Read through the Over the Years activity and decide if you would be able to do this with your students. If not, could you change it so it would be more suitable for your classroom?
Background
"If we modern Americans, who spend an average of 80 percent of our time indoors, wish to exist in harmony with our environment, we must do by choice what our ancestors did out of necessity - design with the climate and with a sense of place."
~Diana Lopez Barnett
Renewable Energy. This phrase is often used as an indication of 'new' technology: harnessing the wind, sun, water, underground steam, and wood resources in a sustainable manner for electric and non-electric work. Yet, renewable energy use is not new. In fact, it is the oldest form of energy. Humans throughout the ages have utilized renewable energy to maintain daily life. For instance, we have used biomass for cooking, wind for sailing, and the sun for warmth.
Through historical documents and artifacts, we can see that humans have been utilizing solar energy for a long time. For example, ancient Greeks oriented their homes for passive solar gain because it was practical and useful.
In Xenophon's Memorabilia, written 2400 years ago, Socrates observed:
"Now in houses with a south aspect, the sun's rays penetrate into the porticos in winter, but in the summer, the path of the sun is right over our heads and above the roof, so that there is shade. If then this is the best arrangement, we should build the south side loftier to get the winter sun and the north side lower to keep out the winter winds. To put it shortly, the house in which the owner can find a pleasant retreat at all seasons and can store his belongings safely is presumably at once the pleasantest and the most beautiful."
Procedure
1. Ask students if renewable energy is a new type of resource or an old one? Is there a shortage of renewable energy resources? Ask them if it is a common resource and if so, why is it not a "mainstream" resource in America?
2. Hang a piece of rope across the room. Explain that the rope represents a timeline. Label one end as the "Beginning of human history," and the other end, "Today."
3. Explain that today they are going to focus on solar energy. Ask the class to list ways solar energy is used. Write four or five of the items they listed on 3" X 5" cards. Ask students where they think each card should be placed on the timeline based on when humans first started using the solar energy resource listed.
4. Divide students into groups of two or three and provide each group with several Solar Energy Timeline Students Cards (you may want to laminate the cards for longer use).
5. Ask each group to place their cards on the timeline according to when humans first started using the solar energy resource listed. Encourage students to discuss their choices and rearrange the cards until they believe all the cards line up correctly.
6. Share the correct chronology of renewable energy use by viewing the Answer Key. (Note: the numbers correspond between the answer key and student cards.) Discuss differences in what they guessed and the actual dates. Allow students to rearrange all cards.
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