Energy Sciences

Introduction

My students generally believe in climate change. They see it in the news, and they experience it in ever growing storms and weather events. They know it is bad, but they don't really understand the root causes. They have some knowledge that "air pollution" is the cause, but they don't have a grasp of the basics. My goal with this curriculum unit is to clear up some of the misconceptions, provide students with some possible solutions to our ever growing carbon problem, and help them understand that the choices we make as individuals and society will have profound effects on the future climate of Earth.

Kids know that cars and trucks run on "gas", and that the "gas" is somehow related to air pollution. They don't really know the origin of the fuel that they put into their automobiles, nor do they fully understand the effects that gasoline consumption has on the atmosphere. It has been well demonstrated that the use of traditional fossil fuels such as gasoline as motor fuels is having a profound effect on the climate. ¹ The use of fossil fuels such as gasoline is a major contributor to carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere. Biofuels such as ethanol and butanol are increasingly being touted as a means of lowering our carbon emissions and increasing our fuel supply. By having my students explore some of the issues surrounding the production and use of biofuels, I hope to give them a very solid understanding on which they can base any future opinions or ideas.

There are a few key learnings from this curriculum unit that will leave my students well educated in the issues surrounding biofuels and their use as a motor fuel. First they will discover why biofuels such as ethanol hold so much promise in the campaign to lower our carbon emissions. My students will also explore why biofuels derived from sources such as corn are not as environmentally friendly as initially promised. ² Some of the difficulties in producing ethanol directly from cellulosic sources will be explored, as well as comparisons of the different energy quantities, production methods, and benefits of ethanol and butanol. The students will come away with a good understanding of how biofuels can lower greenhouse gas emissions, how they are made, and also some of the drawbacks to the production and use of biofuels. Finally, students will be asked to incorporate what they have learned into the overall concepts of sustainability and environmental unity.

By introducing concepts in the sequence described above, I will be able to get students to see the "big picture" and make a connection to the entire curriculum of my AP Environmental Science class. They need to be able to tie concepts together and see the environment as a whole, and not as a collection of discrete problems. To enable my students to grasp the overall concept and controversy of biofuel production, I need to help them understand the environmental, cultural, and economic aspects that determine the sustainability of an issue.

By studying the issue of biofuels, students will see how environmental issues are tied to other issues such as economics and politics. They will hopefully better understand two of the unifying principles throughout environmental science. The first is the principle of sustainability. Students will need to understand that the choices that are made today will have a long lasting effect, and will need to be acceptable by society in order to be adopted. Anything we choose to do today should be sustainable for future generations and the environment they will occupy. I work with my students so they understand that no action or introduction is simple. Whatever motor fuel choices we make today need to be sustainable in the future, and need to address the problems associated with the use of fossil fuels as motor fuel.

The second important principle for my students to learn is that of Environmental Unity. This is the concept that no action or occurrence happens in isolation in the environment. An action taken in one area can have very devastating consequences in an area of the environment very far away. For example, the increased use of corn as a basis for ethanol production has led to an increased use of nitrogen fertilizers to grow the corn. This fertilizer has washed off of farm fields in the Midwest, and ended up in the Gulf of Mexico where it has caused a great deal of harm to aquatic organisms. ² The farmers in the mid west do not intend to harm the Gulf organisms, but the effect is real, and is a good example of Environmental Unity.

I teach at Newark High School in Newark, Delaware. My school is fairly large, with a student population of approximately 1700 students. We are a Title 1 school, with over 50% of our students eligible for free or reduced lunches. I have been teaching at Newark High since 2000, and I have been teaching AP Environmental Science since 2004. My typical science class has about 25-30 students, of varying backgrounds and academic abilities. My AP classes are more homogeneous than the lower level Biology classes that I also teach, but there is still a fair degree of academic variability in those classes.

The intended audience for this unit is 11 ^th and 12 ^th grade students enrolled in my AP Environmental Science class. The various activities incorporated into this unit of curriculum are designed to engage students who will be involved in these types of activities in a college level environmental science class, or as environmental scientists in the field. The debate over biofuels will intensify in the future, and hopefully this curriculum will allow my students to be well prepared to discuss any of the ramifications in a well grounded manner. In addition, several key Science Standards for the State of Delaware and the College Board are addressed (see Appendix 1).

My classes are arranged in an A/B block schedule. I see the students for 90 minutes, every other day. The activities and lessons contained in this curriculum are designed for the 90 minute block. However, they should be easily modified to fit into any school schedule with slight modifications.

I intend to teach these units concurrently, and not break them up over time. This curriculum will be taught as a discrete set of lessons within my overall Energy Unit. It should take me approximately two weeks on Block scheduling to cover all of the material in this curriculum unit.

The activities in this curriculum unit will mimic actual tasks that a research scientist or environmental lab technician would do as part of their job. By having the students perform actual hands-on activities I hope to engage them in a higher level of interest, and thereby help them incorporate the ideas within this curriculum in their greater environmental learning. This hands-on method also makes the information that is collected from many on-line sources more authentic since students will be collecting some of their own data, and drawing their own conclusions about the merits of biofuels.

Students will be exposed to ample scientific research and literature so they can see the current and historic impacts of biofuel usage. I will provide them with sets of printed articles to read as homework in order to provide them with adequate background on the topic before we begin each series of activities. Students will evaluate findings of relationships between corn ethanol and the environment. They will be expected to evaluate scenarios to determine the potential for environmental impacts, and to use critical thinking to come to conclusions about which biofuels and production practices are best suited for sustainable development.