Project Overview
This project is composed of four parts. The first component is to look at current energy reserves. Students will look at the type of correlation that exists between time and reserve levels as a means of showing why nonrenewable energy cannot be relied upon forever. Second, students will research alternatives and figure out what the benefits and drawbacks are toward switching to renewable energy sources. For the third section of this project, students will poll the school to gauge public opinion about energy. Students will ultimately create a public service announcement to inform the public of the importance of switching to more sustainable forms of energy.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Objectives
Students will create a scatter plot of energy reserves and energy consumption. They will use these data to determine lines of best fit, which will help them predict future availability of renewable and nonrenewable forms of energy. Students will then compare the data with various articles on energy reserves and discuss any discrepancies that may exist. Finally, students will meld the information gleaned from articles with the information found from analyzing scatter plots to design and tape a public service announcement.
Part 1: Picking a Topic
Choose one of the following topics (each a major type of nonrenewable fossil fuel) and research reserve levels (links to data can be found in Lesson 3). Each group will be responsible for plotting the data set and analyzing the correlation and given projections. Reserve levels can be looked up using the Energy Information Agency website.
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Coal Reserves
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Natural Gas Reserves
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Oil Reserves
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Part 2: Researching Alternatives
Throughout this unit, students have read articles, discussed and learned about the negative impact that carbon emissions and fossil fuels have on our environment. And, in the last lesson, students produced scatter plots and linear regressions to hypothesize when specific fossil fuels will be completely depleted. During this section, students should research alternative renewable energies and learn about the benefits they have for the environment and sustaining our society. Students should answer the following questions about the type of renewable energy they are either assigned or pick (possible alternatives include solar energy, wind energy, and hydroelectric energy).
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What are the benefits of this type of energy?
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Is this energy source a realistic option considering current energy needs?
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What are the financial and economic implications of harnessing this energy source?
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Part 3: Polling the Public
Students should go into the school and poll their fellow students about energy and its impact on the world. The goal is to have the students first present short clips and articles to other students and then have them answer a short series of questions to see what information the public clings to most.
Before polling the public, students should read the article Apocalypse Fatigue (http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2210). This may help the students better understand current public reactions to the type of information they're being given.
Possible articles that students can use when polling students include the following, which have been divided up into alarmist type articles, middle of the road articles, and write-off articles (articles that downplay the effects of continued fossil fuel usage).
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"Rushing to Judgment" by Jack Hollander: http://meteo.lcd.lu/globalwarming/Hollander/RushingJudgment.pdf (June 2010) discusses the over-reaction and hastiness of alarmist claims that global warming is unnaturally brought on by human consumption of fossil fuels.
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"Hot and Cold Media Spin Cycle: A Challenge to Journalists Who Cover Global Warming" by Senator James Inhofe (speech can be downloaded for listening or viewing): http://epw.senate.gov/speechitem.cfm?party=rep&id=263759 (July 2010) downplays alarmist views on global warming, but does not downplay the possible existence of global warming itself. The author argues that the media needs to cover both sides of the energy debate thoroughly.
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"Global Warming Heats Up" by Jeffrey Kluger: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1176980,00.html (July 2010) this Time Magazine article discusses the many dangers of global warming and the rapid arrival of its effects.
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An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore a widely publicized and viewed film educating the public on the dangers of global warming.
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Once data on the public opinion have been collected, students should create and analyze a scatter plot to see if a correlation exists between worsening environmental impacts and public opinion on said problem.
Part 4: Creating the Public Service Announcement
Students should take all the information they've learned in this unit and meld the most important ideas together to create and film a provocative public service announcement that warns against relying too heavily on fossil fuels and pushes for a shift toward renewable energy. Students should include at least one scatter plot in their PSA as evidence. While students are not meant to explain how they developed the scatter plot, they should use it as a tool to further their argument.
