Investigating Solar Energy

What is solar energy?

Prompt: Let’s think about solar energy. Does it provide all the energy for everything on Earth? Student responses included light and heat energy.

Question: Does the sun provide any other energy? Discussion includes solar flares, electromagnetic energy, and gravity.

Question: How can we detect these types of energy? Discussion leads to feeling heat and seeing light. The student suggests ideas to observe solar energy having an effect, such as using a magnifying glass to focus sunlight on dry leaves to start a fire.

Observations: We gather instruments and materials to investigate, go to a parent-approved area of the backyard, and begin to collect data.