Renewable Energy Lesson: Introduction
Lesson Plan
45 minutesGrades3, 4, 5Science
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Written by Ashley Nelson, Lindsey Pockl
About this lesson
Students learn about renewable and nonrenewable sources and ways they use energy in their everyday lives. Students use data about where our energy comes from in the U.S. to start conversations about conserving energy.
Inquire: Students define energy and brainstorm about their own energy use.
Investigate: Students learn about renewable and nonrenewable energy and complete an energy sort.
Inspire: Students begin an energy audit.
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Everything you need to teach it
How to edit these materials (video)Teaching tips
Suggestions
- Teachers may want to have a list of concrete examples ready for items that use energy and items that use electricity. This can include pictures.
- This lesson on renewable energy may lead to students’ first exposure to climate change.
- There is a useful glossary at the end of the slideshow.
Prerequisites
- This is lesson 1 of 6 in our 3rd-5th grade Renewable Energy Unit Plan.
- Students may have trouble differentiating between coal, natural gas, and petroleum. You can explain that they are all fossil fuels and take a long time to develop underground.
- Students may inquire about nuclear energy, which is not included in the sort. Nuclear energy is nonrenewable because it uses uranium, a finite resource.
- The term natural gas is used in this lesson instead of gas, methane, methane gas, fossil gas, or other names because natural gas is the most recognizable name for it.
- The term gas is incredibly confusing because it is one of the states of matter and refers to any number of gases. It is also shorthand for the liquid fuel called gasoline that is used in motor vehicles.
- If you’re interested in learning about the problems associated with calling it “natural gas,” check out this intriguing data from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Differentiation
- Before the lesson, you may want to review natural resources with the students, which is typically taught in K-2. Natural resources are anything in nature used by humans.
- You can group students of different abilities together when they are completing the energy sort.
- Students can complete the energy audit on paper or in digital form.
- For extension, students can watch the entire video on renewable energies in order to have a richer discussion about the pros and cons of different renewables.
From the scientist review
The lesson allows students to explore the differences between renewable and nonrenewable energy sources and to analyze U.S. energy data to broaden their understanding on carbon footprint from the energy sector. There are no scientific misconceptions in the lesson, and all materials are properly sourced. Thus, this lesson has passed our science credibility process.
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About the teacher writers
Ashley Nelson
K-2 Science and Technology Teacher
Ashley has been teaching for 16 years and has taught in Vietnam, Thailand, California, and Virginia. She is passionate about teaching STEM, computer science, and technology and empowering teachers to try new things in their classroom practice. She is also a certified Yoga and Mindfulness teacher and believes we must take care of our inner world to care for our external environment properly. She lives in Richmond, Virginia and loves vegan cooking, climate change activism, and connecting to the natural world.
Lindsey Pockl
Lindsey worked with SubjectToClimate to develop accompanying materials for lesson plans for grades 3-12.
