Teach Engineering
Efficiency of a Water Heating System
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....
Curated OER
Exploring Alternative Energy Sources
Learners research the amount and kinds of energy that are produced and consumed in the United States, including the limitations of this kind of consumption. They research and create a display to teach classmates about a specific...
National Wildlife Federation
Climate Solutions – A Call to Action!
The final lesson in the 21-part series on climate change focuses on energy solutions to the consumption problem. Using data specific to their school, pupils make recommendations, follow up on actions, and carefully track progress....
Curated OER
Math Can Be Electrifying
Students explore how math can be used to calculate and analyze how electricity causes air pollution. Students design a campaign to educate family members on ways they can save electricity. They create a graph that compares two electric...
Curated OER
Household Conservation/Efficiency
Hook your class up to an online home energy usage calculator so that they can estimate the amount used per month by their families. Then give them Watt meters with which they will measure the power consumption of several small...
Curated OER
Lesson 2 of 5 - Energy
Students complete an energy analysis for the No Impact Man project. In this environment and energy lesson plan, students review the project by visiting the given website and discuss the issue of electricity in the project. Students watch...
National Wildlife Federation
Quantifying Land Changes Over Time Using Landsat
"Humans have become a geologic agent comparable to erosion and [volcanic] eruptions ..." Paul J. Crutzen, a Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist. Using Landsat imagery, scholars create a grid showing land use type, such as urban,...
Wind Wise Education
Can Wind Power Your Classroom?
Can you power this? Individuals do an energy audit for the classroom to determine the amount of electricity needed to power it. Using either live data or sample data from wind turbines they decide whether it would power the classroom....
National Wildlife Federation
When It Rains It Pours More Drought and More Heavy Rainfall
Which is worse — drought or flooding? Neither is helpful to the environment, and both are increasing due to climate change. The 16th lesson in a series of 21 covers the average precipitation trends for two different climates within the...
Teach Engineering
Efficiency of an Electromechanical System
How efficient is a motor in a LEGO set? Future engineers conduct an activity where a LEGO motor-generator system raises an object to a specified height. They then show what they learned and use their measurements to calculate the energy...
It's About Time
Petroleum and Your Community
I was going to write a joke about oil, but it seemed crude. This lesson starts with a comparison of where the US gets oil from and how that has changed over time. After analyzing the data, scholars create a graph and use the Internet to...
Curated OER
Intermediate Activity: Energy Guide Labels
Young scholars explore energy efficient appliances. In this economics and ecology lesson, students compare and analyze EnergyGuide labels of various appliances. Young scholars discuss federal government involvement with consumer...
Curated OER
The Great Energy Debate
Students research controversial issues surrounding the energy debate in the U.S. They role-play as stakeholders in this debate and testify to a mock congressional committee responsible for making decisions about public lands and energy...
Curated OER
Are you an Energy Saver STAR?
Learners examine how to use energy more efficiently in their own home. They collect data from their home, complete a chart, read a power meter, interpret the data from an electric and gas bill, and create a poster demonstrating how to...
Curated OER
Carter’s Approach to Facing the Energy Crisis
Learners examine President Carter's stance on the energy crisis of the 1970s. In this energy crisis lesson, students analyze primary sources that feature the crisis during Carter's term. Learners script and produce advertisements to...
Curated OER
Monitoring Energy Expenditure
Students use heart rate monitors and complete a swimming and running test. These tests allow students to obtain personal data, to manipulate the data through calculations of various parameters, and to graphically represent the data.
National Academy of Sciences
Lights at Night Webquest
Help learners find ways to become more efficient energy consumers. To start, individuals research how different countries address energy efficiency and then analyze their own carbon footprint. They use their research to identify ways to...
Curated OER
Great Decisions
Students identify major contributors to the U.S. energy makeup, recognize trends in energy consumption, express opinions on alternative energy sources, and evaluate positive and negative attributes of the alternative energies in relation...
Curated OER
Student Power Use
Learners calculate the energy usage in their bedroom. In this physics instructional activity, students compare their energy consumption during school days and weekends. They recommend ways to save energy.
NOAA
Understanding Food Chains and Food Webs
Jump into an exploration of marine ecosystems with the first lesson in this four-part series. After first learning about crustaceans, mollusks, and other forms of sea life, young marine biologists view a PowerPoint presentation that...
Teach Engineering
Light vs. Heat Bulbs
Careful, that light bulb is hot! Compare heat and light energy using a simple light bulb. The exercise addresses energy conservation and presents actual calculations to determine the most cost-effective light bulb.
Curated OER
Graphics Creation and Statistical Interpretation: Relating Local Economics and the Global Environment
Students apply statistics, and graphical interpretation to economics, the environment and populations. In this statistical lesson students construct graphical displays and classify data.
Curated OER
Zoo Poo
Students use Internet research to determine the amount of carbon dioxide produced per unit energy for biomass and coal. In this alternative energy lesson, students research to find out how much energy and carbon dioxide several coal and...
National Wildlife Federation
It's a Green Revolution: An Introduction to Eco-Schools USA
Eco-schools is a project of the National Wildlife Federation and empowers schools to manage their schools with a green focus. Scholars work to define environment and sustainability and springboard this into learning the eight pathways...