Teaching Climate

This activity introduces students to different forms of energy, energy transformations, energy storage, and the flow of energy through systems. Students learn that most energy can be traced back to nuclear fusion on the sun.

This small-group activity uses engineering concepts to design energy systems for three off-the-grid towns in Mali, Ethiopia, and Namibia.

In this activity, students learn about the energy sources used by their local utility provider to generate electricity, and work in small groups to evaluate the sustainability of either a renewable or non-renewable energy source used to generate electricity.

In this activity, students explore energy production and consumption by contrasting regional energy production in five different US regions.

This two-part resource from GreenVision Energy broadly introduces students to vocabulary like renewable energy, load and demand response, carbon capture and sequestration, and environmental justice. Students will learn about the challenges of integrating renewable energy into the current energy grid system and navigating energy equity concepts caused by climate change through podcasts, worksheets, and discussion questions.

In this activity, students listen to a podcast about energy efficiency; read a brief history of energy efficiency in the United States; do a qualitative energy audit of their classroom, including lighting, heating/air conditioning, and appliances and electronics; interview someone knowledgeable about the physical building; and complete a quantitative energy audit of a portion of their school.

In this activity, student teams research and develop a proposal to decrease the carbon footprint of their city's/town's public transportation system and then prepare a report that explains why their transportation plan is the best for their community.

This visualization is an interactive Energy System Map, which includes short write-ups introducing students to fundamental energy system topics, paired with animated videos and deep dive resources.

Students research electricity, its sources, how energy grids function, how to make grids most efficient, and how to bring different types of energy generation together to diversify grids. Students debate the costs and benefits of moving to a modernized Smart Grid.

In this learning activity, students analyze various sources of information to determine the best location for a new wind farm.