Energy Sciences

“The stone age did not end because the world ran out of stones, and the oil age will not end because we run out of oil.”¹

Introduction

The Stone Age ended because new technologies were developed, specifically bronze tools, which were less expensive and met the changing needs of people.  The Saudis repeat this mantra with an awareness of the availability of cost effective alternative sources of energy generation along with their own investment in alternative energy generation technologies.² There is acknowledgement by the Saudis that there are serious economic difficulties ahead.³

It is predicted that the worldwide energy consumption in 2035 will be 22.8 TW (terawatts).⁴ This is 22.8E12 Watts.  Because energy is needed for industrialization and it’s a significant part of the world economic base, it is viewed as the number one of the top ten global challenges.  For example, energy is first to water, food, environment, poverty, war, disease, education and democracy.⁵ If there is energy, water is pumped, fields are irrigated, the environment is remediated, food is transported, war is unnecessary, cures to diseases are found, education is available to everyone and everyone has a voice.  To give perspective to the global growth of energy consumption, the year with the energy consumption is listed: 1950 at 3.5 TW, 1970 at 7.3 TW, 2005 at 14.7 TW and projected in 2040 to be 25.6 TW.^6,7

Solar energy is the fastest growing renewable energy source; however, its study requires a wet laboratory.  Therefore, the scope of this unit is to prototype a wind turbine and measure its performance. Because electricity and magnetism are conceptually abstract, integrating these concepts to the creation of energy requires these concepts to be visualized experimentally. For example, radio waves cannot be seen, yet their properties enable a radio to broadcast audio.  Similarly, electricity and magnetism cannot be seen by the naked eye.  With careful design of renewable energy technologies, energy made from these abstract concepts can be leveraged to operate our industrial societies.

Electricity and magnetic fields are difficult concepts to understand at the high school grade levels 10-11. The approach to this unit is to scaffold the instruction by beginning with experiments that enable the students to see what cannot be seen with the naked eye, a magnetic field.  Electricity cannot be seen, but it can be measured as well as quantified using a voltmeter.  Then, it is with written instructions that the students will engineer and build a wind turbine to create energy. The energy generated from a wind turbine can be measured directly as current in the units of amps or it can be measured by putting increased demand on the circuit until literally the lights go out. For example lights of increasing intensity can be tested until the demand exceeds generation capacity.  Each activity will have an electronic worksheet that will be filled out and submitted in Google Classroom. Each day, the students will do a “Bell Ringer,” which will cover one concept followed by a short class discussion.  The Bell Ringer will periodically consist of a series of questions answered in small groups to share peer knowledge.  This unit created herein fits into the Energy unit provided by the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Curriculum.  PLTW relates the units to standards.