1 | Renewable Energy Virtual Field Trip
VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP TEACHER’S GUIDE
Powering the Planet: Renewable Energy
Grades: 3-8 Subjects: Science
Purpose: This guide contains information on teacher preparation for the event,
technical information, as well as a variety of student materials, which can be used
before, after, or during the virtual field trip. It also contains links to other resources
ranging from lessons, activities, demonstrations, experiments, real-time data, and
multimedia presentations.
Description of Virtual Field Trip: We use energy to power our lives every day—to boot up our computers, fuel our
cars, charge our cell phones, flick on a light switch, and in a myriad of other ways. Join scientist Alex Wegmann as we
embark on a Virtual Field Trip to explore a compelling question: How can we get the energy we need without
harming nature? By harnessing renewable sources of energy, such as sunlight and wind, scientists are finding ways to
do just that.
On this journey, we’ll visit the Palmyra Atoll, a wildly remote cluster of islands atop coral reefs and teeming with
animal life. Scientists there have developed ways to power the entire island almost exclusively through renewable
energy sources. We’ll also journey to the scorching Mojave Desert, home to rattlesnakes, tortoises, bats, and coyotes,
to check out massive solar panel installations that are working to power large cities. We’ll learn about innovative
methods for capturing energy that are safe, sustainable, and can change the destiny of life on our planet.
Materials:
Elementary School
• Nature Spy Handout
This handout includes images of animals and other items that students will see during the field trip. Print it off
and have students check off the images as they see them.
• Renewable Energy Virtual Field Trip Log
This one page handout can be printed and used before, during, and after the field trip for students to think
about what they hope to see, what they learned, what they want to know more about.
• Renewable Energy Vocabulary Graphic Organizer
This handout includes vocabulary words used during the virtual field trip and provides a structure for students
to define and use them in a sentence.
Alex Wegmann
Palmyra Program Director
The Nature Conservancy
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Middle School
• Renewable Energy Virtual Field Trip Discussion Questions
This fourteen question handout can be used during and after the virtual field trip. You can modify the
questions as needed or use them as discussion prompts after the trip. The answer key is located at the end of
this teacher’s guide.
Standards: A more detailed, grade-based map to the standards can be found here:
Next Generation Science Standards Disciplinary Core Ideas
• ESS3.A Natural Resources
• ESS3.C Human Impacts on Earth Systems
• ESS3.D Global Climate Change
• LS2.C Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and
Resilience
• LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans
Related Nature Works Everywhere Resources: The following lesson plan and video can be used to supplement the
virtual field trip.
Renewable Energy
Grade Levels: 6-8
In this lesson, students explore solar and wind power—two important
renewable energy sources. Unlike the nonrenewable energy sources
that humans currently use (fossil fuels, coal and natural gas), solar and
wind power can quickly replenish themselves and are usually available
in a never-ending supply. Acting as residents of different regions,
students weigh the pros and cons of each renewable energy option for
a region, and make a recommendation based on their evaluation.
© The Nature Conservancy
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Discussion Questions: You can use or adapt these questions for a follow-up discussion with your students after
viewing the virtual field trip. Older students may be able to follow along and answer the questions while viewing.
1. List at least two ways we get energy to power our lives.
Answer: Burning coal, gas, burning wood, biodiesel, algae/biofuel, wind, sun, water, geothermal, etc.
2. In the virtual field trip, Dr. Alex Wegmann talked about the importance of the bird guano to the ecosystem.
Describe the role that guano plays on Palmyra Atoll.
Answer: The birds eat fish and other organisms from the marine environment and when they defecate, the nutrients
from the marine environment are essentially transferred to the terrestrial environment. The guano (feces) acts as
a fertilizer for the plants. The plants in turn support life on the islands (geckos, insects, etc.). The island’s heavy
rainfall pushes nutrients from decomposing plants or dead organisms back out to the ocean where they came from
originally. Everything is connected.
3. Why is Palmyra a perfect place to study how a marine ecosystem responds to climate change?
Answer: Palmyra is a perfect place to study how a marine ecosystem responds to climate change because it has
little human influence from things like pollution or overfishing. It is as a close to a pristine environment that you
can get and therefore, the changes observed are less likely to be caused by other variables related to human
influence.
4. What is the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources? Provide examples of each.
Answer: Renewable resources include the sun and wind and are things that can be “replenished” or are not used
up. Nonrenewable resources include fossil fuels like coal and oil that took a long time to form and are not as
easily replenished. For example, coal and oil are more likely to be used up before more can form because the
process takes so long.
5. What is the reason for the special design of Palmyra’s wind turbine (shown below)?
Answer: The wind turbine has a much different design than regular turbines because of the importance of the atoll
as a nesting ground for thousands of birds. Regular wind turbines can harm birds and it was important to prevent
this happening on the islands to limit human impact while harnessing wind power.
6. Why was it necessary to install solar panels and a wind turbine on the atoll?
Answer: The wind turbine is intended for use as a back-up energy source in the event of bad weather, heavy cloud
cover, or nightfall that could limit solar power production. Using renewable energy on Palmyra also helps keeps
costs down while protecting the environment.
Credit: Cindy Coker
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7. What is the relationship between fossil fuels and carbon dioxide?
Answer: When fossil fuels are burned or combusted they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
8. What is an important chemical component of solar cell (also known as a photovoltaic cell)?
Answer: Silicon
9. Describe what happens when a photon (a packet of light energy from the sun) hits a solar cell.
Answer: When photons hit a semiconductor on a
solar panel, their energy frees some electrons in the
semiconductor material. The electrons create an
electric current, which is harnessed by wires
connected to the positive and negative sides of the
cell. The amount of electricity that can be produced
depends on the number of cells in each solar panel
and the number of panels in a whole facility.
10. How does concentrating solar power (CSP) differ from photovoltaic cells?
Answer: Concentrating solar power involves a series of mirrors that reflect sunlight onto a solar power tower.
Water contained in the tower gets heated up by the reflected sunlight. When the water is heated, it produces
steam, which turns a turbine and generates electricity.
11. How do fossil fuels contribute to climate change?
Answer: When fossil fuels are burned, they release greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases contribute to climate change because they create a layer of gas in the atmosphere that can
trap heat. Normally some of the sun’s energy gets reflected back out into space, but when there is a layer of
greenhouse gases, heat can be trapped, causing warming.
12. How do engineers and scientists decide where to locate solar facilities?
Answer: The first consideration when locating a solar facility is the amount of solar radiation a site receives. This
makes the desert Southwest a prime location for siting solar facilities. Other considerations include how much the
land will be disturbed. For example, solar facilities can destroy animal habitat, so it’s important to choose
locations that will have less impact on animals and plants and/or choose sites that have already been disturbed
like abandoned fields. Additionally it’s important to note where major migration routes exist so as not to block
the movement of animals.
13. In the United States (in 2015) how much electric power was generated from renewable resources?
Answer: Only 13%
14. What are some ways the students and other people can help to make a difference when it comes to energy
use?
Answer: You can turn off lights when you leave a room. While reducing energy use is a good start, it’s not
always practical. Switching out old incandescent light bulbs for newer, more energy efficient bulbs like LED bulbs
or compact fluorescent bulbs can save a lot of energy when the lights are on.
Credit: Bureau of Labor Statistics
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Virtual Field Trip Standards
Powering the Planet: Renewable Energy
Next Generation Science Standards
NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Grade
Topic
Disciplinary Core Idea
Performance Expectation
K
Earth
Systems
ESS3.A Natural Resources - Living things need water, air, and
resources from the land and they live in places that have the
things they need. Humans use natural resources for
everything they do.
K-ESS3-1 Use a model to represent the relationship
between the needs of different plants or animals
(including humans) and the places they live.
K
Earth
Systems
ESS3.C Human Impacts on Earth Systems - things that people
do to live comfortably can affect the world around them. But
they can make choices that reduce their impacts on the land,
water, air, and other living things.
K-ESS3-3 Communicate solutions that will reduce the
impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or
other living things in the local environment.
2nd
grade
Life
Science
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans - There are many different
kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different
places on land and in water.
2-LS4-1 Make observations of plants and animals to
compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
3rd
grade
Life
Science
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans - Populations live in a variety of
habitats, and change in those habitats affects the organisms
living there.
3-LS4-4 Make a claim about the merit of a solution to
a problem caused when the environment changes
and the types of plants and animals that live there
may change.
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3rd
grade
Life
Science
LS2.C Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience - when
the environment changes in ways that affect a place's physical
characteristics, temperature, or availability of resources, some
organisms survive and reproduce, others move to new
locations, yet others move into the transformed environment,
and some die.
3-LS4-4 Make a claim about the merit of a solution to
a problem caused when the environment changes
and the types of plants and animals that live there
may change.
Grade
Topic
Disciplinary Core Idea
Performance Expectation
4
th
grade
Physical
Science
ESS3.A Natural Resources – Energy and fuels that humans use
are derived from natural sources, and their use affects the
environment in multiple ways. Some resources are renewable
over time, and others are not.
4-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information to
describe that energy and fuels are derived from
natural resources and their uses affect the
environment.
5th
grade
Earth
Systems
ESS3.C Human Impacts on Earth Systems - Human activities in
agriculture, industry, and everyday life have had major effects
on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer
space. But individuals and communities are doing things to
help protect Earth's resources and environments.
5-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information about
ways individual communities use science ideas to
protect the Earth's resources and environment.
Middle
School
Life
Science
LS2.C Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience -
Ecosystems are dynamic in nature; their characteristics can
vary over time. Disruptions to any physical or biological
component of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all its
populations.
MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by
empirical evidence that changes to physical or
biological components of an ecosystem affect
populations.
Middle
School
Life
Science
LS2.C Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience -
Biodiversity describes the variety of species found in Earth's
terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems. The completeness or
integrity of an ecosystem's biodiversity is often used as a
measure of its health.
MS-LS2-5 Evaluate competing design solutions for
maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
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Middle
School
Life
Science
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans - Changes in biodiversity can
influence humans' resources such as food, energy, and
medicines, as well as ecosystem services that humans rely on -
for example, water purification and recycling.
MS-LS2-5 Evaluate competing design solutions for
maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
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AFTER
I know that…________________________________
_________________________________________________
I wonder if…_________________________________
_________________________________________________
I hope that…_________________________________
_________________________________________________
I want to know more about…_____________
_________________________________________________
My favorite part was …____________________
_________________________________________________
I learned that…______________________________
_________________________________________________
Imagine you are in the Mojave Desert or Palmyra Atoll –
what would you be doing? On the left, draw a “selfie” of
yourself on your trip.
Rate this virtual field trip by coloring in the number of stars
you would give it!
Powering the Planet Virtual Field Trip Log
BEFORE
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What does it mean?
Word: Atoll
Definition:
Part of speech:
o Noun
o Verb
o Adjective
o Adverb
Sentence:
Word: Terrestrial
Definition:
Part of speech:
o Noun
o Verb
o Adjective
o Adverb
Sentence:
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Word: Invertebrate
Definition:
Part of speech:
o Noun
o Verb
o Adjective
o Adverb
Sentence:
Word: Renewable
Definition:
Part of speech:
o Noun
o Verb
o Adjective
o Adverb
Sentence:
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Word: Non-renewable
Definition:
Part of speech:
o Noun
o Verb
o Adjective
o Adverb
Sentence:
Word: Fossil fuels
Definition:
Part of speech:
o Noun
o Verb
o Adjective
o Adverb
Sentence:
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Powering the Planet: Renewable Energy
Discussion Questions
1. List at least two ways we get the energy to power our lives.
2. In the virtual field trip, Dr. Alex Wegmann talked about the importance of the bird guano to the ecosystem.
Describe the role that guano plays on Palmyra Atoll.
3. Why is Palmyra a perfect place to study how a marine ecosystem responds to climate change?
4. What is the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources? Provide examples of each.
5. What is the reason for the special design of Palmyra’s wind turbine (shown below)?
6. Why was it necessary to install both solar panels and a wind turbine on the atoll?
7. What is the relationship between fossil fuels and carbon dioxide?
Credit: Cindy Coker
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8. What is an important chemical component of solar cell (also known as a photovoltaic cell)?
9. Describe what happens when a photon (a packet of light energy from the sun) hits a solar cell.
10. How does concentrating solar power (CSP) differ from photovoltaic cells?
11. How do fossil fuels contribute to climate change?
12. How do engineers and scientists decide where to locate solar facilities?
13. In the United States (in 2015) how much electric power was generated from renewable resources?
14. What are some ways the students and other people can help to make a difference when it comes to energy
use?
