This interactive diagram from the National Academy of Sciences shows how we rely on a variety of primary energy sources (solar, nuclear, hydro, wind, geothermal, natural gas, coal, biomass, oil) to supply energy to four end-use sectors (residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation). It also focuses on lost or degraded energy.

In this lesson students will learn about evaporation, fossil fuels, greenhouse gases, and the greenhouse effect. Patterns in nautre are discussed, including what is happening over time and why we should care.

NGSS: 5-ESS2-1, 5-ESS3-1

Time: 55 minutes - 1 hour

Materials: laminated patterns in nature photos (photos included), plastic cups, rulers, Sharpies

This is a draft of an inquiry-based activity on peak oil. Students are asked to contribute in a whole class discussion their thoughts about petroleum use and its availability. They then work in groups to make sense of existing data on petroleum discoveries and consumption, and project future discoveries, future consumption, and the lifespan of the legacy of discovered oil. They then are asked to adjust future consumption so that oil reserves last until 2070.

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In this classroom activity, students measure the energy use of various appliances and electronics and calculate how much carbon dioxide (CO2) is released to produce that energy.

This hands-on construction project gets students cooking during a solar energy science unit. The class study begins by acting out the Earth's rotation around the sun to see how that causes shadows. Students conduct several investigations of the Earth's position and shadows with compass and thermometer measurements and observation. They research the dilemma of using fossil fuels and how solar energy might solve this problem. Students work as engineers, and their task is to build a solar cooker that can successfully cook an egg. If this works, it may be the basis for more exploration on using solar energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. Students display their learning in multimedia presentations or newsletters.

This unit plan was originally developed by the Intel® Teach program as an exemplary unit plan demonstrating some of the best attributes of teaching with technology. More information about this and other unit plans can be found in the Designing Effective Projects curriculum.

In this short activity, students or groups are tasked to make concept sketches that track the source of electrical power as far back as they can conceive. The concept sketches reveal students' prior conceptions of the power grid and energy mix, and lead naturally into a lesson or discussion about energy resources and power production.

This paper introduces a card exercise which allows students to make decisions about how best to provide electrical power to their country. The work presented emphasizes the use in the classroom of real data to solve real problems, in this case balancing electrical power supply and demand in the UK. With some additional research the task may be easily adapted for use in other countries. Whilst completing the activity, the students are required to make important choices between renewable and non-renewable electricity generation. It is a highly differentiated task ranging from simple addition to quite challenging calculations taking into account the availability and variability of natural resources. This means that it can be used with classes from Year 9 through to Year 13.

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Prospecting is the very first stage of the oil and natural gas development process. It consists of Exploration, Permitting and Leasing.

Students analyze the interplay between science and politics on the issue of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

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Students work in pairs to pick black and white beads out of a bag to represent the percent of renewable and nonrenewable resources used in different countries, and then graph the information.

Cretaceous and Tertiary strata exposed in northern Alaska record clastic sediment deposition within a foreland basin adjacent to the ancestral Brooks Range, and form part of an important petroleum play. The goal of this U.S. Geological Survey report is to synthesize the complex stratigraphy of this area into a more simplified scheme. It discusses the regional geology of northern Alaska and the stratigraphy of the Colville Basin in detail. Maps, cross sections, correlation charts, and numerous outcrop photos with detailed captions accompany the text.

Fossil fuels -- coal, natural gas, and oil -- provide the large majority of our power in the United States and around the world. In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), John Reilly of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to demystify fossil fuels: what are the different kinds of fossil fuels, and how do they compare to each other? What is “fracking” and how did impact energy use and CO2 emissions in the United States? What kinds of decisions do we need to make to transition to clean energy, while providing electricity to a growing number of people?

Survey of the important aspects of modern sediments and ancient sedimentary rocks. Emphasis is on fundamental materials, features, and processes. Textures of siliciclastic sediments and sedimentary rocks: particle size, particle shape, and particle packing. Mechanics of sediment transport. Survey of siliciclastic sedimentary rocks: sandstones, conglomerates, and shales. Carbonate sediments and sedimentary rocks; cherts; evaporites. Siliciclastic and carbonate diagenesis. Paleontology, with special reference to fossils in sedimentary rocks. Modern and ancient depositional environments. Stratigraphy. Sedimentary basins. Fossil fuels: coal, petroleum.

This visualization is an interactive Energy System Map, which includes short write-ups introducing students to fundamental energy system topics, paired with animated videos and deep dive resources.

The primary goal of this course is to provide a toolset for characterizing and strategizing how nonmarket forces can shape current and future renewable energy markets. The course approaches the exploration and explanation of key concepts in renewable energy and sustainability nonmarket strategies through evidence-based examples. Main topics for the course include: a sociological approach to markets, renewable energy markets, nonmarket conditions, complex systems analysis, and renewable energy technology and business environments. Because renewable energy costs are higher than fossil fuel cost per unit of energy, the main arguments in support of renewable energy, thus far, are functionally nonmarket in character, i.e., environmental (e.g., climate change), political (e.g., energy independence), and/ or social (e.g., good stewardship).

This workshop investigates the current state of sustainability in regards to architecture, from the level of the tectonic detail to the urban environment. Current research and case studies will be investigated, and students will propose their own solutions as part of the final project.

This article provides lesson plans about natural resources and energy sources for elementary teachers.

Today many people assume that technological change is the major factor in historical change and that it tends to lead to historical progress. This class turns these assumptions into a question—what is the role of technology in history?—by focusing on four key historical transitions: the human revolution (the emergence of humans as a history-making species), the Neolithic Revolution (the emergence of agriculture-based civilizations); the great leap in productivity (also known as the industrial revolution), and the great acceleration that has come with the rise of human empire on the planet. These topics are studied through a mix of textbook reading (David Christian’s “Maps of Time”), supplementary readings (ranging from Auel, “The Clan of the Cave Bear” to Hersey, “Hiroshima”), illustrated lectures, class discussions, guest lectures/discussions, short “problem paper” assignments, and a final project defined by the student.
Because MIT is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2011, this version of the class will also focus on connections between MIT as an institution and technology in the history of the last 150 years.

In this activity, students calculate the cost of the energy used to operate a common three-bulb light fixture, and compare the costs and amount of CO2 produced for similar incandescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs.

To Drill or Not to Drill is a multidisciplinary problem based learning exercise, which intends to increase students' knowledge of a variety of topics through a real world environmental topic. In addition, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) impacts students either directly (depending on the age level) or indirectly (through their parents) as gas prices soar to record high levels.

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