Solar Energy Links from SunWind
How the World Works
"Looking at it as the spaceship that it is, there’s
just one spaceship here. It’s the only one we’re going to get.
What are the total known resources, and what is the total knowledge, and how
do we use those total resources and knowledge for everybody on board this
ship? Absolutely give no attention whatsoever to nations ever again. It
must be really how to make it work for everybody. That’s what I’m
talking about. We’re now talking about making it work for everybody."- Buckminster
Fuller
He wrote a number of books, including one called "Operating
Manual for Spaceship Earth". The Buckminster Fuller Institutenow has a number of Fuller's works on-line.
What it looks like as it spins
Earthballs:
The Whole World, in Your Hands. "The only inflatable Earth globe which
depicts our planet as it truly appears from space." The Earth
Ball Handbook gives an educational overview of our planet's
position, resources, and preciousness. New 1-metre diameter
Earthballs have arrived, for schools, daycares and science
centres.
Solar
Energy Lessons FSEC Teacher Resources
- Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) "...dedicates substantial
effort to the development of educational resources for the teachers of our
children. We do this out of the simple belief that clean and efficient
energy resources are key to our future generations' ability to achieve
a safe and sustainable environment." The Florida Solar Energy Center
offers award-winning free teacher resources.
Teachers: FREE Hands-on,
Multidisciplinary
Lesson Plans. - elementary and middle school.
"Teachers around the nation told us that they would like free, hands-on,
multidisciplinary lesson plans in the hot area of energy...You can view
complete lesson plans on-line. You can then download the plan as a PDF file
and print it out." - Alliance to Save Energy.
Re-Energy.ca -
Pembina Institute's Renewable Energy Education website,
with educational notes, activities, and downloadable "hands-on" lesson
plans for different forms of renewable energy. This fulsome site keeps
growing and is a good resource for teachers.
KidWind Project -
"The KidWind Project is a team of teachers, students, engineers and practitioners
exploring the science behind wind energy in classrooms around the US.
Our goal is to introduce as many people as possible to the elegance of
wind power through hands-on science activities which are challenging,
engaging and teach basic science principles."
The US Dept of Energy (DOE) has launched a new
educational Web site that provides more than 350 lesson plans and activities
on energy efficiency and renewable energy for grades K-12. DOE's new "Get
Smart About Energy!" Web site includes hands-on activities that
address energy fundamentals, energy efficiency, sources of energy, and
the environmental impacts of energy use, and all the activities and lesson
plans are aligned with the National Science Education Standards. Teacher
guides are included with many of the lessons, and all the materials are
free and reproducible.
The new Web site is part of DOE's EnergySmart Schools Program, which
also promotes energy efficient schools. K-12 schools spend more than
$8 billion annually on energy, making energy the second highest operating
expenditure for these schools after personnel costs. DOE's EnergySmart
goals are to upgrade new schools to 50% better than current energy
codes and improve existing schools by 30% in the next three years.
The program is endorsed by the National School Boards Association and
offers tools and resources to assist school decision makers in planning
and financing energy-efficient high-performance schools.
See the newly updated EnergySmart
Schools Web site.
Energy
for Keeps: Electricity from Renewable Energy - "An
illustrated guide for everyone who uses electricity. Teacher
Edition, Grades 6 - 12... All
files (240 pages) are in PDF format and may be downloaded for free."
Teachers'
Resources for Solar Cooking: slide and movie
presentations, lesson plans, work sheets - from the Abess
Center for Environmental Studies at Miami
Country Day School. Introduction
to solar cookers, student
webcasts and international
projects: see what the students are doing, see how
they teach, and see how they affect others abroad.
The Global
Sun/Temperature Project: Collaborative Science Education Project - "Join schools
from around the world as they try to figure out how their geographic
location (i.e. where they live) affects their average daily temperature
and hours of sunlight.
Solar On-Line
- On-line courses for Solar Energy applications.
NREL's Junior Solar Sprint
- Hot tips on building cars...excellent elementary and
middle school mechanics lessons, combined with the opportunity to host a solar
car race..
SolarBotics - Can
you say, "COOOL" ? Introducing Dave Hrynkiw's solar-powered robots,
capturing solar power in capacitors and delivering pulses of pure power.
B is for Biology, E is for Electronics, A is for Aesthetics,
and M is for Mechanics. BEAM Robotics...get your hands
on...!
Pico Turbines
- things that spin in the wind and are inexpensive. Source of a wind machine
kit, the pico-turbine, and teaching books on wind energy from C.A.T.
Home Power Magazine -The Hands-on Journal of Home-Made Power. Simply the best magazine
to learn about and keep up with solar, wind, and micro-hydro electrical
generation. Free for downloading, with previous issues archived.
See their Solar One CD-ROM, with 150 of the
Best Articles on the Basics of Renewable Energy. Consider
buying the CD-Rom's, and getting a subscription of Home Power magazine
for the school library.
Need some pictures? Try this. "ThePhotographic Information
eXchange (PIX) collection consists of renewable
energy and energy efficiency technology photographs."
SOHO,
the Solar and Helioscopic Observatory - The
SOHO site has archived
images and lessons.
For a different point of view, try the Land Down Under,
Australia,
where the RainBow
Power Company shines!
Current Information Services
Questions, QuestionsHow much coal is required
to run a 100-watt light bulb 24 hours a day for one year? -
a question answered at Marshall Brain's fabulous and famous "How Stuff Works"
Web site - "Learn How Everyhing Works." Also,
ask, "How does a solar cell work?" and "How
do Electric Motors work?" - both excellent descriptions.
Some Recommended Links
Solar Cookers
International - Without doubt, the best site
for learning the basics of solar heating. Check also Principles of Solar Cooker
Design at their site. There is nothing like building a solar
cooker to get hands-on experience with solar energy, building techniques...and
cooking.
Enter Amazon.com's
website via the link below and 10% of your purchase price will be donated
to Solar Cookers International: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/thesolarcookinga
Abess
Center for Environmental Studies at Miami
Country Day School. Solar cookers, lessons, international
outreach. Making a difference with sunlight.
REVIEW
OF SOLAR COOKER
DESIGNS - For a survey of the thoughtful designs
that have arisen from our desire to cook with sunlight, please visit the
historical and highly informational site of Dr. Ashok Kundapur of
India. His Web site "presents about 56 major designs , 59 variations and
66 drawings of solar cookers."
SESCI -  Solar Energy Society of Canada Incorporated. Informational brochures on-line, Canadian Renewable Energy
Guide, Annual Conference details, links.
Canadian Sustainable Energy
Web-Site. Independent Power Producers' Society of Ontario are maintaining this powerful Canadian site for Renewable
Energy and Sustainable Energy in Canada. "Renewable or sustainable energy
systems are those systems which provide energy services to people without
depleting resources, endangering the planet or compromising the ability
of future generations to use the same energy services. In Canada, the most
promising sources of sustainable energy in the near term are wind energy,
co-generation, small hydro, solar energy, and waste wood or biomass." In-depth
coverage of each.
CANWEA (Canadian Wind Energy Association). A
powerful industry with lots of opportunity for growth.
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