🇬🇧 Urban Planning

🇬🇧 Intro: Hydroelectricity

🇬🇧 Hydropower Inventions

🇬🇧 Intro: Wind Energy

🇬🇧 Harnessing Wind Energy

🇬🇧 Crane Automation (micro:bit)

🇬🇧 Earthquake Simulator (micro:bit)

🇬🇧 Intro: Solar Energy

🇬🇧 Solar Energy Sensing (micro:bit)

🇬🇧 City Building

Writing and sketching reflections in a student journal with the design process of crafting an automated solar panel to sense kilowatts over the course of a day.

Student Journal

Guide - Simple Machines and Linkages

Explore the regions of the sun and its vital role in sustaining life on Earth with its vast amount of energy. Learn about harnessing the energy from the sun by building a model of a light-sensing and rotating solar panel.

#### Lesson Structure

In each section, the learning objectives are:

* **Warm-up** – Recognise that the sun is Earth's primary and secondary energy source.
* **Imagine** – Study the process of harnessing solar energy and weigh its use against fossil fuel use.
* **Create** – Create a light measuring device whilst moving a servo.
* **Build** – Create a slow-moving panel that changes its angle to follow the sun's position as the micro:bit reads sunlight.
* **Reflect** – Reflect on the projects, understanding of solar energy, and its conversion to usable energy.
* **Challenges** – Expand and combine solar panel designs into larger, more complex configurations and make new solar and light-related designs.

#### After this lesson students will be able to:

* Understand that light transfers energy from place to place.
* Investigate solar energy as a possible solution for fossil fuel dependence.
* Explore the transformation of energy from one form to another.
* Recognise that energies and fuels come from natural sources, and these affect our environment.
* Compare types of energy solutions and describe how some energies are renewable and some are limited.
* Create a solar panel model with Strawbees and a micro:bit with a light-sensing input to explore different outputs.

Teacher Notes

Overview and Objectives

Materials

Facilitation and Collaboration Work

#### Teachers: Preparing Your Students (35-60 min)

When students begin the lesson, they start in [Overview and Objectives](#overview-and-objectives), then transition to this [Preparation](#preparation) section. Presented in their view is a vocabulary list of terms and infographics illustrating concepts across STEAM domains throughout this entire lesson.

There are extra guides and optional short intro lessons for preparing student readiness for their first engagement of new terms and content knowledge. Print or distribute the student journal and guides digitally. 
* Read through the vocabulary list. (5 minutes)
* Review the six simple machines. Download the optional asset and share it with students. (10 minutes)
* Review the [Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)](https://sdgs.un.org/goals) blueprint based on global needs to create a more sustainable world by 2030 before starting the lesson. (5 minutes)
* (Optional) Pick a shorter introductory lesson supplementary to the guides. Assign lessons to students and start. (25 minutes)
* Test and get light sources. (15 minutes)


#### Light and Dark Sources

The micro:bit can be very sensitive to sunlight, but not so sensitive to artificial lights. If you are in a very sunny room, consider adding some masking tape on top of the LED screen to reduce the sensitivity. If you are in a dark room, consider using a torch to trigger it.
When starting this lesson, turn off the room lights, with minimal light shining from the window. As your students progress through the programming sequence in the [Create](#create) and [Build](#build) sections, you can vary the light sources and even move near the windows or go outside!

### Sustainable Development Goals

Review the [Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)](https://sdgs.un.org/goals) blueprint based on global needs to create a more sustainable world by 2030 before starting the lesson. (5 minutes)

Student journal

#### Vocabulary (5 minutes)

This is the list of vocabulary terms used throughout the lesson. They will be in **bold,** listed throughout the different sections, and in **Student Journal** asset. Students can always revisit the vocabulary definitions with media and questions in the lesson. (5 minutes)

#### Simple Machines and Linkages (10 minutes)

Review the six simple machines. An optional guide is a printout or shared online with students before they begin this lesson. Each simple machine is designed to make work easier or more efficient and is referenced in this lesson. Download the optional guide. (10 min)

### Optional Intro Lessons (25 minutes)

(Optional) Pick an introductory lesson to use with the guide. **Students won't see these unless assigned to them by you.** (25 minutes)

Preparation

#### Facilitation and Collaboration Work

This Warm-up section can be facilitated as whole-group reading and discussion, or it can be facilitated in small groups or with partners. In particular, images are meant to stimulate discussion and help students think about the concepts in the text. Questions can be used as formative assessments to check for comprehension.

#### The Sun

The sun is the star at the centre of our solar system. It produces energy that travels to Earth and sustains all life on Earth.
* Stars are vast bodies of gas under a tremendous amount of pressure. The sun, the star closest to Earth, has five main zones or layers.

  * The core is the first layer at the sun's centre, generating 99 %
  of the sun’s energy. Intense pressure and exceedingly high
  temperatures at the sun's core causes a nuclear fusion reaction.

  * **Nuclear fusion** occurs because this pressure and temperature
  exert a force on the hydrogen gas at the core that four hydrogen
  molecules convert into one helium atom, releasing energy outwards.
  Each time this fusion occurs, it releases energy great enough to power
  a lightbulb for 100 years. This process is called a proton-proton
  chain reaction and produces a continuous stream of particles and waves
  as solar energy, heat and light.

  * The **photosphere** is the outermost layer of the sun before its
  atmosphere. This is the region of the sun that we see from Earth.
  Visible light and heat transfer into outer space from the photosphere.
  Like the rest of the sun, this layer is made up of gas and ranges up
  to 500 kilometres (300 miles) thick.

In nuclear fusion, four hydrogen atoms convert into a single helium atom under tremendous amounts of pressure. This releases an incredible amount of energy.

#### Sustaining Life

Earth depends on this sun to sustain life. The Earth is neither too close nor too far away from the sun.
* Scientists refer to this as the Earth being in the sun’s **habitable zone**. The **habitable** zone means that the Earth is neither too close to the sun, making the planet too hot for life, nor too far from the sun, making it too cold for life.
* These conditions also mean that water occurs or could occur in liquid form. Scientists search for water because water is also a key ingredient to life. Water is an essential component of Earth’s biosphere. The biosphere is the sum of all the matter and energy flowing within the Earth’s ecosystems.
* Earth traps approximately 70% of the heat energy from the sun in the atmosphere.
* This warms the planet and perpetuates the water cycle. The sun causes water on the Earth’s surface in lakes, rivers, and oceans to evaporate. Once in the atmosphere, water droplets cool and condense to form clouds. When clouds are heavy enough, precipitation falls back to earth through rain, ice, snow, hail, or sleet. All plants, animals, and humans need water to survive, so without the sun warming the earth, the water cycle would not occur.
* Energy from the sun causes plants to grow, which feeds animals and people. Plants use light energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar in a process known as **photosynthesis**. This sugar is called glucose and is the plant’s food. Animals and humans eat plants, thus absorbing the energy that once came from the sun. This energy is measured in quantities called calories. Other animals and many people eat meat from animals that once ate plants. Whether herbivores, omnivores, or carnivores, all animal and human life depend on energy from the sun in our food to sustain all of our biological processes.

The sun supports life by heating the planet and giving energy to plants. People also consume plants and absorb this energy from the sun.

#### Solar Energy Conversion

Nearly every energy source on Earth can be traced back to the sun. Solar energy, the light and heat energy that takes eight minutes to travel from the photosphere to Earth, powers plant growth and is stored in plants. Besides experiencing the benefits of the sun, such as its warmth and aid in plant growth, humans began taking advantage of solar energy for millennia.
* There is a rich history of solar energy and its development by humans.
* Ancient civilisations took advantage of the sun in agriculture. In an era long before modern food preservation, the sun acted as a natural preservative, drying out fruit, vegetables, or even meats so that society could flourish with plenty of food.
* Ancient Greek and Chinese societies used **passive** solar energy to design their houses. As both these civilisations developed in the Northern Hemisphere, they constructed houses to face the south to experience the warmth of the winter sun shining in from the south. In summer seasons, the sun passed directly overhead, and roofs provided shade during the hottest part of the day.
* Many groups also constructed homes with passive solar designs. The Anasazi and Ancestral Puebloans constructed houses under overhangs on the southern-facing cliffs. They built them at precise angles so that the sun shone into their homes in the winter. However, it was directly overhead in the summer, providing them with cool shade in the summer heat.
* Other solar designs arose in the 18th and 19th centuries in the form of solar cookers and solar water heaters. Solar water heaters are built into the design of houses in many countries and areas that receive a lot of sunlight, such as Australia, Israel, and Spain.
* The sun also indirectly powers other sources of energy.
* When humans discovered fire, the heat energy released by the burning wood was once energy from the sun, stored in molecular bonds as chemical energy inside the plant.
* Fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil, and coal contain energy from the sun from millions of years ago. Fossil fuels form when plants and animals decompose over millions of years into concentrated forms of carbon in the state of natural gas, oil, or coal. People extract these fuels and use them to create electricity, heat, or power transportation.

not-set
Nearly every type of energy source on Earth can be traced back to the sun.
Humans have taken advantage of solar energy for millennia. Ancient civilisations took advantage of the sun in agriculture. In an era long before modern food preservation, the sun acted as a natural preservative, drying out fruit, vegetables, or even meats so that society could flourish with plenty of food.
Many groups also constructed homes with **passive** solar designs. The Anasazi and Ancestral Puebloans constructed houses under overhangs on the southern-facing cliffs. They built them at precise angles so that the sun shone directly into their homes in the winter. However, it was directly overhead in the summer, providing them with cool shade in the summer heat.

The sun directly heats houses and water. However, people burning **fossil fuels** are using sunlight indirectly. This energy came from the sun millions of years ago and is now trapped in **fossil fuels** .

Warm-up

#### Facilitation and Collaboration Work

This Imagine section can be facilitated as a whole-group reading and discussion, in small groups, or with partners. In particular, images are meant to stimulate discussion and help students think about the concepts in the text. Questions can be used as formative assessments to check for comprehension.

#### Harnessing Solar Energy

Past and present innovations convert light energy into another form of energy, specifically electricity! The 1800s saw much experimentation with solar power as inventors and scientists sought a way to capture energy from the sun.

* Edmund Becquerel discovered the **photovoltaic** effect, which is still used to power solar cells today. **Photovoltaics** refers to the capturing of light energy and converting it into electricity.
* In 1883, Charles Fritz invented the first photovoltaic solar panel (PV) cell.
* In 1957, scientists at Bell Labs in the United States discovered that silicon was more effective at creating a **photovoltaic** effect and was more widely available.
* This innovation was able to convert 6% of solar energy into electricity. An energy crisis in the United States in the 1970s led the US government to research how to make solar energy more affordable and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.
* Another type of solar power is called concentrated solar-thermal power (CSP). Concentrated solar-thermal power works by directing mirrors and lenses at the sun to **concentrate** a substantial area of sunlight onto a receiver, which converts the sunlight into heat energy. The heat energy then generates a steam turbine, which creates electrical energy.
* In 2014, solar energy accounted for 1.1% of all energy consumed worldwide.

Inventors had to discover how to use light energy from the sun to make an electrical current before continuing with other steps.

#### Benefits of Solar Energy

Solar energy is a complex issue, with many advantages and disadvantages to consider in exploring this type of **renewable energy** .
* A significant advantage of solar energy is the abundance of solar power freely available from our sun.
* By choosing this source and other types of **renewable energies,** humans can reduce their dependency on **non-renewable energy** sources. With the right technology in place, this continuous clean energy source could readily power the entire planet.
* Another significant benefit of solar energy is that it does not create carbon emissions that can contribute to climate change. On the other hand, burning fossil fuels produces high amounts of greenhouse gases, which lead to global warming. These harmful effects cause excess temperatures and impact the environment, wildlife, weather, and human life.
* Energy costs related to fossil fuels may be unstable and continually increase for many. Solar energy, through the installation of solar panels, may offer a way for individual residents and businesses to lower their energy bills and have more predictable payments.
* Little air pollution is made by producing solar energy. Less harmful air pollutants mean societies can save on healthcare costs and increase productivity.
* Solar-harnessing technology can be easily attached to existing infrastructure without impacting the land. However, fossil fuel extraction negatively shapes the land through heavy dependence on digging and mining.

Solar power is **renewable** , has potential nearly everywhere on Earth, and does not release pollutants or greenhouse gases.

#### Challenges Facing Solar Power

Humans have yet to develop the perfect energy source, and relying on solar energy, as beneficial as it is, still has several challenges and drawbacks.
*   Manufacturing items such as solar devices and panels involves using hazardous materials and chemicals.
*   It is essential to safeguard workers' health who come into contact with these toxic substances and ensure that the waste is properly recycled or disposed of without harming people or the environment.
*   Another concern is that of land use and habitat loss.
*   While solar energy installations can share spaces, like being placed in an agricultural setting, bigger solar project sites and builds can damage the land and remove the homes of local wildlife.
*   One solution is to place solar installations on less desirable land sites, including mines and previously developed land.
*   Solar energy is also not accessible for lots of people.
*   There are high initial costs to install solar panels. Besides price, some people have roofs that do not receive enough sunlight to support using solar energy. Others have roofs that may lack the space to fit solar panels.
*   Two solutions are to install ground panels near the residence. Residents could also become part of a community solar garden, sharing electricity with others from a larger central solar plant.
*   An added challenge of solar energy is determining how to reduce or limit carbon gases related to the production of solar energy.
*   While making electricity from solar energy is a cleaner solution, the entire lifespan of solar equipment can be connected to carbon emissions.
*   This means actions such as the transportation and shipment of solar products can create and add extra carbon emissions that impact climate change.
*   A final consideration is that the manufacturing of solar materials at solar plants requires an extensive amount of water.
*   This is a concern for more drier areas of the planet. blocks:  - type: horizontalLine
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- type: markdown
  blockType: markdown
  markdown: For more in-depth references and extra videos, images, and sites to
    show students, go to the [References and Extra
    Resources](#references-and-extra-resources) section at the end of
    this lesson.

One challenge is that solar panels may occupy valuable plant and animal habitat space. One alternative is letting plants grow between the panels and allowing animals to graze.

#### Emerging Solar Innovations
* One idea is solar agriculture, known as agrivoltaics.Farmers make a deal with solar companies to receive payment for letting their animals graze and clear out vegetation near their solar panels. This keeps the plant growth low so vegetation does not block the sunlight, thus preventing the solar panels from absorbing the sun’s energy.
* Solar panels can also lower a farmer’s energy and production costs since much energy is needed to operate a farm. However, growing on a large scale can become more challenging as large harvesting equipment cannot fit between solar panels.
* Other possibilities include floating solar panels and floatovoltaics. Imagine a giant solar farm that can float on water!
* The concept is to mount an array of photovoltaic panels onto a large structure in bodies of water, such as dams and reservoirs. Installing floating **photovoltaics** is cheaper than putting panels on the ground or on top of a roof.
* Placing the solar array over water avoids using land that humans or wildlife would otherwise need. Water even keeps the floating solar panels at a lower temperature, enabling these solar panels to produce up to 10% more energy. Additionally, the panels cover a large surface area of the water and help prevent evaporation, preserving more water in the reservoir that can be used for irrigation.
* Solar energy could be supported by existing infrastructure such as roads, pavements and motorways with solar roads.
* These pathways could produce electricity from the sun and provide a path for transportation. Solar roads are being tested in places around the world. Such roads could develop much **renewable energy** and one day replace asphalt roads.
* A solar bike path in the Netherlands collected enough solar power to support the energy needs of a few homes.  
* Solar panels are widely used to generate energy for orbiting satellites and space technology.
* Flexible, bendable solar arrays are being tested on the International Space Station. Research is underway to increase the efficiency of solar panels in space. Solar arrays represent a high cost in spacecraft. Developing solar systems with less material could reduce the costs of creating spacecraft.
* An issue with solar panels is that they only generate solar power during the day when the sun is shining.
* This disadvantages renewable solar energy systems compared to **non-renewable energies** that can be used all day. However, new solar panels can work during the hours when the sun is down. A new solar cell, actually called an anti-solar cell, can create about one-quarter of the power at night that a solar panel can make during the day. Strangely enough, it accomplishes this by sending out infrared light rather than absorbing light from the sun. Better still, it can also collect energy during the day if faced away from the sun.

Innovation can help solve problems still facing solar power, and one idea is to add special solar panels to the surface of roads.

SDGs

Imagine

#### Facilitation and Collaboration Work

Students work on the instructions to build together in groups of 2-3.

Assemble the micro:bit, clip, extension cable, and servo motor

Connect to computer using USB cable

Start a new project on Makecode

Add Strawbees extension

Pair the micro:bit

Turn on the Robotics board

Set the start position of the servo motor

Program light level value

Transition the panel move over time

National Curriculum

Curriculum for Excellence

Create

#### Facilitation and Collaboration Work

Students work on the instructions to build the Crane together in groups of 2-3.

Build a solar panel base

Make joints and attach to sides of the base

Continue to build up the sides of the base

Connect the sides together to complete the base

Build 2 sides for holding the solar panel

Make the moving support for the solar panel

Attach solar panel support to the base

Make a linkage

Connect linkage to the moving support

Push and pull the linkage to test for smooth motion

Make a structure to hold the servo motor

Click connectors into the corners of the base

Measure and cut 2 cardboard rectangles

Mark and poke holes on the large rectangle

Slide the legs from the base through holes of cardboard and lock

Mark and poke holes for servo motor structure

Anchor servo structure to cardboard

Connect the linkage to the servo motor

Detach the top of the solar panel support then clip to the micro:bit

Mark then poke holes into the smaller rectangle for panel

Attach micro:bit to the cardboard solar panel then connect to the base

Set up the program for solar panel on start

Program the panel to simulate a 12 hour daytime transition

Program the solar panel to simulate measuring kilowatts while moving

Place the solar panel in different environments

Build

For this lesson section, the following questions can be discussed in class or in groups. You can use the **Student Journal** asset as a helpful resource to capture ideas and process them digitally or print them ahead of time and distribute them.

Reflect

Challenges

References and Extra Resources

STEAM Classroom Robotics - micro:bit

UK - England

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

UK - Scotland

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Goal 7

Use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups.

KS2-1

Generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design.

KS2-2

Investigate and analyse a range of existing products.

Evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work.

Understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world.

KS2-3

Apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures.

Understand and use mechanical systems in their products [for example, gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages].

Understand and use electrical systems in their products [for example, series circuits incorporating switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors].

Apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products.

KS2-4

Design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems; solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts.

Use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output.

Use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs.

I can describe the major characteristic features of Scotland’s landscape and explain how these were formed.

SOC 2-07a

I can discuss the environmental impact of human activity and suggest ways in which we can live in a more environmentally responsible way.

SOC 2-08a

I can consider the advantages and disadvantages of a proposed land use development and discuss the impact this may have on the community.

SOC 2-08b

By considering examples where energy is conserved, I can identify the energy source, how it is transferred and ways of reducing wasted energy.

SCN 2-04a

I can investigate the use and development of renewable and sustainable energy to gain an awareness of their growing importance in Scotland or beyond.

TCH 2-02b

I can analyse how lifestyles can impact on the environment and Earth’s resources and can make suggestions about how to live in a more sustainable way.

TCH 2-06a

I can make suggestions as to how individuals and organisations may use technologies to support sustainability and reduce the impact on our environment.

TCH 2-07a

I can extend and enhance my design skills to solve problems and can construct models.

TCH 2-09a

I can recognise basic properties and uses for a variety of materials and can discuss which ones are most suitable for a given task.

TCH 2-10a

I can extend my knowledge and understanding of engineering disciplines to create solution.

TCH 2-12a

I understand the operation of a process and its outcome. I can structure related items of information.

TCH 2-13a

I can explain core programming language concepts in appropriate technical language.

TCH 2-14a

I understand how information is stored and how key components of computing technology connect and interact through networks.