Energy Sciences

Classroom Activities

Part 1

Lesson 1: Carbon Cycle

Introduce the carbon cycle using a Pictorial Input Chart. Prepare for the lesson by projecting the image on a document camera and trace on chart paper using a pencil for each class. Trace the image in marker as you tell the story of the carbon cycle as it relates to fossil fuels and the greenhouse effect.

Figure 1: Illustration of carbon cycle for use as in Pictorial Input Chart lecture.

Lesson 2: A Day Without Energy

Students will think about their own energy consumption and what activities they do daily that require energy. Then, we will take a closer look at the most common energy sources: coal, oil, and natural gas and do activities that relate to the environmental impact of obtaining these sources. With the backdrop of an earthquake or natural disaster as the setting, students brainstorm all the things they do in a 24-hour period that require energy and all the things they would not be able to do or have to do differently. Connect this to the carbon cycle. Page 70 in Sustainable Energy – without the hot air by David MacKay lists many gadgets and their power consumption.³⁵

Lesson 3: Conventional Energy

Introduce the three types of conventional energy sources: coal, oil, and natural gas, with specifics for your area.  Students take Cornell Notes on how each type works and the advantages and disadvantages of each. I would include a small copy of the Pictorial Input Chart from lesson one and leave the vocabulary words (coal, oil, natural gas) blank to fill in more information about the process of extracting these fossil fuels, and how they are used for energy.

Figure 2: US energy consumption in 2014. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (March 2015).

Lesson 4: Conventional Energy’s Environmental Impact

To illustrate the environmental impact of mining for coal and drilling for oil, use a cookie mining activity. For this activity, I use Chips A’hoy with chocolate chips and M&Ms. For each student, provide a cookie, one-centimeter graph paper, and a small paper clip. The cookie represents the land, chocolate chips represent coal, and the candy represents oil. Use the graph paper to measure the surface area of the cookie before and after mining for the fossil fuels and the paper clip as the “drill”. Use this a framework for a discussion about the environmental impacts of continued use of conventional energy. Show the video “Carbon-Free Energy”.³⁶

Lesson 5: Visit a Garden Greenhouse to Model the Greenhouse Effect

Take a trip to a local plant nursery with a greenhouse and discuss how the physical greenhouse relates to global climate change. Have students refer to the notes from lesson 3. Provide sentence frames for the discussion. In the carbon dioxide trapping game, the glass in the greenhouse represents the atmosphere and a group of students represent carbon dioxide while another group of students represent heat energy trying to escape. A full write-up of this lesson can be found on Edible School Yard Berkeley’s website.

Lesson 6: Field Trip to Lawrence Hall of Science

Students take a field trip to Lawrence Hall of Science to view demonstrations about climate change. The University of California at Berkeley offers an undergraduate science class titled “Communicating Climate Change” for which their final project is to create model demonstrations to show how increases in carbon dioxide affect the oceans, temperature, and animals. I suggest contacting your local community college or university to see if your students could attend their final presentations on this topic or if they can come to your school to do the demonstrations.

Part 2

Lesson 7: Alternative Energy/Renewables Overview

Review the terms potential, kinetic, turbine, generator, (especially if this was not covered in a previous unit). Have students do a think-pair-share about possible cleaner energy alternatives. Chart their ideas and eventually group them into categories: geothermal, hydroelectric, wind, and solar. Provide a concept map that includes energy, non-renewable, renewable, clean energy, oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, solar, biofuels, biomass, photovoltaics, ethanol, solar thermal, hydropower, wind, and geothermal.

Figure 3: Concept map of energy sources and uses

Lesson 8-12: Research a Clean Renewable

Using Critical Reading strategy, students read, annotate, and take Cornell Notes on a specific renewable energy. Depending on the levels and personalities of your students, you may want to let them choose or pre-select the topic for them so you are able to scaffold the Critical Reading and Cornell Note taking.

Lesson 13: Concept Map Compare and Contrast of Two Renewables

Group students researching different topics with each other in pairs. Have them write their two topics in the middle of a large chart paper next to each other. Provide key content vocabulary that can be used with both topics (environmental impact, efficiency rate, etc.) and connecting mortar phrases.

Lesson 14: Socratic Seminar/Paidiea Seminar

Based on the research and concept maps, students make a claim about which renewable energy should be pursued further in a Paideia Seminar. For this, students’ desks need to be arranged so they are facing each other and use their notes and concept maps for this discussion. Follow the protocols detailed in Chowning’s research study, “Socratic Seminars in Science Class”.³⁷

Lesson 15-25? Engineer a Solar Oven and Potable Water

The final part of the unit can includes planning, building a prototype, testing, redesigning a solar oven. The book Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun³⁸ has many ideas students can try if they get stuck.