Through this lesson, students will learn about the heat island effect and the role of native trees in mitigating the heat island effect and other effects of climate change to ultimately develop a conservation plan for their area.
Career and Technical Education (CTE): STEM, English, Environmental Education, Science
Students will use the knowledge they have gained from the Solar Design unit and Solar Certificate to create a final deliverable. Using SketchUp, handouts, and the financial analysis calculator, students will be able to produce a model of a solar installation and justify the economic, environmental, and equity impacts of installation to an audience.
Career and Technical Education (CTE): STEM, Environmental Education, Science
A site assessment is a critical step in understanding a rooftop’s potential to generate electricity from the sun. In this lesson, students will learn the fundamental steps for conducting a solar site assessment and designing a rooftop system. Students will continue their solar assessment and design project from Lesson 4.1 and either design the system for a sample California school’s rooftop or their own school.
Career and Technical Education (CTE): STEM, Environmental Education, Science
This lesson introduces students to the components of a solar electric system and prepares students to size a solar electric system to meet 80% of their school’s (or a sample school’s) energy use.
English, Foreign Languages, Reading or Language Arts
Students will watch a film, Barrio de Paz, about peace worker Nelsa Libertad Curbelo from Guayaquil, Ecuador and the city’s gang youth, who have left behind a life of crime to come together and provide services to their struggling community and explore themes of conflict resolution, youth empowerment, and the power of love versus violence.
Students will watch a film, Mr. Happy Man, about 88-year-old Bermudian Johnny Barnes, who devotes six hours each day to an endearing traffic ritual, and will identify what things in life aid in creating a positive attitude.
English, Environmental Education, Geography, History, Social Studies
Increasing noise pollution and the loss of silence in our modern world significantly impacts people as well as the environment. Learning how to listen may be one solution.
Students will watch a VR/360 film, Sanctuaries of Silence, about acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton as he takes them on an immersive journey into the Hoh Rain Forest in Washington State, one of the quietest places in North America. Students will explore themes of listening, human connection to the environment, and the effects of modernization.
