The following sites were compiled while doing research for a middle school unit on renewable energy. A short review introduces each site. This list was complied in July of 2001.
 

Websites for multiple energy sources.

The richest site around is  The National Renewable Energy Laboratory . In it is a wide variety of sources for educators as well as the average laymen. There is a wealth of information regarding the latest research and business opportunities. There is a separate education section with a large number of  links to activities for various grade levels. This site is highly recommended.

The U.S. Department of Energy has a site that has many levels of information including  Kidzone where there are games, activities, and information links. Another area within the DOE is EREN, the  Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network . Information and activities can be found by following the simple links. This is a good introductory site, there is more information than activities here... and the little yellow balls that follow the cursor soon grows tiresome, but 6th graders would be at home here.

The State of California, not surprisingly, has a pretty decent website for kids. It's called  Energy Quest and addresses many areas of energy including conservation, scientists, safety, and others. It is geared for a bit younger kids, probably appropriate for 3rd through 6th grades.

 Planet Earth  is a site put together by the British Department of Trade and Industry. It has interesting areas of study with a British perspective. Sites are available for teachers as well as students.

A good general site for information about all renewable energy sources is about.com. At that site you can find good background information for all renewable sources plus an area for kids to do explorations such as building a simple water turbine  to do work.  . About.com is a huge network of websites with information appropriate for kids as well as adults. This site is worth taking a look at for areas other than just renewable energy. Go to the  Science and Nature for Kids to look at all the material there. And for more adult information on  renewable energy this is the place to go. There were more links here than at any other site I found. Start at this page and you can get more ideas about geothermal, biomass, and solar than I would have ever guessed was out there.
 

Wind Power

The Danish Wind Turbine Manufacturers  Association will tell you absolutely everything you ever wanted to know
about wind generation and how to set up your own generator. Plus, of course, how to buy one from them.

They also have an area called "Wind with Miller" that is all for kids and has several good activites.
 http://www.windpower.dk/en/kids/index.htm
 

The Franklin Institute has developed a unit on wind energy that is designed for 5-6 grade and is worth
checking out. It is a multi-disciplinary unit.

Hydroelectric Power

The Department of Energy has a special section devoted to hydroelectric power. http://hydropower.inel.gov/ , as does the United States Geological Survey . Both these sites are mostly information with the government perspective on things. There are some good links within there though for a water research unit.
 

Solar Power

All the sites listed in the first section of this page have solar power as a major topic. However there are a couple of other places that focus more on solar power that deserve mentioning. Australia's Council on Science, Industry and Research
Organization has a wonderful site with it's  "Double Helix"  science site. There are several solar experiments there such as, "solar still", "baby barbeque" (don't worry, they aren't barbecueing babies)making a solar boat and a few more. This is another place that deserves exploring for the many activites offered in a wide range of subjects.

 Solarnow  has good links and a few experiments to perform. It has a more liberal slant then the U.S. government sites, but still seems to be a pretty balanced outlook.
 

The intent of this web page is to provide useful sources for kids in the middle school grades as well as more information for teachers or for students wanting to do more in depth research. If there are sites that you would like to share please e-mail bmacdemot@ttsd.k12.or.us and I will add them to this site.