Generating electricity: Evaluating the sustainability of today's and tomorrow's energy sources.

In this activity, students learn about the energy sources used by their local utility provider to generate electricity, and work in small groups to evaluate the sustainability of either a renewable or non-renewable energy source used to generate electricity.

Go To:

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/7448

Dana Haine

Learning North Carolina

Notes From Our Reviewers

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Teaching Tips

Activity asks students to develop a portfolio for their region so educators need to be familiar with their regional energy portfolios.

Record student preconceptions by asking students to list types of fuel used to produce energy and ask whether they are sustainable or not.

Comparing different locations is a good way for students to grasp a more global perspective and identify which kinds of energy are predominant.

About the Science

This is a very ambitious activity that explores electricity fuel mixes for a region, and climate change from burning fossil fuel. In the context of sustainable energy, these energy sources are examined.

In this activity sustainability is defined (in the somewhat limited meaning of) sustainable energy.

Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.

About the Pedagogy

The context and placement of using the energy profiler grabs the attention of the user and personalizes this lesson immediately.

Mostly worksheet and discussion focused.

Clear organization of lesson progress.

No background information provided.

Technical Details

Lesson cleanly presented. Materials were all downloadable and support the learning process.

Link to NEED Energy Infobook broken but available here [link http://www.need.org/content.asp?contentid=197].

Users could work in groups or individually.