Outdoor Circuitry

Engineering with Renewable Energy: Solar Water Pumping

Grades:
4-5
Description:

Students will learn that energy from a renewable resource can be converted to electrical energy to do work by engineering a water pump system powered by the sun. They will compare the volume of water pumped by different designs and graph data collected and...

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Learning Goal(s):
The students will be able to learn what a solar cell looks like and how light energy triggers the cell to release negative charges to move toward the positive side, creating power as it moves from one side to the other. Students will be able to arrange four panels into the correct order to create power for an object and interact with a 3D model of a module to understand how the electricity to power the fan is created. The students will be able to experiment with solar panels (angle, direction) to power a small fan/LED light/circuit board. Students will be able to identify the best position/angle for maximum power. Students will apply scientific ideas to design and test a solar powered water pump that moves water at the fastest rate. Students will experiment and build understanding of parallel and series wiring and how energy moves in these circuits.
Author:
Jamie Repasky
Estimated Activity Length:
2 hours
Kidwind Small Water Pump

Making Observations and Recording Data for Solar Powered Water Pumping

Grades:
2-5
Lesson Number:
5
Description:

Students use a solar module and water pump to test how quickly one cup of water can be pumped.

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Using Multiple Solar Modules

Grades:
3-5
Lesson Number:
5
Description:

Students first explore with 0.5 Volt solar cells to see whether adding cells to a circuit increases the amount of water pumped by a small pump. They are introduced to parallel and series wiring. They then design and carry out a formal experiment to test...

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Learning Goal(s):
Students will apply scientific ideas to design and test a solar powered water pump that moves water at the fastest rate. Students will experiment and build understanding of parallel and series wiring and how energy moves in these circuits. Students will record data accurately into a table.
Author:
Leah Gorman
Relevant NGSS PE:
Estimated Activity Length:
3 hours
Kidwind Small Water Pump

Solar Powered Water Pumping

Grades:
2-5
Lesson Number:
6
Description:

Students use a solar module and other materials in conjunction with a water pump to test how quickly one cup of water can be pumped.

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Kidwind Small Water Pump

Designing a Faster Water Pump

Grades:
2-5
Lesson Number:
7
Description:

Students use all their prior knowledge to design and construct a water pump that can pump 1 cup of water the fastest.

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Learning Goal(s):
Students will be able to use available tools to design and test a solar water pump, refine their design, test and finally evaluate their efforts. Through this process students will understand and gain experience with the engineering design process.
Author:
Mike Hellis
Estimated Activity Length:
1 hour