Energy

Powering Our Future is an interactive education program for grades 4-12 focused on energy use, electricity, renewable energy, and energy conservation.  The lessons in this program address Arizona Department of Education academic standards in science and social studies, as well as mathematics and language arts.  The site is designed for use in conjunction with Powering Our Future written materials.  Ordering information is available on their website at http://www.poweringourfuture.com/.

Developed by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, Planet Connecticut is an interactive education program that increases student awareness of commute alternatives and how making different lifestyle choices can contribute to a cleaner environment and a better quality of life.  Activities can be used for any 6th-9th grade classroom in the state and correlate to several math, science, and geography state standards in Connecticut.

Produced by Connecticut Energy Education, these energy efficiency lessons provide students and teachers with activities to bridge the subjects of Fundamentals of Energy and Climate Change, and provide activities for students to make their own solutions to energy issues.  Lessons include Ecological Footprint Calculator, Home Energy Quiz, and 10% Challenge. These lessons are best suited for grades 7-12 and adhere to Connecticut State Education Standards.

The National Arbor Day Foundation’s National Poster Contest offers free lesson plans and activities demonstrating the link between trees and energy.  Correlates to National Science Education Standards and National Social Studies Education Standards.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy website has a searchable database of creative lesson plans, projects and other activities for grades K-12 on energy-related topics. Each lesson plan includes a short summary that identifies how to introduce it into the curriculum, time required, materials needed and national standards that will be met. Search for lesson plans by topic and grade level.

Developed by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, Trip Tally has students complete a simple air pollution experiment and discuss what they find. Students discover actions that they already take that help keep our air clean by recording how they get around for one week. They will discover that they can avoid creating air pollution by taking public transportation, carpooling, walking and other means. At the end of the week the class tabulates, graphs and analyzes their data. Students finish up by making posters with a message about how to reduce air pollution.

PLT's Energy & Society program provides formal and non-formal educators with tools and activities to help students in grades PreK-8 learn about their relationship with energy and investigate the environmental issues related to energy's role in society. Energy & Society helps students develop critical thinking skills to make decisions about their personal energy use. In addition to hands-on activities, Energy & Society integrates music and dance to enhance the study of energy issues.  Follow the link located above for ordering information.

The NEED Project provides an extensive library of standards-based curricula for teachers of grades K-12. Examples of the many resources teachers can download are: free lessons on wind energy in four levels, hands-on solar kits, energy infobooks in four levels, energy efficiency and conservation lesson plans, curricula on saving energy for students and families, and transportation fuels lessons. Several NEED lessons also feature connections to language arts, geography and economics. Lessons are available for all grade levels K-12 and adhere to National Science Education Standards.

The Florida Solar Energy Center provides alternative fuels curricula including lessons about hydrogen and solar fuel sources organized by subject and grade level. Activities are tied to Florida's Sunshine State Standards.

Energy Works Michigan provides free lesson plans on energy efficiency and renewable energy resources that are hands-on, engaging and aligned with Michigan educational state standards. The lesson plans are targeted at three grade levels: upper elementary (grades 3-5), middle school (grades 6-8) and high school (grades 9-12). For each grade level, three units are provided: Energy Efficiency, Solar Energy and Wind Energy. Educators must complete a free registration in order to access the lesson plans.