Solar Energy: Running on Sunshine

Children's Literature - Barbara L. Talcroft

This "Powering Our World" series entry appears designed to bring information about energy sources to a younger audience than usual. The reader-friendly, slim, square books cover basic information in a format using large, sans serif type and a color photo for each page of text (possibly putting off older readers because any photographs of children are of primary-age students). That said, the content is accurate, and the illustrations are both appropriate and well chosen. In this book, students are introduced to solar energy with some historical background on passive solar power used in ancient Greece and by the Acoma of New Mexico. Students learn that solar energy is captured by photovoltaic panels to make electricity and in thermal solar plants that heat water with the sun's energy. The author stresses the availability, cheapness, and cleanness as great advantages of solar power, although it does not work at night or in places with little sunlight, when it needs to be stored. Especially interesting is the picture of a solar-powered racing car. In the future, scientists hope to use satellites to collect the sun's energy above the clouds. (Kids will need help with some of the more technical details.) Although each title includes a fuel time line and a glossary, teachers will need to plan additional activities and projects, with field trips to any nearby source of energy production, like the solar power plant and photovoltaic panels pictured. Reviewer: Barbara L. Talcroft