Introducing Teaching Solar - Solar Schoolhouse

TeachingSolar-DVD-300-2-sm Teaching Solar: A Teacher’s Guide to bringing Solar Energy into Classroom Curriculum

Solar energy concepts can be taught in many ways. Although the basic principles for using the sun’s energy are fairly simple, the applications of these principles are constantly evolving. The same is true of teaching solar. As teachers gain experience with including this material in the classroom, new curricula are evolving to reflect their distinct teaching styles. The Rahus Institute, through its Solar Schoolhouse program, has been assisting educators in understanding and presenting solar and clean energy concepts for many years, and a central theme has emerged: teaching solar energy by developing a personal connection to our homes. This is the basis of the Your Solar Home materials, which are the foundation of the Solar Schoolhouse curriculum.

TEA comment — “We’ve been working with teachers for the past 15 years developing hands-on, project-based lessons about solar and renewable energy. We’ve met some incredible teachers who have adopted some terrific strategies for incorporating solar energy in their classrooms. I think it has higher value when they [teachers] see that other educators have been successful.”

Our approach to teaching is experiential. We believe, along with the hundreds of teachers we have served, that hands-on, project based, exploratory education is a very effective way for people to learn. Nothing gets students, and teachers, more excited than to actually experiment with solar technology by powering electrical loads or cooking food with sunlight. In our professional development trainings we find that the workshops truly burst into life when we stop talking and teachers get their hands on the solar equipment.

VIEW the TEACHING SOLAR TABLE OF CONTENTS AS PDF

View the TEACHING SOLAR VIDEO/DVD online

Read the Review of TEACHING SOLAR by Jane Pulaski of IREC

TEACHING SOLAR was originally published in 2009. While the majority of these lessons are timeless, we continue to provide updates to this valuable teaching tool as new lessons and resources develop.

Teaching Solar
A Teacher’s Guide to Integrating Solar Energy into Classroom Curriculum
A Rahus Institute –Solar Schoolhouse Publication