Introduction
In late June 2024, I endured a heat wave in Richmond, Virginia with temperatures around 102 ºF and a heat index between 105-110 ºF. The heat and humidity made it unbearable to go outside. During the same timeframe, Hurricane Beryl began churning in the Atlantic Ocean and became the first hurricane of the 2024 season. It became the first Category 4 hurricane to form in June. Beryl, fueled by exceptionally warm ocean waters, continued to grow. On July 2, 2024, Hurricane Beryl attained Category 5 strength, making it the earliest a Category 5 hurricane formed on record.1 As ocean waters warm, the occurrence of this type of phenomenon becomes more likely. This is an example how climate change is affecting the world in which we live. A goal of The Paris Agreement of 2015 is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 ºC above pre-industrial levels,” and to pursue efforts, “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 ºC above pre-industrial levels.”2 In order to achieve these goals, emissions, or carbon dioxide (CO2), in the atmosphere need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. This curriculum unit will examine the past, present, and future of energy in Virginia, and how the state is moving toward these goals.
This cross-curricular unit titled Energy: Virginia’s Past, Present, and Future Will Blow You Away! will examine how people throughout Virginia history have used natural resources to provide energy. The unit is written for my fourth-grade students who live in a city built upon the falls of the James River in 1723. Throughout history, the Virginia settlers have harnessed energy from natural resources, such as the James River, to drive economic development. With the Second Industrial Revolution, coal became an important natural resource and energy source for Virginia. Coal not only provided a cheap fuel, but also brought about climate change. As we look to the future, we will examine clean energy sources, focusing on wind energy, to help us achieve the 2050 net zero goal.
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