This lesson aims to introduce energy, helps to identify how we use energy, and begins to look closer at what renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy we use in the United. States.

• Background reading:  Primary Energy Infobook, Intro to Energy

*Primary reading is structured with the student reader page first, and the teacher/adult page second. Younger or less advanced readers can read along with the student pages, and the teacher pages may be read aloud to them. Advanced readers may be able to read most on their own.

• Interactive worksheets:
  • https://www.need.org/Files/curriculum/infobookactivities/Primary/Renewable.html
  • https://www.need.org/Files/curriculum/infobookactivities/Primary/Nonrenewable.html

Get Hands-on!

• Candy Collector  will help students develop a more thorough understanding of the meaning of the terms “renewable” and “nonrenewable” and how they apply to energy sources. This fun activity can get a little silly!  Be sure to be mindful of spacing and complete the activity individually if germ control is a top priority in your learning environment!

This lesson aims to introduce students to the basics of electricity – what it is, how we use it, and how we can generate it. Electricity is most often generated using a generator. Generators use motion energy and electromagnetism to generate the electricity that powers much of our homes. Students will begin to explore how electricity and magnetism are related to begin to think about how generators work!

• Background reading:  Primary Energy Infobook, Electricity

*Primary reading is structured with the student reader page first, and the teacher/adult page second. Younger or less advanced readers can read along with the student pages, and the teacher pages may be read aloud to them. Advanced readers may be able to read most on their own.

• Printable Worksheet: Primary Energy Infobook Activities, Electricity Works for Me

Get Hands-on!

• Electromagnets  is a fun way to show students how electricity from a battery can make a metallic item into a magnet – demonstrating that electricity and magnetism are related! For this activity, you’ll be using a battery, some coated wire or an alligator clip to make an electric circuit, and a nail with a compass to demonstrate magnetism. Use caution: the battery may become warm to the touch while the wire is connected.

Alternative

Don’t have a compass? Want an extra challenge? Grab a few paperclips and place them near the nail as an alternative method to demonstrate that you have a magnet. If the nail is magnetized it will pick up the paperclips! How many can you lift?

Background Information for adults:

This activity takes a non-magnetic object, a nail, and makes it magnetic. Ordinarily, iron is not in and of itself a magnet, but it will respond to a magnetic field. Only three metals are noticeably magnetic: iron, nickel, and cobalt. This is related to the movement of electrons within the atoms.

Electrons don’t just move around the nucleus of an atom; they also spin. Michael Faraday was the first to demonstrate that a moving electrical field creates a magnetic field, and because electrons have an electrical charge, their movement creates tiny magnetic fields. Ordinarily electrons exist in pairs. Each electron in the pair spins in an opposing direction from the other. The magnetic field generated by one electron is canceled by the magnetic field generated by the other electron in the pair. However, in nickel, cobalt, and iron, there are unpaired electrons with magnetic fields that are not canceled. This creates tiny sections in the metal where magnetic fields align, called magnetic domains.

When the wire was wrapped around the nail, and electric current moved through it, a magnetic field was created that moved through the center of the coil of wire, out from one end of the nail, and around, back to the other end of the nail. The way electric and magnetic fields are related is demonstrated with the “right-hand rule.” If you outstretch your right hand, and your thumb indicates the direction of one field, the fingers of your right hand will curl around in the direction of the other field. If the electric current was straight, the magnetic field would curl around the wire. If the electric current was moving in a coil, however, the magnetic field would be straight.

When the wire was connected to the battery and electric current moved through it, the magnetic field induced by the moving electric field in the wire caused the magnetic domains in the nail to align, and the nail became a magnet itself. Even after the wire was disconnected from the battery, the nail may have remained magnetic until dropped on the floor or tapped on the table, which would have caused the magnetic domains to move back into their original configuration.

Electromagnetism allows us to transform electrical energy into kinetic energy and make things move. The chemicals in the battery interact to generate electric current, and like the apple electrolytic cell in Station Five, transform chemical energy into electrical energy.

This lesson aims to introduce students to energy saving behaviors and why it is important to save or conserve energy. Energy conservation is the decision and practice of using less energy. Energy conservation can be easy to start, because it’s based on our decisions and behaviors. Students will first become acquainted with all the ways in which they use energy each day at home, at school, and on the road. Students will then take a survey of their energy behaviors and decisions and look for ways they can try to practice energy conservation as a household.

• Background reading:  Primary Energy Infobook, Saving Energy

*Primary reading is structured with the student reader page first, and the teacher/adult page second. Younger or less advanced readers can read along with the student pages, and the teacher pages may be read aloud to them. Advanced readers may be able to read most on their own.

• Printable Coloring Sheets:
  •  https://7ad3lz9zmyhppfq26wugt151-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/Files/curriculum/webcontent/ColoringSheets/SaveHeatcolorsheet.jpg
  • https://7ad3lz9zmyhppfq26wugt151-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/Files/curriculum/webcontent/ColoringSheets/Recyclingcolorsheet.jpg

Get Hands-on!

• Energy Conservation Contract has students working with the members of their household to survey and rate their energy-using behaviors. The activity encourages the family or household to gather qualitative and some quantitative data from their surveys and ratings to then develop a contract of energy-saving behaviors they will act upon. Then, conduct the ratings survey again. Can the students and their household identify some savings?

This week’s lesson will help your students and your family begin to understand your electricity consumption in order to better interpret your utility bills. Electricity can account for up to 70% of a home’s utility expenses. While much of the expense is often attributed to larger items like refrigerators, washers and dryers, and air conditioning, when everyone in your household is home and everything is plugged in, electricity consumption and its associated costs can climb quickly.  Students will revisit text about electricity, how it is transported to us, and how it is used in our homes. Student activities will extend the learning to showcase how to save electricity at home, and students will complete the unit by doing an accounting of their electricity consumption at home. Break out the calculators for this activity, and remind students how to safely unplug and plug in appliances! Don’t forget to look back at the efficiency and conservation text from last week for more tips and tricks on saving energy at home!

• Background reading:  Primary Energy Infobook, Electricity

*Primary reading is structured with the student reader page first, and the teacher/adult page second. Younger or less advanced readers can read along with the student pages, and the teacher pages may be read aloud to them. Advanced readers may be able to read most on their own.

• Printable Coloring Sheets:
  • https://7ad3lz9zmyhppfq26wugt151-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/Files/curriculum/webcontent/ColoringSheets/Electricity.jpg
  • https://7ad3lz9zmyhppfq26wugt151-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/Files/curriculum/webcontent/ColoringSheets/PhantomLoadcolorsheet.jpg

Get Hands-on!

• Morning Money Crunch has students amplifying their home survey to include quantitative analysis. In this activity, students will work together to gather data on the number of pluggable devices they have, how much power they might draw, and how frequently they are used to determine an estimated cost for their use. The activity is framed to consider only the items used when getting ready in the morning, however, the activity could be shifted to meet any time of day, or several times throughout the day. Encourage younger students to work with older students, where applicable to “crunch their numbers.”

Extensions

• Compile the data into a spreadsheet and estimate the cost of powering all of your household devices. How does it compare to your electricity bill? What are some reasons your calculations might be over or under?

Saving energy at home can be as easy as flipping a switch! Lighting is a system in our home that can use a good amount of energy but is pretty easy to control. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, lighting accounts for roughly 8 percent of a home’s energy expenses. This lesson aims to introduce students and their families to lighting and energy savings in the home. Students will read text on lighting and complete a reinforcement activity or hands-on investigation. Students or families can then work together to survey their home’s lighting and calculate the cost-benefit of more efficient lighting choices. 

• Background reading:  Using & Saving Energy,  Lighting
• Printable Coloring sheet
• Printable Activity: Lighting Worksheet

Get Hands-on!

• These lessons will wrap up with an exploration of lighting in your home and some quick lighting math in This is Your Light. Look at your lighting technologies as a household. Is there an opportunity to switch to a more efficient bulb type? What costs would be incurred, and how quickly would those costs be recouped? A lot of times, we’re taught the adage “if it ain’t broke; don’t fix it.” However, in completing this quick math activity, students and families might see quickly that a switch could save money in a very short turnaround.

This week’s lesson focuses on one of the biggest energy users in our home – appliances! The appliances we use at home help make life easier. Appliances can be large like refrigerators and washing machines, or small like curling irons and toasters. Appliances (including water heating and refrigerators) can account for nearly 50 percent of our utility costs at home! Students will read text on appliances and their energy costs and complete the reinforcement activities that relate to appliances and energy consumption. Then students and families can work together on rating their home again, revisiting their Energy Conservation Contract ratings in a slightly different format. Are you efforts working?

• Background reading:  Using & Saving Energy, Appliances
• Printable Activity: Machines & Appliances

Get Hands-on!

• Lesson 3 had students and households start a discussion and conduct a survey of their behaviors to determine a few conservation efforts they might make in the home. This week’s culminating activity, Re-Rate My Energy Use  is similar to the survey and rating system used in lesson 3,  and aims to have families continue thinking about their behaviors to spot changes, make improvements, and work together to consider conservation as a family effort. Households should discuss their ratings this week and think back to the previous rating, if completed. As a household, consider what tactics you might try or continue to try at home, and how they might help your energy bills and comfort while making small alterations or sacrifices in your daily activities.

This week’s lesson focuses on the biggest energy cost in homes – heating and cooling. Heating and cooling systems use more energy than any other systems in residential and commercial buildings. Natural gas and electricity are usually used to heat, and electricity is used to cool. In this lesson, students will learn about these systems with activities that explore measuring temperature, the movement of thermal energy, and how insulation helps to make sure the desired temperature is maintained and your heating or cooling system isn’t overworked.

• Background reading:  Using & Saving Energy, Heating and Cooling
• Printable Activity: Saving Energy with Heating and Cooling

Get Hands-on!

• In this activity, students will apply what they’ve learned about thermal energy and how it is constantly on the move. Has anyone ever told scolded you for leaving the door open and letting the “bought air” out?  Because thermal energy is always on the move, air will find the smallest leaks or cracks to come into or escape out of your home. In Seal of Approval , students will use a simple tool to evaluate their home and look for places where warm or cool air might try to leak into or out of the home. Students can also conduct a survey of their home to look closely at the insulation visibly present, and compare to suggested amounts based on their climate zone.

This lesson aims to introduce students to solar energy. Energy from the sun plays a part in the use of nearly every other source of energy, from wind to biomass, to yes – fossil fuels!  Solar energy can be used to heat homes, heat water, dry crops, and generate electricity.  Students will begin to explore all of these uses for solar energy, and take their learning outdoors as they build a solar-powered oven!

• Background reading:  Primary Energy Infobook, Solar

*Primary reading is structured with the student reader page first, and the teacher/adult page second. Younger or less advanced readers can read along with the student pages, and the teacher pages may be read aloud to them. Advanced readers may be able to read most on their own.

• Printable Coloring sheets:
  • Solar Coloring Sheet
  • Photosynthesis Coloring Sheet

Get Hands-on!

• Explore how energy from the sun can transform into useful thermal energy to cook our food!  Students can assemble their own solar cookers from pizza boxes you may have at home from your last delivery dinner. Don’t’ have a pizza box? This activity can easily be done with any recycled cardboard, food containers, etc., and may also be conducted as a challenge with minimal instructions. No matter which version of this activity you conduct, you’ll need a sunny day. Design and construction can take place inside during any conditions. If cooking food, you may also need to reposition your cooker periodically. If you don’t wish to cook food, set it up with a thermometer inside and record the temperature change over time! Solar cookers are great for melting chocolate for s’mores, making melty cheese nachos, and under the right conditions, baking cookies or heating hot dogs! Make sure adults inspect your food before eating, to ensure food safety!

Wind is moving air. If air is moving, work can be done! This lesson will help students to begin to understand how wind is created on Earth and how we can use it to do important work like grinding grain, moving ships, pumping water, and perhaps most importantly, generating electricity!  

• Background reading:  Primary Energy Infobook, Wind

*Primary reading is structured with the student reader page first, and the teacher/adult page second. Younger or less advanced readers can read along with the student pages, and the teacher pages may be read aloud to them. Advanced readers may be able to read most on their own.

• Printable Worksheet: Observing the Wind 

Get Hands-on!

• Wind Can Do Work is a fun, hands-on challenge to showcase how windmills have done work for centuries. This activity explores wind doing work to lift weight, much like a windmill on a farm might be used to pump water from a well. Complete the activity as written using the instructions and the printable 4-blade windmill template.

Extensions & Important Information!

• Don’t have all the prescribed materials? Did you complete the activity as-is and think your kids are up for an added engineering & design challenge? Create a Wind Weightlifter design challenge using only the prompt and removing the step-by-step instructions! Sample “teacher’s cheats” and suggestions of alternative materials are provided!

• Check out NEED Educator Rob’s Wind Can Do Work Challenge EdPuzzle video on YouTube. His video gives a brief intro to wind, and a video step-by-step of the project. For older and more math-capable learners, stick around to the end of the video to learn how to calculate how much power (in watts) your paper-based turbine is capable of providing! Students can determine the actual power rating of their model, much like power ratings of the giant, wind turbine generators they see outside!

Things could get a little “heated” during this lesson, as we explore geothermal energy – heat from within the Earth’s core. Students will learn about the basics of this energy source and how it can be harnessed. As a challenge, students will take a closer look at using geothermal for low-temperature heat exchange in homes and businesses.

• Background reading:  Primary Energy Infobook, Geothermal

*Primary reading is structured with the student reader page first, and the teacher/adult page second. Younger or less advanced readers can read along with the student pages, and the teacher pages may be read aloud to them. Advanced readers may be able to read most on their own.

• Fiction story reinforcement:  Who Am I? 
• Printable Coloring Sheet

Get Hands-on!

• Very few states in the U.S. are geographically situated to allow them to capitalize on high-temperature steam from the Earth. However, almost anyone can use the small temperature differences from just below the Earth’s surface to benefit their home’s energy use. In this activity, students will assemble a rudimentary model of the geothermal exchange process. Geothermal Exchange Simulation, excerpted from a NEED newsletter, asks students to set up a simple model that uses a glass baking dish, heating pad, straws, and bathroom cups. Students can model how geothermal energy can be used during heating and cooling season to help your home maintain a comfortable temperature while possibly saving money on utilities.

Americans love automobiles. We love to drive them. We don’t want anyone telling us what kind of car to buy or how much to drive it. Today, there are more than 240 million vehicles on the road in the U.S. Transportation of people and goods uses just under 30 percent of our annual total energy consumption! This lesson will allow students to get a closer look at how we move people and “stuff,” and the sources and technologies we use to power our vehicles. The activities will also help students to begin to think about how we can consider our transportation habits and vehicle choices as a way to practice conservation. Primary and Elementary students will use the same reading passage and reinforcement activity for this lesson. Similarly, intermediate and Secondary students will work on the same reinforcement activity.  To tie up the lesson, students and families can work together to plan a road trip.

• Background reading:  Transportation Exploration
• Printable Activity: Pretzel Power

Get your motors running, and GO!  

Now that you have learned more about transportation fuels, technologies, and how we use them in the U.S., let’s put it to practical use with Road Trip.  In this activity, students and families will plan or map out a road trip to any destination they would like to visit. And, oh, wouldn’t you like to visit ANY place right now?!? You’ll select a car of your choice, and plan your trip, accounting for fuel consumed, costs to refuel, total miles, and carbon dioxide created from their trip. As a fun challenge, each family member can select their own personal “dream” car for the same trip. The family can compare which car is a more sensible choice when considering style AND costs, both financial and environmental. It might be a good idea to compare different fuels for vehicles, too – electric, gasoline, biodiesel, even! You can pick ANY car you like using the Department of Energy’s Fuel Economy website.

This final lesson will help students and families to consider their use of energy in all parts of their daily lives and how energy consumption can contribute to a climate conundrum. From powering cars and devices to providing the “stuff” we use throughout our day, energy consumption is a major contributor to the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane – two gases we know contribute to warming in our atmosphere. Students will first explore some basic text about energy savings and climate science (as appropriate for each grade level). Reinforcing activities will help students to think about their own energy consumption as they begin to consider conservation behaviors as a way to reduce their carbon impacts. A culminating activity will encourage families to consider their role in climate action as they survey how they play a part in carbon dioxide production.

• Background reading:  Using and Saving Energy
• Printable Worksheet:  Saving Energy Selfie

Think Critically!

This activity doesn’t involve manipulating hands-on materials, but it does ask your students, family, or household to work together to consider carbon dioxide and how your own behaviors and choices can contribute to climate changes, even on a small scale.  Carbon in My Life will introduce students to the ways in which carbon dioxide is produced in the various ways we go about our day. Students are then asked to complete a survey to consider simple actions and if CO₂ is produced or involved in any way. As they continue through the activity, they will continue to study items and responses from their own surveys to identify ways in which they could lower their carbon impacts, or “carbon footprint.”

This lesson aims to introduce energy, helps to identify how we use energy, and begins to look closer at what renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy we use in the United. States.

• Background reading:  Wonders of Wind, Intro to Energy
• Interactive worksheet:  https://www.need.org/Files/curriculum/infobookactivities/Elementary/energysourcecrossword.html

Get Hands-on!

• Candy Collector will help students develop a more thorough understanding of the meaning of the terms “renewable” and “nonrenewable” and how they apply to energy sources. This fun activity can get a little silly!  Be sure to be mindful of spacing and complete the activity individually if germ control is a top priority in your learning environment!

This lesson aims to introduce students to the basics of electricity – what it is, how we use it, and how we can generate it. Electricity is most often generated using a generator. Generators use motion energy and electromagnetism to generate the electricity that powers much of our homes. Students will begin to explore how electricity and magnetism are related to begin to think about how generators work!

• Background reading:  Elementary Energy Infobook, Electricity
• Interactive worksheets:
  • https://www.need.org/Files/curriculum/infobookactivities/Elementary/Electricity1FillintheBlank.html
  • https://www.need.org/Files/curriculum/infobookactivities/Elementary/Electricity2FillintheBlank.html

Get Hands-on!

• Electromagnets is a fun way to show students how electricity from a battery can make a metallic item into a magnet – demonstrating that electricity and magnetism are related! For this activity, you’ll be using a battery, some coated wire or an alligator clip to make an electric circuit, and a nail with a compass to demonstrate magnetism. Use caution: the battery may become warm to the touch while the wire is connected.

Alternative

Don’t have a compass? Want an extra challenge? Grab a few paperclips and place them near the nail as an alternative method to demonstrate that you have a magnet. If the nail is magnetized it will pick up the paperclips! How many can you lift?

Background Information for adults:

This activity takes a non-magnetic object, a nail, and makes it magnetic. Ordinarily, iron is not in and of itself a magnet, but it will respond to a magnetic field. Only three metals are noticeably magnetic: iron, nickel, and cobalt. This is related to the movement of electrons within the atoms.

Electrons don’t just move around the nucleus of an atom; they also spin. Michael Faraday was the first to demonstrate that a moving electrical field creates a magnetic field, and because electrons have an electrical charge, their movement creates tiny magnetic fields. Ordinarily, electrons exist in pairs. Each electron in the pair spins in an opposing direction from the other. The magnetic field generated by one electron is canceled by the magnetic field generated by the other electron in the pair. However, in nickel, cobalt, and iron, there are unpaired electrons with magnetic fields that are not canceled. This creates tiny sections in the metal where magnetic fields align, called magnetic domains.

When the wire was wrapped around the nail, and electric current moved through it, a magnetic field was created that moved through the center of the coil of wire, out from one end of the nail, and around, back to the other end of the nail. The way electric and magnetic fields are related is demonstrated with the “right-hand rule.” If you outstretch your right hand, and your thumb indicates the direction of one field, the fingers of your right hand will curl around in the direction of the other field. If the electric current was straight, the magnetic field would curl around the wire. If the electric current was moving in a coil, however, the magnetic field would be straight.

When the wire was connected to the battery and electric current moved through it, the magnetic field induced by the moving electric field in the wire caused the magnetic domains in the nail to align, and the nail became a magnet itself. Even after the wire was disconnected from the battery, the nail may have remained magnetic until dropped on the floor or tapped on the table, which would have caused the magnetic domains to move back into their original configuration.

Electromagnetism allows us to transform electrical energy into kinetic energy and make things move. The chemicals in the battery interact to generate electric current, and like the apple electrolytic cell in Station Five, transform chemical energy into electrical energy.

This lesson aims to introduce students to energy saving behaviors and why it is important to save or conserve energy. Energy conservation is the decision and practice of using less energy. Energy conservation can be easy to start, because it’s based on our decisions and behaviors. Students will first become acquainted with all the ways in which they use energy each day at home, at school, and on the road. Students will then take a survey of their energy behaviors and decisions and look for ways they can try to practice energy conservation as a household.

• Background reading:  Elementary Energy Infobook, Saving Energy
• Printable Worksheet: Saving Energy Selfie

*no social media account required

Get Hands-on!

• Energy Conservation Contract has students working with the members of their household to survey and rate their energy-using behaviors. The activity encourages the family or household to gather qualitative and some quantitative data from their surveys and ratings to then develop a contract of energy-saving behaviors they will act upon. Then, conduct the ratings survey again. Can the students and their household identify some savings?

This week’s lesson will help your students and your family begin to understand your electricity consumption in order to better interpret your utility bills. Electricity can account for up to 70% of a home’s utility expenses. While much of the expense is often attributed to larger items like refrigerators, washers and dryers, and air conditioning, when everyone in your household is home and everything is plugged in, electricity consumption and its associated costs can climb quickly.  Students will revisit text about electricity, how it is transported to us, and how it is used in our homes. Student activities will extend the learning to showcase how to save electricity at home, and students will complete the unit by doing an accounting of their electricity consumption at home. Break out the calculators for this activity, and remind students how to safely unplug and plug in appliances! Don’t forget to look back at the efficiency and conservation text from last week for more tips and tricks on saving energy at home!

• Background reading:  Elementary Energy Infobook, Electricity

Printable Worksheet: Life Without ElectricityGet Hands-on!

• Morning Money Crunch has students amplifying their home survey to include quantitative analysis. In this activity, students will work together to gather data on the number of pluggable devices they have, how much power they might draw, and how frequently they are used to determine an estimated cost for their use. The activity is framed to consider only the items used when getting ready in the morning, however, the activity could be shifted to meet any time of day or several times throughout the day. Encourage younger students to work with older students, where applicable to “crunch their numbers.”

Extensions

• Compile the data into a spreadsheet and estimate the cost of powering all of your household devices. How does it compare to your electricity bill? What are some reasons your calculations might be over or under?

Saving energy at home can be as easy as flipping a switch! Lighting is a system in our home that can use a good amount of energy but is pretty easy to control. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, lighting accounts for roughly 8 percent of a home’s energy expenses. This lesson aims to introduce students and their families to lighting and energy savings in the home. Students will read text on lighting and complete a reinforcement activity or hands-on investigation. Students or families can then work together to survey their home’s lighting and calculate the cost-benefit of more efficient lighting choices. 

• Background reading:  School Energy Inspectors, Understanding Lighting
• Printable Coloring sheet

Get Hands-on!

• These lessons will wrap up with an exploration of lighting in your home and some quick lighting math in This is Your Light. Look at your lighting technologies as a household. Is there an opportunity to switch to a more efficient bulb type? What costs would be incurred, and how quickly would those costs be recouped? A lot of times, we’re taught the adage “if it ain’t broke; don’t fix it.” However, in completing this quick math activity, students and families might see quickly that a switch could save money in a very short turnaround.

This week’s lesson focuses on one of the biggest energy users in our home – appliances! The appliances we use at home help make life easier. Appliances can be large like refrigerators and washing machines, or small like curling irons and toasters. Appliances (including water heating and refrigerators) can account for nearly 50 percent of our utility costs at home! Students will read text on appliances and their energy costs and complete the reinforcement activities that relate to appliances and energy consumption. Then students and families can work together on rating their home again, revisiting their Energy Conservation Contract ratings in a slightly different format. Are your efforts working?

• Background reading:  School Energy Inspectors, Electricity & Appliances
• Printable Coloring sheet

Get Hands-on!

• Lesson 3 had students and households start a discussion and conduct a survey of their behaviors to determine a few conservation efforts they might make in the home. This week’s culminating activity, Re-Rate My Energy Use is similar to the survey and rating system used in lesson 3,  and aims to have families continue thinking about their behaviors to spot changes, make improvements, and work together to consider conservation as a family effort. Households should discuss their ratings this week and think back to the previous rating if completed. As a household, consider what tactics you might try or continue to try at home, and how they might help your energy bills and comfort while making small alterations or sacrifices in your daily activities.

This week’s lesson focuses on the biggest energy cost in homes – heating and cooling. Heating and cooling systems use more energy than any other systems in residential and commercial buildings. Natural gas and electricity are usually used to heat, and electricity is used to cool. In this lesson, students will learn about these systems with activities that explore measuring temperature, the movement of thermal energy, and how insulation helps to make sure the desired temperature is maintained and your heating or cooling system isn’t overworked.

• Background reading:  School Energy Inspectors, Understanding Thermal Energy
• Printable Activity: Exploring Temperature

Get Hands-on!

• In this activity, students will apply what they’ve learned about thermal energy and how it is constantly on the move. Has anyone ever told scolded you for leaving the door open and letting the “bought air” out?  Because thermal energy is always on the move, air will find the smallest leaks or cracks to come into or escape out of your home. In Seal of Approval , students will use a simple tool to evaluate their home and look for places where warm or cool air might try to leak into or out of the home. Students can also conduct a survey of their home to look closely at the insulation visibly present, and compare to suggested amounts based on their climate zone.

This lesson aims to introduce students to solar energy. Energy from the sun plays a part in the use of nearly every other source of energy, from wind to biomass, to yes – fossil fuels!  Solar energy can be used to heat homes, heat water, dry crops, and generate electricity.  Students will begin to explore all of these uses for solar energy, and take their learning outdoors as they build a solar-powered oven!

• Background reading:  Elementary Energy Infobook, Solar
• Interactive worksheet

Get Hands-on!

• Explore how energy from the sun can transform into useful thermal energy to cook our food!  Students can assemble their own solar cookers from pizza boxes you may have at home from your last delivery dinner. Don’t’ have a pizza box? This activity can easily be done with any recycled cardboard, food containers, etc., and may also be conducted as a challenge with minimal instructions. No matter which version of this activity you conduct, you’ll need a sunny day. Design and construction can take place inside during any conditions. If cooking food, you may also need to reposition your cooker periodically. If you don’t wish to cook food, set it up with a thermometer inside and record the temperature change over time! Solar cookers are great for melting chocolate for s’mores, making melty cheese nachos, and under the right conditions, baking cookies or heating hot dogs! Make sure adults inspect your food before eating, to ensure food safety!

Wind is moving air. If air is moving, work can be done! This lesson will help students to begin to understand how wind is created on Earth and how we can use it to do important work like grinding grain, moving ships, pumping water, and perhaps most importantly, generating electricity!  

• Background reading:  Elementary Energy Infobook, Wind
• Interactive worksheet

Get Hands-on!

• Wind Can Do Work is a fun, hands-on challenge to showcase how windmills have done work for centuries. This activity explores wind doing work to lift weight, much like a windmill on a farm might be used to pump water from a well. Complete the activity as written using the instructions and the printable 4-blade windmill template.

Extensions & Important Information!

• Don’t have all the prescribed materials? Did you complete the activity as-is and think your kids are up for an added engineering & design challenge? Create a Wind Weightlifter design challenge using only the prompt and removing the step-by-step instructions! Sample “teacher’s cheats” and suggestions of alternative materials are provided!

Check out NEED Educator Rob’s Wind Can Do Work Challenge EdPuzzle video on YouTube. His video gives a brief intro to wind, and a video step-by-step of the project. For older and more math-capable learners, stick around to the end of the video to learn how to calculate how much power (in watts) your paper-based turbine is capable of providing! Students can determine the actual power rating of their model, much like power ratings of the giant, wind turbine generators they see outside!

Things could get a little “heated” during this lesson, as we explore geothermal energy – heat from within the Earth’s core. Students will learn about the basics of this energy source and how it can be harnessed. As a challenge, students will take a closer look at using geothermal for low-temperature heat exchange in homes and businesses.

• Background reading:  Elementary Energy Infobook, Geothermal
• Interactive worksheet

Get Hands-on!

Very few states in the U.S. are geographically situated to allow them to capitalize on high-temperature steam from the Earth. However, almost anyone can use the small temperature differences from just below the Earth’s surface to benefit their home’s energy use. In this activity, students will assemble a rudimentary model of the geothermal exchange process. Geothermal Exchange Simulation, excerpted from a NEED newsletter, asks students to set up a simple model that uses a glass baking dish, heating pad, straws, and bathroom cups. Students can model how geothermal energy can be used during heating and cooling season to help your home maintain a comfortable temperature while possibly saving money on utilities.

Americans love automobiles. We love to drive them. We don’t want anyone telling us what kind of car to buy or how much to drive it. Today, there are more than 240 million vehicles on the road in the U.S. Transportation of people and goods uses just under 30 percent of our annual total energy consumption! This lesson will allow students to get a closer look at how we move people and “stuff,” and the sources and technologies we use to power our vehicles. The activities will also help students to begin to think about how we can consider our transportation habits and vehicle choices as a way to practice conservation. Primary and Elementary students will use the same reading passage and reinforcement activity for this lesson. Similarly, intermediate and Secondary students will work on the same reinforcement activity.  To tie up the lesson, students and families can work together to plan a road trip.

• Background reading:  Transportation Exploration
• Printable Activity: Pretzel Power

Get your motors running, and GO!  

Now that you have learned more about transportation fuels, technologies, and how we use them in the U.S., let’s put it to practical use with Road Trip.  In this activity, students and families will plan or map out a road trip to any destination they would like to visit. And, oh, wouldn’t you like to visit ANY place right now?!? You’ll select a car of your choice, and plan your trip, accounting for fuel consumed, costs to refuel, total miles, and carbon dioxide created from their trip. As a fun challenge, each family member can select their own personal “dream” car for the same trip. The family can compare which car is a more sensible choice when considering style AND costs, both financial and environmental. It might be a good idea to compare different fuels for vehicles, too – electric, gasoline, biodiesel, even! You can pick ANY car you like using the Department of Energy’s Fuel Economy website.

This final lesson will help students and families to consider their use of energy in all parts of their daily lives and how energy consumption can contribute to a climate conundrum. From powering cars and devices to providing the “stuff” we use throughout our day, energy consumption is a major contributor to the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane – two gases we know contribute to warming in our atmosphere. Students will first explore some basic text about energy savings and climate science (as appropriate for each grade level). Reinforcing activities will help students to think about their own energy consumption as they begin to consider conservation behaviors as a way to reduce their carbon impacts. A culminating activity will encourage families to consider their role in climate action as they survey how they play a part in carbon dioxide production.

• Background reading:  Elementary Energy Infobook, Saving Energy
• Printable Worksheet:  Energy Consumption Collage

Think Critically!

This activity doesn’t involve manipulating hands-on materials, but it does ask your students, family, or household to work together to consider carbon dioxide and how your own behaviors and choices can contribute to climate changes, even on a small scale.  Carbon in My Life will introduce students to the ways in which carbon dioxide is produced in the various ways we go about our day. Students are then asked to complete a survey to consider simple actions and if CO₂ is produced or involved in any way. As they continue through the activity, they will continue to study items and responses from their own surveys to identify ways in which they could lower their carbon impacts, or “carbon footprint.”

This lesson aims to introduce energy, helps to identify how we use energy, and begins to look closer at what renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy we use in the United. States.

• Background reading:  Intermediate Energy Infobook, Intro to Energy
• Printable worksheet: Intermediate Energy Infobook Activities, Energy Source Pizza Party

Get Hands-on!

• Candy Collector will help students develop a more thorough understanding of the meaning of the terms “renewable” and “nonrenewable” and how they apply to energy sources. This fun activity can get a little silly!  Be sure to be mindful of spacing and complete the activity individually if germ control is a top priority in your learning environment!

This lesson aims to introduce students to the basics of electricity – what it is, how we use it, and how we can generate it. Electricity is most often generated using a generator. Generators use motion energy and electromagnetism to generate the electricity that powers much of our homes. Students will begin to explore how electricity and magnetism are related to begin to think about how generators work!

• Background reading:  Intermediate Energy Infobook, Electricity
• Interactive worksheet: https://www.need.org/Files/curriculum/infobookactivities/Intermediate/Electricitycrossword_int.html

Get Hands-on!

• Electromagnets is a fun way to show students how electricity from a battery can make a metallic item into a magnet – demonstrating that electricity and magnetism are related! For this activity, you’ll be using a battery, some coated wire or an alligator clip to make an electric circuit, and a nail with a compass to demonstrate magnetism. Use caution: the battery may become warm to the touch while the wire is connected.

Alternative

Don’t have a compass? Want an extra challenge? Grab a few paperclips and place them near the nail as an alternative method to demonstrate that you have a magnet. If the nail is magnetized it will pick up the paperclips! How many can you lift?

Background Information for adults:

This activity takes a non-magnetic object, a nail, and makes it magnetic. Ordinarily, iron is not in and of itself a magnet, but it will respond to a magnetic field. Only three metals are noticeably magnetic: iron, nickel, and cobalt. This is related to the movement of electrons within the atoms.

Electrons don’t just move around the nucleus of an atom; they also spin. Michael Faraday was the first to demonstrate that a moving electrical field creates a magnetic field, and because electrons have an electrical charge, their movement creates tiny magnetic fields. Ordinarily, electrons exist in pairs. Each electron in the pair spins in an opposing direction from the other. The magnetic field generated by one electron is canceled by the magnetic field generated by the other electron in the pair. However, in nickel, cobalt, and iron, there are unpaired electrons with magnetic fields that are not canceled. This creates tiny sections in the metal where magnetic fields align, called magnetic domains.

When the wire was wrapped around the nail, and electric current moved through it, a magnetic field was created that moved through the center of the coil of wire, out from one end of the nail, and around, back to the other end of the nail. The way electric and magnetic fields are related is demonstrated with the “right-hand rule.” If you outstretch your right hand, and your thumb indicates the direction of one field, the fingers of your right hand will curl around in the direction of the other field. If the electric current was straight, the magnetic field would curl around the wire. If the electric current was moving in a coil, however, the magnetic field would be straight.

When the wire was connected to the battery and electric current moved through it, the magnetic field induced by the moving electric field in the wire caused the magnetic domains in the nail to align, and the nail became a magnet itself. Even after the wire was disconnected from the battery, the nail may have remained magnetic until dropped on the floor or tapped on the table, which would have caused the magnetic domains to move back into their original configuration.

Electromagnetism allows us to transform electrical energy into kinetic energy and make things move. The chemicals in the battery interact to generate electric current, and like the apple electrolytic cell in Station Five, transform chemical energy into electrical energy.

This lesson aims to introduce students to energy-saving behaviors and why it is important to save or conserve energy. Energy conservation is the decision and practice of using less energy. Energy conservation can be easy to start because it’s based on our decisions and behaviors. Students will first become acquainted with all the ways in which they use energy each day at home, at school, and on the road. Students will then take a survey of their energy behaviors and decisions and look for ways they can try to practice energy conservation as a household.

• Background reading:  Intermediate Energy Infobook, Saving Energy
• Printable worksheet: 4Rs Barista Cup Art Challenge

Get Hands-on!

• Energy Conservation Contract has students working with the members of their household to survey and rate their energy-using behaviors. The activity encourages the family or household to gather qualitative and some quantitative data from their surveys and ratings to then develop a contract of energy-saving behaviors they will act upon. Then, conduct the rating survey again. Can the students and their household identify some savings?

This week’s lesson will help your students and your family begin to understand your electricity consumption in order to better interpret your utility bills. Electricity can account for up to 70% of a home’s utility expenses. While much of the expense is often attributed to larger items like refrigerators, washers and dryers, and air conditioning, when everyone in your household is home and everything is plugged in, electricity consumption and its associated costs can climb quickly.  Students will revisit text about electricity, how it is transported to us, and how it is used in our homes. Student activities will extend the learning to showcase how to save electricity at home, and students will complete the unit by doing an accounting of their electricity consumption at home. Break out the calculators for this activity, and remind students how to safely unplug and plug-in appliances! Don’t forget to look back at the efficiency and conservation text from last week for more tips and tricks on saving energy at home!

• Background reading:  Intermediate Energy Infobook, Electricity
• Printable worksheet: (R)Amp Up the Efficiency

Get Hands-on!

Morning Money Crunch has students amplifying their home survey to include quantitative analysis. In this activity, students will work together to gather data on the number of pluggable devices they have, how much power they might draw, and how frequently they are used to determine an estimated cost for their use. The activity is framed to consider only the items used when getting ready in the morning, however, the activity could be shifted to meet any time of day or several times throughout the day. Encourage younger students to work with older students, where applicable to “crunch their numbers.”

Extensions

Compile the data into a spreadsheet and estimate the cost of powering all of your household devices. How does it compare to your electricity bill? What are some reasons your calculations might be over or under?

Saving energy at home can be as easy as flipping a switch! Lighting is a system in our home that can use a good amount of energy but is pretty easy to control. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, lighting accounts for roughly 8 percent of a home’s energy expenses. This lesson aims to introduce students and their families to lighting and energy savings in the home. Students will read text on lighting and complete a reinforcement activity or hands-on investigation. Students or families can then work together to survey their home’s lighting and calculate the cost-benefit of more efficient lighting choices. 

• Background reading:  School Energy Experts, Understanding Lighting
• Printable Activity: Comparing Light Bulbs

Get Hands-on!

• These lessons will wrap up with an exploration of lighting in your home and some quick lighting math in This is Your Light. Look at your lighting technologies as a household. Is there an opportunity to switch to a more efficient bulb type? What costs would be incurred, and how quickly would those costs be recouped? A lot of times, we’re taught the adage “if it ain’t broke; don’t fix it.” However, in completing this quick math activity, students and families might see quickly that a switch could save money in a very short turnaround.

This week’s lesson focuses on one of the biggest energy users in our home – appliances! The appliances we use at home help make life easier. Appliances can be large like refrigerators and washing machines, or small like curling irons and toasters. Appliances (including water heating and refrigerators) can account for nearly 50 percent of our utility costs at home! Students will read text on appliances and their energy costs and complete the reinforcement activities that relate to appliances and energy consumption. Then students and families can work together on rating their home again, revisiting their Energy Conservation Contract ratings in a slightly different format. Are your efforts working?

• Background reading: School Energy Experts, Electricity consuming Devices
• Printable Activity: Energy Consumption Collage

Get Hands-on!

• • Lesson 3 had students and households start a discussion and conduct a survey of their behaviors to determine a few conservation efforts they might make in the home. This week’s culminating activity, Re-Rate My Energy Use is similar to the survey and rating system used in lesson 3,  and aims to have families continue thinking about their behaviors to spot changes, make improvements, and work together to consider conservation as a family effort. Households should discuss their ratings this week and think back to the previous rating if completed. As a household, consider what tactics you might try or continue to try at home, and how they might help your energy bills and comfort while making small alterations or sacrifices in your daily activities.

This week’s lesson focuses on the biggest energy cost in homes – heating and cooling. Heating and cooling systems use more energy than any other systems in residential and commercial buildings. Natural gas and electricity are usually used to heat, and electricity is used to cool. In this lesson, students will learn about these systems with activities that explore measuring temperature, the movement of thermal energy, and how insulation helps to make sure the desired temperature is maintained and your heating or cooling system isn’t overworked.

• Background reading: School Energy Experts, Understanding Thermal Energy
• Printable Activity: Insulation Station

Get Hands-on!

• In this activity, students will apply what they’ve learned about thermal energy and how it is constantly on the move. Has anyone ever told scolded you for leaving the door open and letting the “bought air” out?  Because thermal energy is always on the move, air will find the smallest leaks or cracks to come into or escape out of your home. In Seal of Approval, students will use a simple tool to evaluate their home and look for places where warm or cool air might try to leak into or out of the home. Students can also conduct a survey of their home to look closely at the insulation visibly present, and compare to suggested amounts based on their climate zone.

This lesson aims to introduce students to solar energy. Energy from the sun plays a part in the use of nearly every other source of energy, from wind to biomass, to yes – fossil fuels!  Solar energy can be used to heat homes, heat water, dry crops, and generate electricity.  Students will begin to explore all of these uses for solar energy, and take their learning outdoors as they build a solar-powered oven!

• Background reading:  Intermediate Energy Infobook, Solar
• Printable Activity:  Solar in the News

Get Hands-on!

• Explore how energy from the sun can transform into useful thermal energy to cook our food!  Students can assemble their own solar cookers from pizza boxes you may have at home from your last delivery dinner. Don’t’ have a pizza box? This activity can easily be done with any recycled cardboard, food containers, etc., and may also be conducted as a challenge with minimal instructions. No matter which version of this activity you conduct, you’ll need a sunny day. Design and construction can take place inside during any conditions. If cooking food, you may also need to reposition your cooker periodically. If you don’t wish to cook food, set it up with a thermometer inside and record the temperature change over time! Solar cookers are great for melting chocolate for s’mores, making melty cheese nachos, and under the right conditions, baking cookies or heating hot dogs! Make sure adults inspect your food before eating, to ensure food safety!

Wind is moving air. If air is moving, work can be done! This lesson will help students to begin to understand how wind is created on Earth and how we can use it to do important work like grinding grain, moving ships, pumping water, and perhaps most importantly, generating electricity!  

• Background reading:  Intermediate Energy Infobook, Wind
• Interactive worksheet

Get Hands-on!

• Wind Can Do Work is a fun, hands-on challenge to showcase how windmills have done work for centuries. This activity explores wind doing work to lift weight, much like a windmill on a farm might be used to pump water from a well. Complete the activity as written using the instructions and the printable 4-blade windmill template.

Extensions & Important Information!

• Don’t have all the prescribed materials? Did you complete the activity as-is and think your kids are up for an added engineering & design challenge? Create a Wind Weightlifter design challenge using only the prompt and removing the step-by-step instructions! Sample “teacher’s cheats” and suggestions of alternative materials are provided!

Check out NEED Educator Rob’s Wind Can Do Work Challenge EdPuzzle video on YouTube. His video gives a brief intro to wind, and a video step-by-step of the project. For older and more math-capable learners, stick around to the end of the video to learn how to calculate how much power (in watts) your paper-based turbine is capable of providing! Students can determine the actual power rating of their model, much like power ratings of the giant, wind turbine generators they see outside!

• Background reading:  Intermediate Energy Infobook, Geothermal
• Interactive worksheet

Get Hands-on!

Very few states in the U.S. are geographically situated to allow them to capitalize on high-temperature steam from the Earth. However, almost anyone can use the small temperature differences from just below the Earth’s surface to benefit their home’s energy use. In this activity, students will assemble a rudimentary model of the geothermal exchange process. Geothermal Exchange Simulation, excerpted from a NEED newsletter, asks students to set up a simple model that uses a glass baking dish, heating pad, straws, and bathroom cups. Students can model how geothermal energy can be used during heating and cooling season to help your home maintain a comfortable temperature while possibly saving money on utilities.

Americans love automobiles. We love to drive them. We don’t want anyone telling us what kind of car to buy or how much to drive it. Today, there are more than 240 million vehicles on the road in the U.S. Transportation of people and goods uses just under 30 percent of our annual total energy consumption! This lesson will allow students to get a closer look at how we move people and “stuff,” and the sources and technologies we use to power our vehicles. The activities will also help students to begin to think about how we can consider our transportation habits and vehicle choices as a way to practice conservation. Primary and Elementary students will use the same reading passage and reinforcement activity for this lesson. Similarly, intermediate and Secondary students will work on the same reinforcement activity.  To tie up the lesson, students and families can work together to plan a road trip.

• Background reading:  Intermediate Energy Infobook, Transportation
• Printable Activity: Transportation Tips (attachment 4)

Get your motors running, and GO!  

Now that you have learned more about transportation fuels, technologies, and how we use them in the U.S., let’s put it to practical use with Road Trip.  In this activity, students and families will plan or map out a road trip to any destination they would like to visit. And, oh, wouldn’t you like to visit ANY place right now?!? You’ll select a car of your choice, and plan your trip, accounting for fuel consumed, costs to refuel, total miles, and carbon dioxide created from their trip. As a fun challenge, each family member can select their own personal “dream” car for the same trip. The family can compare which car is a more sensible choice when considering style AND costs, both financial and environmental. It might be a good idea to compare different fuels for vehicles, too – electric, gasoline, biodiesel, even! You can pick ANY car you like using the Department of Energy’s Fuel Economy website.

This final lesson will help students and families to consider their use of energy in all parts of their daily lives and how energy consumption can contribute to a climate conundrum. From powering cars and devices to providing the “stuff” we use throughout our day, energy consumption is a major contributor to the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane – two gases we know contribute to warming in our atmosphere. Students will first explore some basic text about energy savings and climate science (as appropriate for each grade level). Reinforcing activities will help students to think about their own energy consumption as they begin to consider conservation behaviors as a way to reduce their carbon impacts. A culminating activity will encourage families to consider their role in climate action as they survey how they play a part in carbon dioxide production.

• Background reading:  Intermediate Energy Infobook, Climate Change
• Printable Activity:  Electricity and Carbon Dioxide

Think Critically!

This activity doesn’t involve manipulating hands-on materials, but it does ask your students, family, or household to work together to consider carbon dioxide and how your own behaviors and choices can contribute to climate changes, even on a small scale.  Carbon in My Life will introduce students to the ways in which carbon dioxide is produced in the various ways we go about our day. Students are then asked to complete a survey to consider simple actions and if CO₂ is produced or involved in any way. As they continue through the activity, they will continue to study items and responses from their own surveys to identify ways in which they could lower their carbon impacts, or “carbon footprint.”

This lesson aims to introduce energy, helps to identify how we use energy, and begins to look closer at what renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy we use in the United. States.

• Background reading:  Secondary Energy Infobook, Intro to Energy
• Interactive worksheet: https://www.need.org/Files/curriculum/infobookactivities/Intermediate/RenewablesandNonrenewables.html

Get Hands-on!

• Candy Collector will help students develop a more thorough understanding of the meaning of the terms “renewable” and “nonrenewable” and how they apply to energy sources. This fun activity can get a little silly!  Be sure to be mindful of spacing and complete the activity individually if germ control is a top priority in your learning environment!

This lesson aims to introduce students to the basics of electricity – what it is, how we use it, and how we can generate it. Electricity is most often generated using a generator. Generators use motion energy and electromagnetism to generate the electricity that powers much of our homes. Students will begin to explore how electricity and magnetism are related to begin to think about how generators work!

• Background reading:  Secondary Energy Infobook, Electricity
• Interactive worksheet: https://www.need.org/Files/curriculum/infobookactivities/Intermediate/MeasuringElectricity.html 

Get Hands-on!

• Electromagnets is a fun way to show students how electricity from a battery can make a metallic item into a magnet – demonstrating that electricity and magnetism are related! For this activity, you’ll be using a battery, some coated wire or an alligator clip to make an electric circuit, and a nail with a compass to demonstrate magnetism. Use caution: the battery may become warm to the touch while the wire is connected.

Alternative

Don’t have a compass? Want an extra challenge? Grab a few paperclips and place them near the nail as an alternative method to demonstrate that you have a magnet. If the nail is magnetized it will pick up the paperclips! How many can you lift?

Background Information for adults:

This activity takes a non-magnetic object, a nail, and makes it magnetic. Ordinarily, iron is not in and of itself a magnet, but it will respond to a magnetic field. Only three metals are noticeably magnetic: iron, nickel, and cobalt. This is related to the movement of electrons within the atoms.

Electrons don’t just move around the nucleus of an atom; they also spin. Michael Faraday was the first to demonstrate that a moving electrical field creates a magnetic field, and because electrons have an electrical charge, their movement creates tiny magnetic fields. Ordinarily, electrons exist in pairs. Each electron in the pair spins in an opposing direction from the other. The magnetic field generated by one electron is canceled by the magnetic field generated by the other electron in the pair. However, in nickel, cobalt, and iron, there are unpaired electrons with magnetic fields that are not canceled. This creates tiny sections in the metal where magnetic fields align, called magnetic domains.

When the wire was wrapped around the nail, and electric current moved through it, a magnetic field was created that moved through the center of the coil of wire, out from one end of the nail, and around, back to the other end of the nail. The way electric and magnetic fields are related is demonstrated with the “right-hand rule.” If you outstretch your right hand, and your thumb indicates the direction of one field, the fingers of your right hand will curl around in the direction of the other field. If the electric current was straight, the magnetic field would curl around the wire. If the electric current was moving in a coil, however, the magnetic field would be straight.

When the wire was connected to the battery and electric current moved through it, the magnetic field induced by the moving electric field in the wire caused the magnetic domains in the nail to align, and the nail became a magnet itself. Even after the wire was disconnected from the battery, the nail may have remained magnetic until dropped on the floor or tapped on the table, which would have caused the magnetic domains to move back into their original configuration.

Electromagnetism allows us to transform electrical energy into kinetic energy and make things move. The chemicals in the battery interact to generate electric current, and like the apple electrolytic cell in Station Five, transform chemical energy into electrical energy.

• Background reading:  Secondary Energy Infobook, Efficiency and Conservation
• Printable Worksheet: Insta Energy

*Instagram post/account optional

Get Hands-on!

• Energy Conservation Contract has students working with the members of their household to survey and rate their energy-using behaviors. The activity encourages the family or household to gather qualitative and some quantitative data from their surveys and ratings to then develop a contract of energy-saving behaviors they will act upon. Then, conduct the ratings survey again. Can the students and their household identify some savings?

This week’s lesson will help your students and your family begin to understand your electricity consumption in order to better interpret your utility bills. Electricity can account for up to 70% of a home’s utility expenses. While much of the expense is often attributed to larger items like refrigerators, washers and dryers, and air conditioning, when everyone in your household is home and everything is plugged in, electricity consumption and its associated costs can climb quickly.  Students will revisit text about electricity, how it is transported to us, and how it is used in our homes. Student activities will extend the learning to showcase how to save electricity at home, and students will complete the unit by doing an accounting of their electricity consumption at home. Break out the calculators for this activity, and remind students how to safely unplug and plug-in appliances! Don’t forget to look back at the efficiency and conservation text from last week for more tips and tricks on saving energy at home!

• Background reading:  Secondary Energy Infobook, Electricity
• Printable Worksheet: Smart Meters Math

Get Hands-on!

Morning Money Crunch has students amplifying their home survey to include quantitative analysis. In this activity, students will work together to gather data on the number of pluggable devices they have, how much power they might draw, and how frequently they are used to determine an estimated cost for their use. The activity is framed to consider only the items used when getting ready in the morning, however, the activity could be shifted to meet any time of day or several times throughout the day. Encourage younger students to work with older students, where applicable to “crunch their numbers.”

Extensions

Compile the data into a spreadsheet and estimate the cost of powering all of your household devices. How does it compare to your electricity bill? What are some reasons your calculations might be over or under?

Saving energy at home can be as easy as flipping a switch! Lighting is a system in our home that can use a good amount of energy but is pretty easy to control. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, lighting accounts for roughly 8 percent of a home’s energy expenses. This lesson aims to introduce students and their families to lighting and energy savings in the home. Students will read text on lighting and complete a reinforcement activity or hands-on investigation. Students or families can then work together to survey their home’s lighting and calculate the cost-benefit of more efficient lighting choices. 

• Background reading:  School Energy Managers, Lighting
• Printable Activity: Comparing Light Bulbs

Get Hands-on!

• These lessons will wrap up with an exploration of lighting in your home and some quick lighting math in This is Your Light. Look at your lighting technologies as a household. Is there an opportunity to switch to a more efficient bulb type? What costs would be incurred, and how quickly would those costs be recouped? A lot of times, we’re taught the adage “if it ain’t broke; don’t fix it.” However, in completing this quick math activity, students and families might see quickly that a switch could save money in a very short turnaround.

This week’s lesson focuses on one of the biggest energy users in our home – appliances! The appliances we use at home help make life easier. Appliances can be large like refrigerators and washing machines, or small like curling irons and toasters. Appliances (including water heating and refrigerators) can account for nearly 50 percent of our utility costs at home! Students will read text on appliances and their energy costs and complete the reinforcement activities that relate to appliances and energy consumption. Then students and families can work together on rating their home again, revisiting their Energy Conservation Contract ratings in a slightly different format. Are your efforts working?

• Background reading:  Building Science, Appliances and Electrical Devices
• Printable Activity:  Appliances and Energy Guide Labels

Get Hands-on!

• • Lesson 3 had students and households start a discussion and conduct a survey of their behaviors to determine a few conservation efforts they might make in the home. This week’s culminating activity, Re-Rate My Energy Use is similar to the survey and rating system used in lesson 3 and aims to have families continue thinking about their behaviors to spot changes, make improvements, and work together to consider conservation as a family effort. Households should discuss their ratings this week and think back to the previous rating if completed. As a household, consider what tactics you might try or continue to try at home, and how they might help your energy bills and comfort while making small alterations or sacrifices in your daily activities.

This week’s lesson focuses on the biggest energy cost in homes – heating and cooling. Heating and cooling systems use more energy than any other systems in residential and commercial buildings. Natural gas and electricity are usually used to heat, and electricity is used to cool. In this lesson, students will learn about these systems with activities that explore measuring temperature, the movement of thermal energy, and how insulation helps to make sure the desired temperature is maintained and your heating or cooling system isn’t overworked.

• Background reading:  School Energy Managers, Thermal Energy
• Printable Activity:  Investigating Thermostats

Get Hands-on!

• In this activity, students will apply what they’ve learned about thermal energy and how it is constantly on the move. Has anyone ever told scolded you for leaving the door open and letting the “bought air” out?  Because thermal energy is always on the move, air will find the smallest leaks or cracks to come into or escape out of your home. In Seal of Approval, students will use a simple tool to evaluate their home and look for places where warm or cool air might try to leak into or out of the home. Students can also conduct a survey of their home to look closely at the insulation visibly present, and compare to suggested amounts based on their climate zone.

This lesson aims to introduce students to solar energy. Energy from the sun plays a part in the use of nearly every other source of energy, from wind to biomass, to yes – fossil fuels!  Solar energy can be used to heat homes, heat water, dry crops, and generate electricity.  Students will begin to explore all of these uses for solar energy, and take their learning outdoors as they build a solar-powered oven!

• Background reading:  Secondary Energy Infobook, Solar
• Interactive Worksheet

Get Hands-on!

• Explore how energy from the sun can transform into useful thermal energy to cook our food!  Students can assemble their own solar cookers from pizza boxes you may have at home from your last delivery dinner. Don’t’ have a pizza box? This activity can easily be done with any recycled cardboard, food containers, etc., and may also be conducted as a challenge with minimal instructions. No matter which version of this activity you conduct, you’ll need a sunny day. Design and construction can take place inside during any conditions. If cooking food, you may also need to reposition your cooker periodically. If you don’t wish to cook food, set it up with a thermometer inside and record the temperature change over time! Solar cookers are great for melting chocolate for s’mores, making melty cheese nachos, and under the right conditions, baking cookies or heating hot dogs! Make sure adults inspect your food before eating, to ensure food safety!

Wind is moving air. If air is moving, work can be done! This lesson will help students to begin to understand how wind is created on Earth and how we can use it to do important work like grinding grain, moving ships, pumping water, and perhaps most importantly, generating electricity!  

• Background reading:  Secondary Energy Infobook, Wind
• Printable worksheet: Designer Phone Case

Get Hands-on!

• Wind Can Do Work is a fun, hands-on challenge to showcase how windmills have done work for centuries. This activity explores wind doing work to lift weight, much like a windmill on a farm might be used to pump water from a well. Complete the activity as written using the instructions and the printable 4-blade windmill template.

Extensions & Important Information!

• Don’t have all the prescribed materials? Did you complete the activity as-is and think your kids are up for an added engineering & design challenge? Create a Wind Weightlifter design challenge using only the prompt and removing the step-by-step instructions! Sample “teacher’s cheats” and suggestions of alternative materials are provided!

Check out NEED Educator Rob’s Wind Can Do Work Challenge EdPuzzle video on YouTube. His video gives a brief intro to wind, and a video step-by-step of the project. For older and more math-capable learners, stick around to the end of the video to learn how to calculate how much power (in watts) your paper-based turbine is capable of providing! Students can determine the actual power rating of their model, much like power ratings of the giant, wind turbine generators they see outside!

• Background reading:  Secondary Energy Infobook, Geothermal
• Printable worksheet: Geothermal Review

Get Hands-on!

Very few states in the U.S. are geographically situated to allow them to capitalize on high-temperature steam from the Earth. However, almost anyone can use the small temperature differences from just below the Earth’s surface to benefit their home’s energy use. In this activity, students will assemble a rudimentary model of the geothermal exchange process. Geothermal Exchange Simulation, excerpted from a NEED newsletter, asks students to set up a simple model that uses a glass baking dish, heating pad, straws, and bathroom cups. Students can model how geothermal energy can be used during heating and cooling season to help your home maintain a comfortable temperature while possibly saving money on utilities.

Americans love automobiles. We love to drive them. We don’t want anyone telling us what kind of car to buy or how much to drive it. Today, there are more than 240 million vehicles on the road in the U.S. Transportation of people and goods uses just under 30 percent of our annual total energy consumption! This lesson will allow students to get a closer look at how we move people and “stuff,” and the sources and technologies we use to power our vehicles. The activities will also help students to begin to think about how we can consider our transportation habits and vehicle choices as a way to practice conservation. Primary and Elementary students will use the same reading passage and reinforcement activity for this lesson. Similarly, intermediate and Secondary students will work on the same reinforcement activity.  To tie up the lesson, students and families can work together to plan a road trip.

• Background reading:  Secondary Energy Infobook, Transportation
• Printable Activity: Transportation Tips

Get your motors running, and GO!  

Now that you have learned more about transportation fuels, technologies, and how we use them in the U.S., let’s put it to practical use with Road Trip.  In this activity, students and families will plan or map out a road trip to any destination they would like to visit. And, oh, wouldn’t you like to visit ANY place right now?!? You’ll select a car of your choice, and plan your trip, accounting for fuel consumed, costs to refuel, total miles, and carbon dioxide created from their trip. As a fun challenge, each family member can select their own personal “dream” car for the same trip. The family can compare which car is a more sensible choice when considering style AND costs, both financial and environmental. It might be a good idea to compare different fuels for vehicles, too – electric, gasoline, biodiesel, even! You can pick ANY car you like using the Department of Energy’s Fuel Economy website.

This final lesson will help students and families to consider their use of energy in all parts of their daily lives and how energy consumption can contribute to a climate conundrum. From powering cars and devices to providing the “stuff” we use throughout our day, energy consumption is a major contributor to the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane – two gases we know contribute to warming in our atmosphere. Students will first explore some basic text about energy savings and climate science (as appropriate for each grade level). Reinforcing activities will help students to think about their own energy consumption as they begin to consider conservation behaviors as a way to reduce their carbon impacts. A culminating activity will encourage families to consider their role in climate action as they survey how they play a part in carbon dioxide production.

• Background reading:  Secondary Energy Infobook, Climate Change
• Printable Activity: Carbon Footprint

Think Critically!

This activity doesn’t involve manipulating hands-on materials, but it does ask your students, family, or household to work together to consider carbon dioxide and how your own behaviors and choices can contribute to climate changes, even on a small scale.  Carbon in My Life will introduce students to the ways in which carbon dioxide is produced in the various ways we go about our day. Students are then asked to complete a survey to consider simple actions and if CO₂ is produced or involved in any way. As they continue through the activity, they will continue to study items and responses from their own surveys to identify ways in which they could lower their carbon impacts, or “carbon footprint.”