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E n e r g y C h o i c e s
We have attempted to design a page that uses articles on Energy, both on conserving it and on the choices of production methods, to teach students how to read critically. By using these lessons the students will be exposed to differing points of view, which will illustrate that the issues are not clearly defined and that is a lot of debate in this area. The students will also learn some of the basics of energy production and some of the major areas of debate. No one opinion will be considered the correct one, the students should have the opportunity to decide for themselves.We think this is an important topic because the students of today are going to have to make decisions on what energy forms they wish to fund and support. The one area that people agree on is that if nothing changes we will not have enough energy to continue the rate of production and growth that occurs today. Some people are looking for solutions by looking for ways to reduce energy utilization, and others are looking at producing energy in new ways or altering old ways. This is an issue that has wide ranging consequences for the physical and social environment that we live in, and students need to learn that they have to be well informed and need to participate in the decision process.
The articles used were located on the web and were downloaded to present to the student. It should be pointed out to the students that the Internet contains many articles with differing points of view, sometimes not well researched, and they need to wary of what they find in this media. The same lesson applies to other forms of information. Some of the articles may be modified from their original postings, but the URL's of the sites are available.
All around us energy is causing things to happen. Look out a window. If it's daytime, the sun is giving out light and heat energy. If it's nighttime, streetlamps are using electrical energy to make light.Energy is the capacity to do work or the ability to make things move. Energy comes in several forms-sound, light, heat, active (kinetic energy) and stored (potential energy)-and can be converted from one form to another. When we speak of energy as a resource, we are usually talking about potential energy that can be converted from one form to other, more useful types of energy like heat, light, motion or sound. Examples of potential energy resources are food, water held behind a dam, coal, oil and gasoline.
There are several kinds of energy. Simply click the links below to see what they are.
This section is for teachers. The purpose for this section is to show some of the lesson plans to teachers.Grade Level: secondary students
Goal: To introduce students to the issues involved with energy production, teach them to read critically and encourage involvement in an important social issue.
