Renewable Energy Science Unit for Fourth Grade
Renewable Energy feels like a must-teach for any grade right now. Renewable energy is growing around the world as an alternative to oil and an effort to slow global warming. Since the kids will be living this future we’re worrying about, exploring this topic with them feels vital.
Energy Science was one of our main science units in Fourth Grade. We learned about different kinds of energy, did experiments to explore light and gravity and more. Then we switched gears to renewable energy.
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Renewable Energy
Once we had thoroughly explored energy and wrapped up our unit with our robot activity, then we moved on to renewable energy. We learned about the different kinds of renewable energy together and they also went more in depth on one kinds.
Learning About Types of Renewable Energy
To kick off the unit, we talked about why renewable energy is needed for our world before diving into the different forms of renewable energy.
Introduction / Why It is Important
Read Aloud:
Our House is On Fire by Jeanette Winter
Oil by Jonah & Jeanette Winter
Energy Island by Allan Drummond
These books were great starting points for conversations on renewable energy and our earth’s changing climate. We also watched a TedEd on Planning for the End Oil. Then we dove into the different current types of alternative energy.
Renewable Energy Types
I introduced Solar, Wind, and Hydroelectricity to the kids. We read a little about each and did one or two activities. Then the kids each chose one to learn more about in depth (more about that project at the end).
Books We Read Together:
Solar Story by Allan Drummond
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer
You Wouldn’t Want to Work on the Hoover Dam by Franklin Watts
Other Resources:
- Used the Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun Alternative Energy Activity such as crafting wind powered boats.
- Watched BrainPop videos on wind energy and solar energy
- Explored how they work with the Snap Circuits Green Alternative Energy kit.
Field Trips
I am a huge fan of field trips, learning through real life experience, adventures – so finding places where my kids could experience or see renewable energy in action was important to me. We did two big field trips during our renewable energy unit. One was to a Wind Farm in Palm Springs, CA and the other was the Hoover Dam at the Arizona / Nevada border.
Trip to Wind Farm – Palm Springs CA
This spring we took a driving tour through the Windmill Farm in Palm Springs. The tour was easy to schedule online.
You drive around the farm in your car, watch short videos and then pop out at different sites to see various things up close. It took about an hour and was really interesting. Learn more: https://www.windmilltours.com/
My daughter, who did her Renewable Energy project on Wind Power loved seeing the huge wind towers up close.
Hydroelectric Power: Hoover Dam Field Trip
Here in CA the closest example of hydroelectric power is the Hoover Dam in Nevada / Arizona.
Before the visit, we learned more about hydroelectric power. We watched videos and checked out a stack of books from the library to learn about how Hydroelectric Power works. The Hoover Dam also has resources. We used some of these Education Resources to learn more about the Hoover Dam and hydroelectricity.
Then we took a road trip to the Hoover Dam. We did this during the Covid19 Pandemic which wasn’t ideal. Normally I would have loved to walk all over and take a tour inside the plant. Unfortunately, many people weren’t wearing masks so we limited what we did.
We started with a stop at the overlook for Lake Mead. We had read about the environmental impact of building the Hoover Dam but we were still amazed at how large this lake is.
Then we drove over the Hoover Dam. We parked at one of the outside lots. There were a lot of parking options. We were able to walk around outside and since my kids, especially my son who did his project on Hydroelectric Power, knew so much about it they were excited to point out the different parts and what was happening beneath the surface.
Renewable Energy Research Project
This project was the main part of our Renewable Energy unit. Each kid chose a type of energy to explore and I supported them in researching it.
The steps we used are below, these were loosely based on the WRITE SHOP writing curriculum unit on Nonfiction Reports. I love this writing program for my child with dyslexia. They do a great job providing structured supports. I tweaked this unit a little to fit our projects, but we used the general structure, the visual supports to help with brainstorming, and the grading rubric.
First: Pick a Topic
After reading about some of the various types of renewable energy, each kid picked what kind of energy they wanted to learn more about.
Second: Research
Using a stack of books from the library and searching on the internet, my kids gathered information about their chosen renewable energy. They kept notes in a folder specifically for this project.
Third: Outline
Once they had researched for several days, I sat down individually with each kid and we created an outline. We framed their projects in three parts plus an introduction and conclusion.
- Introduction
- Basics about the Energy behind their renewable energy form and history of where it came from. For example, my son researched hydroelectricity. He talked about rivers and watermills.
- Explanation of how their renewable energy works. For example, my daughter explained how a wind turbine works. Here they also talked about the pros and cons.
- The future of their renewable energy source. How much of this source is currently in our country and where do scientists see it going in the future?
- Conclusion
In writing the outlines, they were able to see where they had holes in their research. For the most part, this meant figuring out where they needed to do a little more research to add more interesting details to their reports.
Fourth: Write Paper / Report
Once they had an outline and had filled in the gaps with additional research, they wrote their papers. My kids wanted to do oral reports, so I had them write out what they were going to say using a newscaster voice. They loved that idea. Once the reports were written they found visuals to put behind them and enhance their presentations and crafted microphones for themselves.
Fifth: Renewable Energy Reports
We videoed each kid performing their report. In a classroom, this could be a live presentation. I liked recording them so they could share it with their grandparents who have been hearing about their reports for weeks and with their dad who is deployed. It is also a good record to go in my file of photos and videos of the year and all we’ve learned about in fourth grade.
