Teaching Materials – Energy Management & Efficiency

Energy Management & Efficiency

Renewable Energy Lesson Plan - By the Numbers - SolarWise

By The Numbers introduces students to basic facts and dynamics of the American energy economy. Students learn how each primary source of energy is provided by nature, how each is employed in the economy, and whether each source is nonrenewable or renewable.

Map with abbreviations. Our Energy Resources and Solarwise logo.

Students research and report on the interesting and diverse energy resources used in their state and our country in Our Energy Resources.  Excellent student research resources are provided.

Renewable Energy Lesson Plan - What's the Cheapest Watt? - SolarWise

Students survey an electrical appliance at home in What’s The Cheapest Watt?  Pooling class data, they then consider energy management decisions.  In the end, they determine the cheapest Watt—the one that costs the least, preserves the most natural resources, and saves the most environmental pollution — is the Watt they never use.

Renewable Energy Lesson Plan - Renewable Energy Lesson Plan - It Pays to Save in Your Home - SolarWise

In this lesson, students learn that It Pays to Save in Your Home.  Students consider many common, potential energy saving situations in a home, research questions surrounding them, and report on their findings. Students learn which energy saving measures should always be applied first.  They also learn that saving energy always comes before applying renewable energy technologies.

My School's Energy Report Card. Electric Tower. Solarwise Logo

Students learn about energy conservation, green building practices, and demand rate billing while conducting an energy tour of their school building.  My School’s Energy Report Card also teaches them they are energy managers no matter what building they’re in.

Commercial Building Energy Systems - by Smart Start

Take your students on a field trip through places in your school they never see.  Show students how energy systems are used to deliver and efficiently manage comfort in a building like yours in Commercial Building Energy Systems.

Renewable Energy Lesson Plan - Building a Passive Solar Home - SolarWise

In Building A Passive Solar Home, students design and build a home to take advantage of its natural surroundings and manage its environmental disadvantages. They learn about the concept of a home energy load profile.  Students learn how seasonal changes, architecture, and landscaping can be used in the design of a home with a low energy load profile.

Green & Greenwashing. Grass & Solarwise logo.

Is it green, or is it greenwashed?  Green and Greenwashing requires students photograph  and describe examples of “green” and “greenwashed” products commonly marketed to them.

Back in the day. Black and white photos. Solawise logo.

Through personal interviews, students learn how lifestyles have been transformed as a result of energy changes since Back In The Day.

Signal for a better world - World & Solarwise logo.

Inspire students to change the world right now—today!—in fundamental and meaningful ways with Signal for a Better World.

The Article Summary is an excellent tool for guiding structured student research and reporting on any selected energy or renewable energy topic.

To view teaching materials for additional Renewable Energy topics, select a category below.

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CREATE expresses its gratitude to the Wisconsin Public Service SolarWise for Schools Program for sharing these Renewable Energy lesson plans with us.

To access additional Renewable Energy Education Resources, visit our Resources page.