Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab Release Free Solar Energy Curriculum for Grades 7-12
Stone Lab’s solar panels provide some of the lab’s electricity and offer opportunities for research and education.
A new set of lessons from Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab introduces students in grades 7-12 to the basics of solar energy via hands-on activities. The free curriculum is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and Ohio’s Model Science Curriculum, and is available to download at go.osu.edu/teachers.
The lessons in the Solar Technology Curriculum are structured similarly to Ohio Sea Grant’s Great Lakes Climate Change Curriculum, including teacher sections, student activities and links to background materials. The seven lessons cover a general introduction to solar energy, how solar electric and solar thermal energy is produced, how electric circuits can influence that energy output, and how the sun’s location can affect how much sunlight is converted to usable power.