Understanding Solar Power

Just beyond Shelburne Farms’ Coach Barn sits a shimmering four-acre plot of solar panels known as the Solar Orchard. Educators gathered there this July to better understand today’s electric grid—and envision the grid of tomorrow—as they prepare to bolster students’ understanding of sustainability back in their classrooms.

While a solar field is, of course, an inspiring setting to talk about renewable energy, Sophia Donforth, executive director of the Vermont Energy Education Program and the New Hampshire Energy Education Project, says there are lots of ways to build understanding right in your own classroom. “If we’re going to inspire and empower children to take action for sustainability, it’s important that we teach them about energy and its impact on the planet,” Sophia says. Globally, the energy sector is the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Here, Sophia shares three favorite activities for introducing various ages to solar power.

Note: These lesson plans are free to download. Teachers in Vermont and New Hampshire can order associated kits of supplies to be shipped straight to them; outside of these states, enterprising teachers are welcome to use these resources as a shopping list to assemble their own kits!

For Grades K–3

Introduce students to light and shadows. As engineers, students build, share, and redesign models to understand how we can use sunlight and shade.

Students will learn that the sun warms the earth, how different materials can block or allow rays to reach the earth’s surface, and how shadows work. 

Download the lesson plan and, for VT and NH teachers, order the full kit.

For Grades 4–5 or 6–12

Demonstrate and explore solar power.

Students learn how circuits function with batteries and bulbs, examine factors that affect the electrical output of solar panels, and practice using the engineering design cycle to improve panels’ output.

Students gain an understanding of how photovoltaic panels can be used to transform the sun’s radiant energy into electricity.

Download the Grades 4–5 lesson plan or the Grades 6–12 lesson plan and, for VT and NH teachers, order the full kit.

For Grades 6–12

Focus on the ways energy is transformed and used in our daily lives. Students build and test a solar concentrator to transform radiant energy from sunlight into thermal energy that heats water.

Students learn about different forms of energy and exchanges between those forms.

Download the lesson plan and, for VT and NH teachers, order the full kit.

VEEP and NHEEP collaborate with teachers, students, and homeschool families in various formats on energy and climate education.

You can find many more programs, lesson plans, and kits on the VEEP/NHEEP website.