Carnegie Mellon University
Understanding Electricity Mix Tradeoffs
Use the accompanying presentation and colorful technology sheets to introduce your class to the 10 different energy technologies. Connect kids to an interactive computer tool that allows them to combine different types of power...
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Eating Up Energy
Students will compare and contrast amount of energy consumption and CO2 emissions among the top ten user countries to understand global effects of emissions. They also map the global impact of energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
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Barriers to Change: The Myths about Vehicle Idling
Students have the opportunity to confront some of the most common misconceptions that surround vehicle idling, and employ the concept of social marketing to initiate change. The goal is to give students an appreciation of the impact of...
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Health, Pollution, and Safety: Why Should We Care?
Students examine the impact of reducing the carbon dioxide emissions. They identify ways alternative fuels can lessen the effect of emissions on communities. Working in teams they conduct research from various community and Internet...
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What's Driving Us?
Students determine what the people in their community are driving. Using traffic flow information, they develop recommendations on how to achieve sustainability. They calculate the carbon dioxide emission index for various sites and...
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Chemical Consequences of Burning Fossil Fuels
Future scientists are introduced to the chemical consequences of burning fossil fuels, learning that fossil fuel combustion leads to the formation of oxides of three nonmetals: carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur, all of which end up in the...
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Earn Points with Technology
Learners explore renewable energy by analyzing a diagram. In this fossil fuel lesson, students view a chart explaining the different energy consumption from automobiles and how they impact our environment. Learners analyze a point based...
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Environment: The Haves and the Have Nots
Pupils examine consumption habits in developed and developing countries and determine their effects on natural resources. In groups, they assess graphs on the Living Planet Report and observe the connection between consumption and...
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What are the Challenges?
Young scholars discuss energy. In this energy challenges lesson plan, students read about greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change. Comprehension questions from the reading are provided.
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MOBILITY, Traveling Lightly: What’s My Footprint?
Students calculate their carbon footprint. In this environmental technology lesson, students listen to a lecture on climate change. Students brainstorm solutions to reduce environmental impact based on travel options. Students calculate...
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Human Activity and Cllimate Change
Students perform activities to explore the affect of human activity on climates. They examine graphs of GHG emissions and their increases that are associated with human activity. Using a Global Climate Changing website, students explore...
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
No Fossils in This Fuel
Yeast and sugar go beyond the pantry and into a fuel experiment. Use these common baking ingredients to assist your class in creating ethanol, a natural fuel. Pupils observe the process and gather information to elaborate on the...
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Permit Trading
Emerging environmentalists work in groups and pretend that each is a power company generating electricity for a community. They consider the costs of building a renewable electricity generator that will increasingly replace generating...
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The Efficient City
Middle schoolers research and create a realistic plan for energy efficiency. In this investigative lesson students answer questions and fill out a worksheet on energy.
Deliberating in a Democracy
Global Climate Change
Learners examine an environmental issue. In this global studies lesson plan, students read an article entitled, "Global Climate Change," and respond to the discussion questions that accompany it.
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Environment or Economy?
Students develop counterarguments to John Mizzoni's article on business sustainability. In this economics vs. environment instructional activity, students present examples of greenwashing and support them with rationale. They also...
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Turn off your Engines!
Students explore how idling vehicles contribute to the greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. They conduct a survey of idling in their community. Students calculate and develop corresponding graphs of the carbon dioxide produced...
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Climate Change & Coral Activities
Students study how the ocean stabilizes our planet's climates and how global warming is becoming a threat to this fine balance. In this climate change lesson, students identify that fossil fuel emissions are responsible for global...
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The Energy Trail
Young scholars examine the relationship between the products they use and energy use. Using the internet, they identify the role that manufacturing plays in using energy and the emissions that change the climate. They discover the...
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The Air We Breathe
Students discover the cuases of pollution. They investigate different pollutants that exist. Stsudents research technologies developed by engineers to reduce the amounts of air pollution. Upon completion of assigned activities,...
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Sustainability: Our Environment
Learners explore the sustainability of our environment, the trend in rising temperatures and the emission of greenhouse cases. Using given data, students test and construct a confidence interval and the difference between two population...
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Introduction to Earth's Dynamically Changing Climate
Young scholars identify the most common causes of global warming. In this earth science lesson, students use an interactive website to explore changes over time in sea ice, sea level, carbon emissions, and average global temperature....
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Calculating Your Travel GHGs
Students calculate the amount of greenhouse gases they produce in a given day. Using an equation, they determine the emissions for different sized vehicles and calculate the amount resulting from a family vacation. They create a class...
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Auditing the Energy-Guzzlers in Your Home
Pupils identify the energy sources in their community as renewable or non-renewable resources. Using their homes, they identify the types of energy they use to heat and power it. They calculate the amount of electricity used by each...