6 minute read
Materials List
from Energy, Climate, and You (Rhode Island Edition) Intermediate/Secondary Teacher Guide
by NEED Project
Energy Roundup
ACTIVITY
Candy Collector
MATERIALS NEEDED FROM KIT
Today In Energy
Student Energy Audits
Digital thermometer Hygrometer Light meter Kill A Watt® meter Can I Really Fry An Egg On The Sidewalk? Infrared themometer Plug Loads Kill A Watt® meter Greenhouse in a Beaker Vinyl tubing Digital thermometers Erlenmeyer flask Rubber stopper with hole Alka-Seltzer® tablets
Climate Web
Mini Heat Island Infrared (IR) thermometer Digital thermometer
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS NEEDED
Colored cardstock or paper Scissors Tape Straws Scissors Tape M&M candies or similar Jellybeans or similar Stopwatch or timer Empty cups, bowls, or containers Cardstock Scissors Tape (optional) Clipboards
Stopwatch or timer 600 mL beakers or similar cups Light fixtures Light bulbs Masking Tape Rulers Water Safety glasses Cardstock String or yarn Scissors Hole punch Boxes Clear tape or transparency film Box cutter Masking or packaging tape Rulers Light fixtures with heat bulbs Baking sheet or tray Scissors Soil, sand, sod Additional materials to simulate building and landscape
Teacher Guide
Unit Preparation
Preview the unit and decide which activities you will conduct in class. We recommend at least one activity from each lesson, keeping in mind that the most connections among energy, climate change, health, and social justice will be made in students who experience all of the activities. Consult materials lists and gather supplies needed for the unit. Preview Lesson 4, the concurrent project, and determine how you want students to complete this project, and how you will introduce and integrate it within the other lessons. Review the web resources, papers, and other links to become more familiar with the issues addressed and Rhode Island’s energy picture.
Lesson 1 – Energy Sources and Electricity Generation; Carbon Dioxide Emissions
&Background
This lesson focuses on the energy sources we use and the transformations that take place when we use them. The lesson focuses on all of the sources that provide our total energy and generate electricity, as well as the consequences to the environment that go along with fossil fuel use.
Objectives
Students will be able to explain the difference between potential and kinetic energy. Students will be able to name the various forms of potential and kinetic energy and provide an example. Students will be able to list the ten energy sources we use. Students will be able to explain the difference between renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. Students will be able to explain the environmental consequences of using fossil fuels for energy. Time
1-2 class periods Materials
Energy Roundup Posters and Energy Source Cards (See Energy Roundup instructions, pages 13-15) Candies for Candy Collector Straws (one per student) Bowls (three per student or group) Stopwatch or timer Masters, pages 9-12 Student Guide, pages 2-4; 17-18; 20-23 Blank Rhode Island Map (Student Guide, page 19), digital map and/or PDF copies of maps of your local area, state, or another area you wish to assign
2Preparation
Prepare Energy Roundup Posters and Energy Source Cards. Prepare masters for projection. Gather materials for Candy Collector.
Grade Level
Intermediate, 6-8 Secondary, 9-12
Additional Resources
NEED has several guides and activities that can support and enhance the content covered in this unit. Visit shop.NEED.org for free downloads of the titles below and many more! Secondary Energy Infobook Intermediate Energy Infobook Understanding Climate Science Exploring Climate Science
Web Resources
For a list of helpful resources, see page 52.
Prepare physical or digital maps for your students to work with for the concurrent project. Decide on the energy infrastructure and electricity generation sites that you wish students to map out. Think about any additional items specific to the area students are studying that might make the project easier or provide more clarity at the end of the project. Hang Energy Roundup Posters on the day you will conduct the activity.
Procedure
1. Introduce the lesson by asking students how they use energy. Ask them to provide examples of energy that has been stored and energy in motion. 2. Define potential and kinetic energy. Project the Forms of Energy master, and explain each energy form. 3. Demonstrate some simple energy transformations, like a burning candle, a bouncing superball, or the heat generated from rubbing hands together rapidly. Explain that in each example, one form of energy is transformed into another, but no energy is ever lost in the process. 4. Project the U.S. Energy Consumption by Source, 2018 master. Define renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. List the ten energy sources we use today, providing examples and uses of each. Ask students which energy sources they used in the last 24 hours. 5. Using the master, have students add the amount of energy provided by renewable and nonrenewable resources. Ask them to suggest explanations for the percentage distribution. 6. Shift the focus to fossil fuels. Define the term and explain the origins. Project the Fossil Fuel Formation master and ask students for similarities and differences. Steer students’ observations toward recognizing that all fossil fuels are the remains of ancient plants and animals that were compressed and chemically altered over long periods of time, and that while their composition varies they are all composed primarily of carbon and hydrogen, with some other elements in much smaller amounts. 7. Explain that when we use fossil fuels for energy sources, we must burn them to release the energy stored within their molecular bonds. Explain that in combustion, oxygen is added. Demonstrate the chemical reaction equations for hydrogen(H), methane (CH4), and propane (C3H8). Show students how oxygen is added, and oxides are the product. Underline the oxides. Explain that when hydrocarbon compounds like methane and propane burn, carbon dioxide is one product. 2H2 + O2 2H2O CH4 + 2O2 CO2 + 2H2O C3H8 + 5O2 3CO2 + 4H2O 8. Define greenhouse gases, and list the most common ones (water vapor, methane, and carbon dioxide). Explain that burning fossil fuels for energy has resulted in significant increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, leading to climate change effects we are seeing today.
Describe and explain some of the effects as may be appropriate or relevant to your students. 9. Project the U.S. Electricity Generation by Source, 2018 master. Ask students to calculate the percentage of U.S. electricity provided by fossil fuels. 10. Introduce Energy Roundup to students and conduct the activity (pages 13-14). 11. Have students play Candy Collector following the directions on pages 16-17. 12. Have students begin work on the concurrent mapping project from Lesson 4, pages 51-52. Introduce the project, explaining that they will be focusing their project study on a specific area, which you will assign to them. 13. Distribute physical or digital copies, or direct students to the site(s) you wish for them to use to prepare their own digital maps. 14. Provide a list of the items you want students to include on their maps, and provide some items they may wish to include that might make the project easier to complete, such as the location of major transmission lines, etc. 15. Allow students some time to work on their maps, either in class or at home.
Extensions
If you would like to go more in-depth about energy sources, download a copy of Energy Expos from shop.NEED.org and have students complete the Energy Source Expo. Extend your students’ knowledge about energy sources by using the curriculum guides pertaining to the energy source(s) that interest or are relevant to you and your students. Guides are available for coal, petroleum and natural gas (combined), uranium, hydropower, solar power, and wind energy at shop.NEED.org.
