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PPT
National Energy Education Development Project

Introduction to Solar Energy

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
People have been using solar energy for many generations to dry crops, heat homes, and for light. This presentation explains how now it is possible to capture the solar energy and store it for future use, details how and where people use...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Sun: Earth's External Heat Engine Part 1 of the Astronomy Model

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students become familiar with the variables that control Earth's solar energy supply. They explore the source and nature of solar energy, the genesis of radiation, and the structrue of the Sun, gas spectra are observed and sample...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heating and Cooling a Really Large Lizard

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students investigate the effect of temperature on cold-blooded animals, using a 5 x 8 inch index card to represent a dinosaur as their model organism. Students measure temperature changes that occurs at different angles to a light...
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Worksheet
Texas State Energy Conservation Office

Investigation: Building a Parabolic-Trough Collector

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Amateurs of alternative energy build a mini parabolic-trough solar energy collector and use it to heat water. Temperature is recorded over a three-minute period and the data is graphed and analyzed. Note that in order to paint aquarium...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Make a Solar Oven

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students build a solar oven. In this Science lesson, students construct a functional solar oven. Students design the oven and explain the energy concepts involved.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Striking a Balance

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the many different food chains. They participate in a game in which the class is divided into the different parts of the food chain.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Greenhouse Effect

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Why does it get so hot inside of our cars in the summertime? The greenhouse effect! Lab groups experiment to see what happens to an ice cube enclosed in a jar and placed in sunlight as compared to an ice cube outside of the jar. They...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Evaporation Introductory Lesson

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders examine the concepts of evaporation and the water cycle. They describe the relationship between heat energy, evaporation and condensation of water on Earth and identify the sun as the source of energy that evaporates...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ice Cube Experiment

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd
Students explore the rate at which ice melts. In this science lesson, students place ice cubes on colored index cards and place them in direct sunlight. Students observe which ice cubes melt fastest and slowest.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Driving Currents

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students conduct a variety of investigations to see how water, heat, and salinity affect the flow of the world's ocean currents,as well as, explore many factors that affect the flow of the world's ocean currents. They also describe in...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Our Solar System

For Teachers 1st
Students study the Earth and Solar System through a variety of activities. They compile a coloring book show the characteristics of the Sun and nine planets.
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Worksheet
Texas State Energy Conservation Office

Unit 2 - Section 2 - Fuels for Everything

For Students 6th
In this alternative energy worksheet, 6th graders read and study the varying types of fuel.  Students read examples and ways that alternative fuel can be used.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sunlight and Heat

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students brainstorm about the sources of heat. They discuss that sunlight is one of those sources. Students complete a lab about cold water and warm water. They record the temperatures from each thermometer and discuss which container...
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Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

The Intertropical Convergence Zone

For Teachers 3rd - 11th Standards
Young scientists know it is hotter along the equator, but why is it also rainier? Through the process of completing two experiments and a worksheet, scholars discover the answer is the intertropical convergence zone. First, they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Passive Solar Design

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students study what passive solar design is for buildings and structures.  In this solar design lesson students identify passive solar design techniques.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Energy Resources

For Students 7th - 9th
In this energy resources activity, students read about the greenhouse effect and global warming. Then they explain why scientists are so concerned with greenhouse gases. Students also describe how global warming affects people worldwide.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Alternative Energy Resources

For Students 7th - 8th
In this alternative energy resources worksheet, students identify the ore that is commonly used in nuclear power plants and how it is processed. Then they determine the reaction that occurs when uranium atoms are split. Students also...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jackie Gore

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students identify the amount of heat given off by solar energy. In this solar energy instructional activity, students complete an experiment using soil and sand measuring the heat from solar energy.
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Lesson Plan
Messenger Education

My Angle on Cooling—Effect of Distance and Inclination

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
When exploring Mars, spacecrafts are exposed to 5-11 times more sunlight than when near Earth. Groups of pupils complete a hands-on activity to explore how distance and angle of the sun affect temperature. Through discussions, they then...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Earth's Atmosphere and Temperature

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students describe and compare the layers of the atmosphere. They explain how to measure the temperature of the atmosphere and discover what causes the atmosphere to heat up in some places more than in others.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Angle on Cooling

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore how the angle and distance of an object can change it's temperature. After reviewing how the position of the Earth affects the temperature of the planet, student groups design and perform an experiment to test how...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Atmospheric Cells

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners recognize that the sun is the source of energy driving atmosphere cells. They relate the motion of the atmospheric cells to mantle convection cells. Students recognize that the function of atmospheric cells is to move heat from...
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Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

Global Warming of the Atmosphere

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Scientists know the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today is higher than at any point in the last 800,000 years. Scholars learn about the amount of thermic radiation absorbed by air and what happens to the rest of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Biomass: The Energy of the Future

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders examine information about a variety of renewable fuels. They read key vocabulary terms, read and discuss a story handout, and conduct research on renewable fuels. Students then complete a comparison chart, and write an...