Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Cold Room? Heat It Up With a Homemade Solar Air Heater

For Students 3rd - 8th
Humans need food, water, and warm shelter to survive. But a lot of humans depend on fossil fuels to supply gas and electricity to heat our homes. But burning fossil fuels to create energy is harmful to the environment. In this science...
Activity
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Activity: Solar Stadium Challenge

For Students 9th - 10th
A project for students to imagine they are writing a proposal for a bid to design and construct a football stadium that is heated by solar power. As a structural engineering, the students will be creating this proposal for a new NFL team...
Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Environment for Kids: Solar Energy

For Students 1st - 9th
Kids learn about solar energy and how this renewable power can help the environment. Teach students about solar cells and using the sun for heat.
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Energy Through Time

For Students 9th - 10th
The quest for energy has always been a balancing act. As humans have gained greater control over their environment, they've found abundant resources - and faced numerous challenges. This article traces the history of our quest for energy.
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Solar House

For Students 9th - 10th
In this What's Up in the Environment? video segment, an electrical engineer in Virginia and his 13-year-old son explain how they produce electricity in their home. [3:58]
Unit Plan
Technology Student

Technology Student: Technology and the Environment

For Students 9th - 10th
This site focuses on alternate energy sources and how they can help us save our environment.
Website
NOAA

Noaa: Space Weather Prediction Center: Solar Effects

For Students 9th - 10th
The Space Environment Center monitors space weather. Read this brief description of what the SEC monitors and what this space weather can effect.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Design a Net Zero Energy Classroom

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students create a concept design of their very own net-zero energy classroom by pasting renewable energy and energy-efficiency items into and around a pretend classroom on a sheet of paper. They learn how these items (such as solar...
Article
Carnegie Mellon University

Telstar: The Sun and Its Energy

For Students 9th - 10th
The sun's energy is the primary source of energy for all surface phenomena and life on Earth. Combined with the material of the Earth (including the molecules held close by the Earth's gravitational force called the atmosphere), this...
Article
Carnegie Mellon University

The Sun and Its Energy

For Students 9th - 10th
The sun's energy is the primary source of energy for all surface phenomena and life on Earth. Combined with the material of the Earth (including the molecules held close by the Earth's gravitational force called the atmosphere), this...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Get Something for Nothing: Free Power From the Sun!

For Students 9th - 10th
Taking advantage of free energy can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, which are harmful to our environment. In this science fair project, you will work with a solar panel, which is a collector of free energy, and investigate how...
Website
NOAA

Noaa: Space Weather Prediction Center: A Primer on Space Weather

For Students 9th - 10th
The Space Environment Center put together an introduction to our sun and space weather that it creates during it's 11 year weather cycle. Learn about different solar anomalies and the effects they have on earth with pipelines, geologic...
Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Environment for Kids: Renewable Energy

For Students 1st - 9th
Kids learn about renewable energy and how it can help the environment. Teach students about solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal energy.
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Environment

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
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...
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: A Different Kind of Fuel

For Students 9th - 10th
In this segment from Curious, learn about creating energy from solar rays to meet the growing energy needs of the world. [6:09]
Unit Plan
Geographypods

Geographypods: Patterns in Environmental Quality and Sustainability

For Students 11th - 12th
This collection of five learning modules looks at issues related to environmental change and sustainability. Topics addressed include changes in the atmosphere, soil, water, and biodiversity, and what can be done to counteract this and...
Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Earth's Albedo and Global Warming

For Students 9th - 10th
In this interactive activity adapted from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, learn about Earth's albedo (the ratio of reflected vs. incident solar radiation), how pollution alters albedo, and how ice-albedo feedback may accelerate...
Interactive
Other

Explore Learning: Effect of Environment on New Life Form

For Students 5th - 9th
Using the scientific method, control the environmental conditions for a fictional alien organism in order to learn how the organism responds to changes in conditions. Sunlight, water, and temperature can be varied to determine their...
Website
Other

Planet Ark: World Environmental News

For Students 9th - 10th
Welcome to Planet Ark's daily Reuters World Environment News - the most comprehensive source of environmental news on the Net. To read previous news stories, please use the search engine below to find stories relating to any...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Model Greenhouses

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students learn about the advantages and disadvantages of the greenhouse effect. They construct their own miniature greenhouses and explore how their designs take advantage of heat transfer processes to create controlled environments....
Interactive
Concord Consortium

Concord Consortium: Stem Resources: The Virtual Greenhouse

For Students 3rd - 8th
A virtual greenhouse to study how plants adapt to live in different environments. Students will "plant" three different types of plants that thrive with different amounts of sunlight. Lab includes questions that could be saved and graded...
Article
Other

Solar Schools: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Renewable Energy

For Students 9th - 10th
One major advantage with the use of renewable energy is that as it is renewable it is therefore sustainable and so will never run out. Renewable energy facilities generally require less maintenance than traditional generators. Their fuel...
Interactive
Harvard University

Harvard Smithsonian: Everyday Classroom Tools

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
The focus of this series of lessons is to engage students in an exploration of the world around them. The emphasis is on inquiry as students learn about the earth, sun, light, shapes and more.
Activity
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Ucar: Learn: The Greenhouse Effect

For Students 9th - 10th
A detailed overview of the greenhouse effect, with explanations about Earth's atmosphere gases referred to as greenhouse gases, and the factors that influence the heat-trapping ability of a greenhouse. All information is reinforced...