Follow the Data

Ever wonder how much energy solar panels produce? What happens on a cloudy day? How do scientists track data to learn how to make better solar panels?

Teachers and students can learn all this and more using this lesson titled Follow the Data. In this lesson, students will use online data resources to track and record solar and weather data at the Nature Museum. After 10 school days of consistent tracking, students will be able to draw some initial conclusions about solar energy production and its relationship to the weather. So read on to get started!

Lesson Introduction and Goals
This lesson will introduce students to the basic concepts of data tracking related to solar energy production and the weather.

At the conclusion of this lesson, the students will be able to:

• Describe the basic measurements of solar energy and weather (e.g., watts produced, wind speed, temperature);
• Understand the process for and importance of tracking data over time;
• Understand the relationship between solar energy production and the weather and convey relevant data and initial conclusions in both words and graphics.

Time Allotment
45 minutes for lesson introduction; 20 minutes a day for 10 school days; 45 minutes for lesson conclusion

Materials

• One piece of graph paper for each team of two (2) students
• One pencil for each student team
• Two large poster boards to replicate the data and graphs
• Access computers so students can visit the Chicago del Sol online data page

Advanced Preparation

• Gather materials

Procedure
A. Tap Prior Knowledge/Pre-evaluation (10 min.)
Ask your student(s) to tell you what they know about the production of solar energy. How is the energy measured? How does the weather affect the units generated? How do scientists track data to learn more about the solar/weather interrelationship? Write their answers on the chalk board.

B. Share With Neighbor (5 min.)
Pair the students up into teams of two and give them 3 minutes to discuss the idea of "data." What are data? How are they used? Ask the students to think of real-world examples. Then ask several pairs to share their answers with the classroom. [Note: fourth-grade students may require some quidance.]

C. Hands-On Activities and Explanations (25 min.)
Let the students know that they are about to embark on a 10-day science project to track solar energy and weather data at the Nature Museum. At the end of the 10 days, the students will be able to explain to each other how the weather affects the creation of solar energy.

Pass out to each student team of two a piece of graph paper and a pencil. Ask the students to create the following columns to track their data [Note: you could even lay out the data collection grid for the students and make copies of the master graph-paper data sheet to hand out to all the students]:

Explain to the students that they will be tracking the following data at the same time each day for the next ten (10) school days.

Data will be tracked online at the Chicago del Sol online data page.

Then, at the end of the 10 days, they will look at the data to determine the relationship between the weather and the production of solar energy using solar cells.

D. Introduce Scientific Principles and Relate Activities and Concept (5 min.)
Help the students make bar or line graphs of the data once its collected. Discuss how the weather (rainy, cloudy days; windy days; sunny days) affects the production of solar energy based on the collected data.

Discuss the importance of using a battery to collect and store solar energy produced on sunny days so it's available on cloudy and rainy days.

At the conclusion of the lesson, have the students explore the major Chicago del Sol online learning interactive, Up on the Roof at the Greens' House, about just this topic.

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