Energy Literacy Videos
Posted on October 29th, 2015 by Mary Lord
From weather patterns and food supplies to society’s daily electricity needs, energy drives everything. The U.S. Department of Energy’s new energy literacy video series highlights the seven principles that demonstrate energy’s role across the natural and social sciences, and is part of a broader set of education resources, lessons, and activities maintained by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Filed under: K-12 Outreach Programs, Web Resources | Comments Off on Energy Literacy Videos
Tags: Alternative Energy, Class Activities, Energy, Environmental science, Internet Resources, Sustainability, U.S. Department of Energy, Web Resources
While solar-powered cars have yet to cruise much beyond design competitions, Swiss engineer André Borschberg swooped across the Pacific and into the record books when his solar-powered plane landed in Hawaii on July 3, 205 – five days after taking off from Japan.
High school students working in teams of four learn how a device made with dye from berries can be used to convert light energy into electrical energy by building their own organic solar cells and measuring performance based on power output.
America’s “green economy” is growing, and that means new jobs in sustainability, construction, engineering and many other areas. To help students discover their interests and career pathways, Green360 offers self-assessment inventories, career coaching, and other free online curricular resources. 
The SMART Competition invites high school students to apply their knowledge of science, math, physics, and engineering to develop intelligent-building solutions for a world increasingly dependent on energy efficiency, redesign, and reuse, This year’s challenge is to redesign an existing high school gym. Students will be mentored by design and engineering professionals, and use the same techniques and tools as the country’s best design firms.
Izhar Gafni’s eureka moment came a few years ago when he heard about a cardboard canoe and wondered: “Why not a cardboard bicycle?” It took several years of trial-and-error work before he succeeded in building a reliable model that weighs a mere 20 pounds, is stronger than carbon fiber, and costs only about $10 to make.
Share a ride. Plant a tree. There are lots of ways individuals can have a positive impact on the planet. Earth Day 2014’s theme is Green Cities. Since buildings worldwide are responsible for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the carbon footprint of schools, homes, and offices can pay huge dividends.
One day, we may be lugging our own personal wind turbines. International design company frog has unsheathed an umbrella-size, portable wind turbine called Revolver that can generate enough juice from a faint breeze to power a laptop, small light, or radio, or recharge a cellphone or other small electronic gadget.
In this activity, students in grades 9-11 learn how engineers harness the energy of the wind by following the engineering design process to create and test two prototype wind turbines to see which works best. They also learn about where to place a wind turbine for maximum effectiveness, and to weigh the advantages and disadvantages compared with other energy sources.
