Fourth Graders Create a Solar Powered Classroom

Articles/Websites

Grades3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8Engineering

Scientist Reviewed

Provided by The Kid Should See This

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What it is

This video and article featured by The Kid Should See This show how a fourth-grade class in Durham, North Carolina learned about solar energy, raised money to buy solar panels, and installed solar panels to power their classroom.
Students will learn about renewable energy and see an example of successful and inspiring climate action at the classroom level.

Teaching tips

Positives

This video will inspire and guide students who want to install solar panels at their schools.
A short article provides several links, including a link to the class's Kickstarter campaign, which raised over $5,000 for the project.

Prerequisites

Students should understand the environmental benefits of renewable energy and why it is more sustainable than electricity from fossil fuels.
Students should understand that every school is different, and some classes might face more obstacles to switching to solar energy than others.
The link in the article to energy.gov does not work.

Differentiation & Implementation

Students can create a flowchart of the people that would have to approve a solar panel project at their school.
Students can use this article on solar power in schools to gather information, then create a presentation for decision-makers on why their class would benefit from switching to solar power.
Other resources on this topic include this digital book on solar energy and this Khan Academy video on solar energy technology.

From the scientist review

This is a 4-minute video produced by the US Department of Energy and it showcases a 4th-grade class that researched and installed solar panels to make their classroom off the grid. This video was produced in 2013; now solar panels are the most cost-effective way to generate electricity. This resource is recommended for teaching.

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At a glance

Grades: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Subjects: Engineering
Other types: Videos
Language: English
Location: North America > United States > North Carolina
Provider: The Kid Should See This
Authors: The Kid Should See This, U.S. Department of Energy
Published: April 27, 2021
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · D4.7.6-8 + 6 more

Core

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards

D4.7.6-8Assess their individual and collective capacities to take action to address local, regional, and global problems, taking into account a range of possible levers of power, strategies, and potential outcomes.
D4.7.3-5Explain different strategies and approaches students and others could take in working alone and together to address local, regional, and global problems, and predict possible results of their actions.

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

MS-ESS3-3.Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Wisconsin Climate Education Hub

Science

4-PS3-4.Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.
5-ESS3-1.Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
3-5-ETS1-1.Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
4-ESS3-1.Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment.

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