Take the students for a field trip. If there is a house or business nearby that has solar collectors, take the children to see the building and, if possible, hold your lesson on solar energy there. Try to arrange for the children to see the solar collector up close. A field trip to a power plant or hydraulic dam would be a good addition to your lectures on electricity.
Teach the children how to make their own circuits when you teach them about electricity. An appropriate second grade experiment can be done by sticking a copper wire and a steel paper clip in a lemon. If your students bend the two metal units close to one another and touch their tongue to both of them simultaneously, they should be able to feel a slight tingle, which will prove the presence of electricity.
Fill the lessons with interesting trivia. Children are curious, but they are much more likely to remember things that they find either interesting or entertaining. For example, you can hold lessons about the electric cars, houses and appliances that run on solar power, and explain the effects various types of energy have on the environment.
Take an empty pizza box and create a flap by cutting into the box lid along three sides using scissors. Leave about an inch between the sides of the flap and the edges of the lid. Fold the flap out so that it stands up when the lid of the pizza box is closed.
Dress the inner side of the flap with aluminum foil by wrapping the foil tightly around the flap and taping it to the outer side of the flap. Open the box and tape plastic wrap over the opening you made when you created the flap. Make it tight by leaving an inch of plastic foil overlap on all sides and taping them to the pizza box.
Cut a piece of construction paper just big enough that it will fit in the box, and place it in the box. Roll up sheets of newspaper and tape them to all four sides of the pizza box, so you will provide a frame around the black construction paper. The black construction paper will absorb heat and serve as the cooking area. The newspaper rolls will create a seal inside the box and keep the hot air in.
Take the box outside when the sun is at its highest: from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Put a hot dog in the box and leave it in the sun. Come back after class with your students to see if the hot dog has cooked, thus demonstrating the power of solar energy.