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NOVA: Saved by the Sun
published by the Public Broadcasting Service and the WGBH Educational Foundation
This PBS NOVA web site offers four features on solar energy. It includes resources on new technologies, questions and answers about solar energy, an example of a solar house, and a section on solar cells that explains how solar panels work. The site also has a preview of the NOVA program on solar energy.

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http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/saved-by-the-sun.html
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Astronomy
- Fundamentals
= Energy and Temperature
Heat
- First Law
= Heat Transfer
Light
- General
Motion, Forces, and Energy
- Work and Energy
= Conservation of Energy
Other Sciences
- Environmental Science
- High School
- Middle School
- Graduate/Professional
- Lower Undergraduate
- Informal Education
- Upper Undergraduate
- Reference Material
- Audio/Visual
= Movie/Animation
Intended Users Formats Ratings
- Learners
- Educators
- text/html
- video/shockwave
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Access Rights: Free access
Restriction: © 2007 WGBH Educational Foundation
Has a copyright or other licensing restriction.
Keywords: climate literacy, energy, green energy, photovoltaic, solar cell, solar energy, solar power, solar technology
Record Creator: Metadata instance created September 25, 2007 by Ann Deml
Record Updated: Sep 28, 2012 by Caroline Hall
Last Update
when Cataloged:		 September 27, 2007
Other Collections:

AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

4. The Physical Setting

4D. The Structure of Matter
  • 6-8: 4D/M9. Materials vary in how they respond to electric currents, magnetic forces, and visible light or other electromagnetic waves.
4E. Energy Transformations
  • 3-5: 4E/E2c. A warmer object can warm a cooler one by contact or at a distance.
  • 6-8: 4E/M2. Energy can be transferred from one system to another (or from a system to its environment) in different ways: 1) thermally, when a warmer object is in contact with a cooler one; 2) mechanically, when two objects push or pull on each other over a distance; 3) electrically, when an electrical source such as a battery or generator is connected in a complete circuit to an electrical device; or 4) by electromagnetic waves.
  • 6-8: 4E/M3. Thermal energy is transferred through a material by the collisions of atoms within the material. Over time, the thermal energy tends to spread out through a material and from one material to another if they are in contact. Thermal energy can also be transferred by means of currents in air, water, or other fluids. In addition, some thermal energy in all materials is transformed into light energy and radiated into the environment by electromagnetic waves; that light energy can be transformed back into thermal energy when the electromagnetic waves strike another material. As a result, a material tends to cool down unless some other form of energy is converted to thermal energy in the material.
  • 6-8: 4E/M6. Light and other electromagnetic waves can warm objects. How much an object's temperature increases depends on how intense the light striking its surface is, how long the light shines on the object, and how much of the light is absorbed.
4F. Motion
  • 3-5: 4F/E3. Light travels and tends to maintain its direction of motion until it interacts with an object or material. Light can be absorbed, redirected, bounced back, or allowed to pass through.

8. The Designed World

8C. Energy Sources and Use
  • 6-8: 8C/M4. Electrical energy can be generated from a variety of energy resources and can be transformed into almost any other form of energy. Electric circuits are used to distribute energy quickly and conveniently to distant locations.
  • 6-8: 8C/M5. Energy from the sun (and the wind and water energy derived from it) is available indefinitely. Because the transfer of energy from these resources is weak and variable, systems are needed to collect and concentrate the energy.
  • 9-12: 8C/H5. Decisions to slow the depletion of energy resources can be made at many levels, from personal to national, and they always involve trade-offs involving economic costs and social values.
ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!

Record Link
AIP Format
NOVA: Saved by the Sun (Public Broadcasting Service, Alexandria, 2007), WWW Document, (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/saved-by-the-sun.html).
AJP/PRST-PER
NOVA: Saved by the Sun (Public Broadcasting Service, Alexandria, 2007), <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/saved-by-the-sun.html>.
APA Format
NOVA: Saved by the Sun. (2007, September 27). Retrieved June 20, 2013, from Public Broadcasting Service: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/saved-by-the-sun.html
Chicago Format
Public Broadcasting Service. NOVA: Saved by the Sun. Alexandria: Public Broadcasting Service, September 27, 2007. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/saved-by-the-sun.html (accessed 20 June 2013).
MLA Format
NOVA: Saved by the Sun. Alexandria: Public Broadcasting Service, 2007. 27 Sep. 2007. 20 June 2013 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/saved-by-the-sun.html>.
BibTeX Export Format
@misc{ Title = {NOVA: Saved by the Sun}, Publisher = {Public Broadcasting Service}, Volume = {2013}, Number = {20 June 2013}, Month = {September 27, 2007}, Year = {2007} }
Refer Export Format

%T NOVA: Saved by the Sun
%D September 27, 2007
%I Public Broadcasting Service
%C Alexandria
%U http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/saved-by-the-sun.html
%O text/html

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source
%D September 27, 2007
%T NOVA: Saved by the Sun
%I Public Broadcasting Service
%V 2013
%N 20 June 2013
%8 September 27, 2007
%9 text/html
%U http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/saved-by-the-sun.html


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