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Clean Energy Careers in Solar Energy

Provided by: Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education |Published on: August 28, 2023

Lesson Plans Grades 6-8, 9-12, 3-5

Synopsis

In this lesson, students will learn about renewable energy careers such as solar project manager, solar energy technician, and solar site assessor from video interviews with recent Wisconsin graduates and career summaries linked in the presentation.
Students will demonstrate their learning through note-taking and a brief discussion at the end of the lesson.

Subjects: Physics, Earth and Space Sciences, Engineering, Career Skills

Authors: Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point K-12 Energy Education Program

Region: North America, USA - Midwest, United States, Global, Wisconsin

Languages: English

Positives

The solar career map is an excellent tool for students to use for further learning and independent exploration!
Seeing interviews from people in the careers will further engage the students in learning about careers in solar energy.

Prerequisites

Students may need the terms photovoltaic, schematic, interpersonal, and others defined prior to beginning the lesson.
Students will need to have a basic understanding of what solar energy is and how it works.
All social media links on slide 20 are not clickable links.

Differentiation & Implementation

This lesson can be used by guidance counselors or teachers to assist students with career planning or students can use the solar career map to find a career to explore.
Students in language arts classes can pick one of the careers mentioned in the lesson or a different career related to clean energy and write an informative paper or speech.
Students may want to find local people in these careers and conduct their own interviews.
Students can each pick a career to look at and research on the solar career map and then do a turn-and-talk to see what career other students chose.
This can connect to science lessons about energy, heat, electron transfers, electricity, and circuits.
Math and physics classes can use this resource as motivation for students interested in pursuing a career that requires these types of expertise.
Check out the rest of KEEP's Clean Energy Career lessons to learn how Wisconsin's transition to a clean energy economy is accelerating new career paths.

Scientist Notes

Teaching Tips

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Resource Type and Format