Teachers have the unique responsibility of shaping the minds of tomorrow. Teaching today’s youth to be responsible stewards of our planet starts with knowledge of sustainable, renewable energy. Educators who are interested in teaching their students about solar energy can utilize the lesson plans included on this page to develop a curriculum about renewable energy and sustainability.
Lesson Plans
K-12
- Clean Energy Institute — Lesson Plans k-12 — University of Washington
- Solar Lesson Plans — k-12 — University of Wisconsin
- Energy Kids for Teachers — Lesson plans and resources for grades K-12 — U.S. Energy Information Administration
- National Energy Education Development – Resources for Educators grades K-12
Elementary School
- Kosmos Solar
- Energy Information Administration
- Exploring Solar Energy Student Guide for grades 5 – 8 – Energy Education and Workforce Development
- Solar Energy for 5th Graders — Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education
Middle & High School
- Here Comes the Sun — TRY Engineering
- Utilizing Renewable Solar Energy
Examples of Other State Solar Programs for Schools
Engaging Projects
- Grades 2-5 — The Education Fund
- Middle to High School — 100+ solar energy projects for engineering students — Electronics Hub
- High School Energy Experiments
- Solar projects grades 7-12 — Brown Dog Gadgets
- Science fair solar ideas — Make it Solar
- NASA – How to build a solar oven
- Student Energy.org