy sources and why some are better for the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

TE Lesson: Using Heat from the Sun

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine fossil fuels, nuclear and renewable fuels. They study investigate types of heat transfer such as convection, conduction, and radiation. They complete crossword puzzles based on the vocabulary. They design, construct and...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Teach Engineering

The Temperature Effect

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How temperature affects the efficiency of a solar panel is the focus of the third in a series of eight resources that presents how engineers are able to control the temperatures of photovoltaic panels. Class members find out how the...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Teach Engineering

Photosynthesis—Life's Primary Energy Source

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Wouldn't it be great if you could produce your own food? Scholars learn about the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in plants. They consider how to use photosynthesis as a model of an efficient system and how to apply...
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Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Telling a Story With Graphs

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Turn your algebra learners into meteorologists. High schoolers are given three graphs that contain information about the weather in Santa Rosa, California during the month of February, 2012. Graph one shows temperatures, graph two...
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Interactive
Weber State University

The Sun and the Seasons

For Students 9th - 12th
Why is there more daylight in June than in December if you live above the equator? How does the angle of sunlight shift throughout the year? Answer these questions and more with an interactive article about the sun, its path through the...
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Lesson Plan
Baylor College

What Is the Water Cycle?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Small groups place sand and ice in a covered box, place the box in the sunlight, then observe as evaporation, condensation, and precipitation occur. These models serve as miniature water cycles and demonstrations of the three phases of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Window Treatments for Energy Savings

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students investigate energy-saving window treatments. In this environmental lesson, students research how energy-saving windows work by conducting an experiment using a thermometer and graphing data. Students identify why energy-saving...
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Activity
Curated OER

Sunrise, Sunset

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
What locations on Earth get the longest number of hours of daylight in the summer? Hint: It's not the equator! Use real-world sunrise and sunset data to develop trigonometric models that can be used to estimate the number of hours of...
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Activity
GLOBE Program

Calculating Relative Air Mass

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Combine math and science with fun in the sun! Scientists build a solar gnomon using reusable materials to calculate relative air mass. Mathematicians measure the pole's shadow and use the data to solve for relative air mass....
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Super-Fast Solar Flares!

For Students 9th - 12th
In this solar flares worksheet, students observe a sequence of figures of a solar flare observed in 2003 from the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager satellite. Students solve 6 problems including finding the scale of each...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Solar Flare Reconstruction

For Students 10th - Higher Ed
For this solar flare reconstruction worksheet, students read about the 'saturation' point of satellite detectors when solar flares are at their most intense phase of brightness. Students are given x-ray flare data and they re-plot the...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Solar Storms-Fractions and Percentages

For Students 8th - 10th
In this solar storms worksheet, students find the percentage of X-Flares and Halo CMEs that occurred in solar storms and complete a Venn Diagram comparing the numbers of each.
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Organizer
Curated OER

Solar Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections

For Students 7th - 9th
In this solar flares and coronal mass ejections activity, students create a Venn Diagram with given data about solar flares and Halo CMEs. Students answer 6 questions about the events and the probability of each type of event occurring...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Magnetic Forces and Kinetic Energy

For Students 8th - 10th
In this magnetic forces and kinetic energy worksheet, students use the formula that relates the speed of an electron in a plasma cloud to its energy to find the speed of 6 different plasma cloud electrons. They answer 5 questions that...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energetic Atoms - Active & Spaced Out

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students discover the power of the sun through an outdoor experiment.  In this solar power lesson plan, students view a PowerPoint presentation on atoms before they complete an atom worksheet.  Students utilize a solar bag to demonstrate...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Coal Supply and Demand

For Teachers 5th - 10th
A hands-on simulation perfect for an economics instructional activity, young learners investigate the availability of different sources of natural energy (coal, natural gas, oil, solar, and nuclear) and how this availability affects...
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Lesson Plan
Consumers Energy

The Cost of Electricity

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
How much is your toaster costing you every day? Young environmentalists calculate the monetary costs of household appliances based on their average consumption of wattage.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Design a Solar Building

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate the thermal energy storage capacity of different test materials to determine which to use in their solar building design.  In this thermal energy lesson students design and build their own solar building. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science: Let's Have a Cool Lunch

For Teachers 1st
First graders develop problem-solving skills by designing methods for keeping lunch boxes cool. Once they determine the amount of sunlight and heat generated in shaded and unshaded areas, they explore ways to provide shade. Finally, 1st...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Teach Engineering

Maximum Power Point

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Investigate the maximum power output of a photovoltaic panel with a lesson that introduces the class to the maximum power point. Individuals learn how to determine the maximum power point of a solar panel by using Ohm's law and the power...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sun and Weather

For Teachers 6th - 8th
How is the Earth's weather created? Middle schoolers will explain how the Sun's energy is transformed into different forms. They will perform mathematical calculations of volume, mass, and temperature. They they will explain the...
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Activity
Illustrative Mathematics

How is the Weather?

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
This activity asks learners to interpret data displayed on a graph within the context of the problem. Students are given three graphs that show solar radiation, or intensity of the sun, as a function of time. They are also given three...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let the Sun Shine In: Energy Conservation

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students create a project applying their math skills as they discuss energy conservation. In this geometry lesson plan, students define vocabulary relating to the environment and energy conservation. They construct a building that allow...