Exploring Solar Power
Harnessing energy from the sun holds vast applicationsCopyright http://solar.ee.missouri.edu/gallery03/index.htm
Lesson 1, Using Heat from the Sun and associated activity Cooking with the Sun - Creating a Solar Oven: The three primary modes of energy transfer—conduction, convection and radiation—are discussed in the context of engineers exploiting heat from the sun. Then students create and use solar ovens.
Lesson 2, From Sunlight to Electric Current and associated activity Racing with the Sun - Creating a Solar Car: Students learn how the sun's energy can be used to produce electricity. Then they create and race model solar cars.
Designing and building solar cars and solar ovens are examples of engineering projects that demonstrate to students how engineers apply their brains and imaginations to make an impact on the world through innovative designs.
MS-PS3-5 Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.
Grades 6-8
This resource focuses on the following Three Dimensional Learning aspects of NGSS:
Science & Engineering Practices- Construct, use, and present oral and written arguments supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon.Do you agree with this alignment?
- Science knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence and explanations.Do you agree with this alignment?
Disciplinary Core Ideas- When the motion energy of an object changes, there is inevitably some other change in energy at the same time.Do you agree with this alignment?
Crosscutting Concepts- Energy may take different forms (e.g. energy in fields, thermal energy, energy of motion).Do you agree with this alignment?
Do you agree with this alignment?- Construct, use, and present oral and written arguments supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon.
- Day 1: Using Heat from the Sun lesson
- Day 2-6: Cooking with the Sun - Creating a Solar Oven activity
- Day 7: From Sunlight to Electric Current lesson
- Day 8-10: Racing with the Sun - Creating a Solar Car activity
Contributors
Roni Prucz; Rahmin Sarabi; Lauren Powell
Supporting Program
Techtronics Program, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University
Acknowledgements
This content was developed by the MUSIC (Math Understanding through Science Integrated with Curriculum) Program in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University under National Science Foundation GK-12 grant no. DGE 0338262. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the NSF, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
Copyright
2013 by Regents of the University of Colorado; original © 2004 Duke University