Energy Sciences

Introduction

In the media and on the political stage, the main topic of discussion is renewable energy and its environmental and economic benefits. There is such a great urgency to switch, and to switch now! So, why doesn't our society make the leap and switch from non-renewable to renewable energy sources? Well, it's not that easy. To fully understand requires a deeper knowledge of and exposure to what are renewables and what is their overall impact to our communities. Thus, it is our job as educators to be informed and to provide awareness of non-renewable and renewable energy options early and often to our students. Gaining awareness of the options gives our students the ability to make conscious decisions about their role in the local/global effort to be environmentally friendly. In this unit, students will make real-world mathematical connections to the origin of our electricity, the impact of our use on the environment, the potential of wind energy and biodiesel, and the evaluation of our energy practices. Through demonstrations and inquiry-based learning opportunities, students will acquire and retain mathematical concepts which include writing, solving and graphing linear equations and inequalities, systems of linear equations and inequalities, and direct and inverse relationships. Students will also analyze data statistically using box-and-whiskers plots, mean absolute and standard deviation, z-scores, and curve of best-fit.

Non-renewables are energy sources that can be used up like gasoline in our cars. Gasoline is made from petroleum, remains of creatures that lived many years ago and are now buried deep in the earth, subjected to high temperatures and pressures which caused physical and chemical changes, and for that reason it cannot be replenished. Examples of non-renewables include petroleum, coal, nuclear and natural gas. Renewables are energy sources that can replenish itself like wood for a fire. Wood comes from trees; new trees grow to replace those harvested, hence, it is renewable. Examples of renewables include biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, and hydropower. Each of these proposed renewable energy sources is expensive to implement and has unique environmental challenges. Combine this fact with no widespread infrastructure to use supposed sources and you arrive at the core reason why we have not made the leap and switch from non-renewables to renewables. Consequently, my students will come to the inescapable conclusion that they are limited to our current source of energy. However, by the end of the unit, perhaps my students will realize that with a few personal adjustments in habit we can use energy wisely and carefully through energy conservation, also known as the 'fifth fuel.' ¹ Energy conservation is decreasing energy use, not depriving yourself of life's simple pleasures. However, according to Daniel Yergin, author of The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World, it is "applying greater intelligence to consumption, being more clever about how energy is used—using less for the same or greater effect." ²

So, who has time for energy conservation? WE ALL DO!! My Algebra I students meet in 90 minute block classes and are mostly comprised of 9 ^th graders with a few 8 ^th and 10 ^th graders who will discover we can conserve with just a few minor adjustments. This unit will be implemented throughout the academic year following the Algebra I pacing chart established by Richmond Public Schools. At the culmination of this unit, my students, newly named Energy Inspectors, will conduct an audit of their home by making a list of items used in their home or on the go that use electricity and evaluate the cost of usage at a particular point in time and over a year's time, taking into account the time of day, year or season in which they are most likely to use these items. Then, they will write a proposal to their caregivers including a top ten list of ways to conserve energy.