Renewable Energy: Solar

Pacific Education Institute

In this eight-lesson unit, students explore cultural connections with the sun, learn about light and discover how light interacts with other materials through hands-on activities, literacy integration, and engineering.

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Notes from our reviewers

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The teacher should consider how they are going to disperse the lesson into several parts, as there is a lot of material and no exact guideline for how to divide it into various lessons.
This resource is focused on light - what it is, how it is reflected, how it affects us, and how it affects the environment. This resource is about how light is energy and the different types of light. This unit illustrates how light changes with colors and shades including black, opaque, translucent, transparent, and shadows. The idea that different materials reflect, absorb, and transmit light at different rates is also a theme. There is very little data given (or needed) for this resource - students are experimenting and collecting their own data based on each activity. There are several lessons included in this resource and they are all age-appropriate, stimulating, and engaging. Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
The resource contains several lessons which can be done over a few weeks. They are offered in a natural progression that builds on one another. Most of the lessons are hands-on experiments. There are also some worksheets and videos included. It includes experiments in which students will physically feel the effect of light energy on them. The lesson references several stories that should help students connect to the topic. This grouping of activities appeals to all sorts of learners, it is engaging and could be done as a small or whole group. No further suggestions are needed for additional engagement, this resource is chock-full! No prerequisites are required, however, they do suggest students will have mastered the Kindergarten standards previously. This unit should be very engaging to young learners as it includes a variety of presentation styles and activities. The teacher's guide and supporting resources are excellent.
This is a low-cost lesson involving materials commonly found in the classroom. A projection device is needed to share the videos. PowerPoint is needed for the Shadows and Light Book. The link "Bean in a Box" on page 7 of the resource was not found. All the other links including videos and worksheets are active at the time of review. Most of the videos are on YouTube which sometimes includes ads that can be skipped. This resource is user-friendly and none of the activities would require very much prep time, teachers may need about 20 minutes per lesson to view the videos and read the instructions and prep materials.