Through a series of four lessons, students are introduced to many factors that affect the power output of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. Factors such as the angle of the sun, panel temperature, specific circuit characteristics, and reflected radiation determine the efficiency of solar panels. These four lessons are paired with hands-on activities in which students design, build and test small photovoltaic systems. Students collect their own data, and examine different variables to determine their effects on the efficiency of PV panels to generate electrical power.

Students learn about the daily and annual cycles of solar angles used in power calculations to maximize photovoltaic power generation. They gain an overview of solar tracking systems that improve PV panel efficiency by following the sun through the sky.

This is a series of 5 guided-inquiry activities that examine data and models that climate scientists use to attempt to answer the question of Earth's future climate.

The text of this case is a transcript of a story broadcast on NPR's All Things Considered on January 22, 1996. The story concerns Congressional debate about agricultural programs, particularly the price support program for peanuts. The story includes statements from a member of Congress as well as representatives of peanut growers and peanut processors. The peanut program includes import restrictions, a price floor and peanut growing licenses, and this case describes those and includes statements from peanut growers, processors and consumers.

This short lesson was designed in collaboration with a 7th grade Life Science teacher (Paul Jeffery). The idea behind the lesson is to help students better understand ecological and geographical classifications by teaching them at the same time in their Life Science class and their Geography class. Teaching the two classifications together will help reinforce the idea of classification. While this lesson would best be taught outdoors it can also be adapted to the indoors.

The students will participate in listening and discussing the story, Under One Rock: Bugs, Slugs, and Other Ughs, by Anthony D. Fredericks and illustrated by Jennifer DiRubbio. On the following day, we will explore our nearby forest searching for some of the animals mentioned in the story. For the third day of this lesson, the students will share what they have written and drawn in their nature journals from the previous day's walk.

In this video from Outdoor Nevada, learn about the habitat, diet, and defense mechanisms of horned lizards.

Title Image: Pesticide Label 4 by Melissa Scherr, Oregon Department of Agriculture is licensed CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input.

This video segment from the Nevada Department of Wildlife looks at tarantulas' survival skills and their habitat.

In this What's Up in the Environment? video segment, learn how various indicator species are used to monitor the environmental condition of the Everglades.

This six-day unit provides an in-depth look at the dynamic forces at work on the sea floor. Throughout the unit, students collect their findings in a portfolio. The comprehensive curriculum materials include teacher tools such as individually downloadable readings and detailed daily breakdowns of tasks, a hands-on experiment, three activities about how scientists find deep sea vents and two activities about the thriving ecosystems found in deep sea vents.

This task was developed by high school and postsecondary mathematics and agriculture sciences educators, and validated by content experts in the Common Core State Standards in mathematics and the National Career Clusters Knowledge & Skills Statements. It was developed with the purpose of demonstrating how the Common Core and CTE Knowledge & Skills Statements can be integrated into classroom learning - and to provide classroom teachers with a truly authentic task for either mathematics or CTE courses.

Short Description:
This online course will introduce various climatic and ecological modelling tools and guide the students to practical applications of scale-free climate models and niche-based ecological models in forest and ecological (such as birds, fish and animals) resource management to increase the resilience and viability of forest ecosystems.

Long Description:
This online course will introduce various climatic and ecological modelling tools and guide the students to practical applications of scale-free climate models and niche-based ecological models in forest and ecological (such as birds, fish and animals) resource management to increase the resilience and viability of forest ecosystems. By the end of the course, students will master skills and techniques to, 1) use climatic models to generate spatial climate data; 2) understand niche-based ecological models; and 3) interpret and apply model output to forest management practice.

The course is designed for forest professionals who are interested in professional forestry and forest adaptation to climate change.

This course is part of the Adaptation Learning Network led by the Resilience by Design Lab at Royal Roads University. The project is supported by the Climate Action Secretariat of the BC Ministry of Environment & Climate Change Strategy and Natural Resources Canada through its Building Regional Adaptation Capacity and Expertise (BRACE) program. The BRACE program works with Canadian provinces to support training activities that help build skills and expertise on climate adaptation and resilience.

Word Count: 23770

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Short Description:
In this volume, Erika Allen Wolters and Brent Steel have brought together the experts who can explain the evolution of public lands policies and politics in all their complexities. While their subject is complex, their prose is clear, and while their subject is torn by some of the most viciously self-interested, deceitful arguments in politics today, their prose is calm, factual, and evenhanded. No one should underestimate what a rare and valuable gift this is. Data dashboard

Word Count: 113766

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Title Image: Strips of oats and hay are interspersed with strips of corn to save soil and improve water quality and wildlife habitat on this field in northeast Iowa Credit: United States Department of Agriculture – Natural Resources Conservation Service; Public DomainDid you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input.

This video is one of a series from the Switch Energy project. It presents pros and cons of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. In this video, new fracking technologies are presented as more economical and environmentally safe.

This straightforward calculator provides conversions from one unit of energy to the equivalent amount of CO2 emission expected from using that amount.

By using this tiered assignment students at different levels are able to review characteristics of living things by either creating a food web or food chart.