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Salmon Vs. Dams: the Dam Removal Debate on the Elwha River
Students role-play a meeting of the Elwha River council in which they present opposing views to council members on hydroelectric power and salmon fisheries resources. They brainstorm possible conflicts between various people in land-use...
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Paper or Plastic: Exploring Renewable Resources.
Young scholars discuss, develop, invent, and implement a plan for making informed personal economic decisions about renewable resources.
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Plants in Your Gas Tank: From Photosynthesis to Ethanol
Explore ethanol and how it is produced. Young scientists investigate photosynthesis and fermentation to the concept of conservation of energy and mass. They discuss the environmental and economical benefits of ethanol as a fuel additive.
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Olympic Solar Energy
Students use cardboard and aluminum foil to construct a solar oven that concentrates enough sunlight to cook a hotdog. They review the history and use of solar energy in relation to the Olympics.
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The Appliance Explosion
Students explain why the number of appliances used today differs greatly from the number used previously. They construct a bar graph to show changes in appliance use over a period of time. They also list appliances that could be eliminated.
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From Sunlight to Electric Current
Students explore concept of current in electrical circuits. They examine how energy from the sun can be used to power everyday items, including vehicles.
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Energy Efficient Homes
Students observe and gather data from a model simulated home. In this efficiency lesson students examine the factors that influence energy efficiency, complete a lab activity then draw conclusions from their data.
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The Space Cadet's Laboratory: Using Electromagnetic Energy to Study Astronomy
Students build their own spectrophotometer to study light. In this physics lesson, students explain the dual nature of light. They calculate the angle of incidence and refraction using Snell's law equation.
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America's Energy Future
Students write a proposal to save energy resources. In this energy lesson, students research nuclear energy, coal power, petroleum, natural gas, hydroelectric power, and renewable energy. Students then debate energy issues and share...
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Energy Efficient Appliances
Students use the Internet to research energy efficient appliances. They discover tips on how to save energy in the home and how to read the EnergyGuide labels. They also examine ways to reduce the amount of water that is used.
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Energy Detectives at Work
Students are "Energy Detectives" working for an engineering firm that does energy evaluations at schools. In teams, they locate energy sources around the school, and record their findings on an Energy Detective Worksheet.
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The Energy Crisis
Students participate in different activities and discussions to analyze the energy crisis in the United States and other parts of the world. In groups, they research the availability of fossil fuels and the possible alternatives. Using...
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Matter and Energy
Students explore energy by completing a science worksheet in class. In this principles of matter lesson, students define the vocabulary terms force, gravity, nuclear, and electromagnetic before reading assigned text about energy....
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Energy Alternatives Explorations
In this energy alternatives explorations worksheet, middle schoolers explore alternative energy sources by using the linked web resources to answer 8 questions about different resources and identify the ones that would work in their...
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Energy Activities
Students conduct a variety of experiments related to solar energy, heating, cooling, gravity, physical insulation and wind. They consider how the experiments relate to energy and the consumption of energy and then participate in a class...
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Energy: The Universal Currency
Science stars examine the concept of energy by thinking about everyday situations. The lesson plan is incohesive. It lists goals for the student, but doesn't address all of them in the content. The best use of this resource would simply...
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Thinking about Energy
Middle schoolers examine their understandings about energy concepts by completing an online survey. Students participate in a class discussion about their uses of resources and the differences between perpetual, renewable, and...
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Considerations in Heating a Home
Emerging engineers discover how important it is to conserve energy as fossil fuel supplies are being diminished. This is accomplished by working through a handout that explains energy requirements for heating a home during the winter....
Chicago Botanic Garden
Understanding the Greenhouse Effect
The greenhouse effect is important, for without it, life on Earth would not exist. An activity that includes modeling the greenhouse effect and acting out the Earth's energy balance makes up the first part in a series of seven lessons....
It's About Time
Petroleum and Your Community
I was going to write a joke about oil, but it seemed crude. This lesson starts with a comparison of where the US gets oil from and how that has changed over time. After analyzing the data, scholars create a graph and use the Internet to...
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The Chemistry of Refining Crude Oil
Consider our energy sources: wood, coal, oil, uranium. Learners compare the pollution to energy produced for each. They practice fractional distillation of an alcohol/water mixture to simulate the process of refining crude oil....
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Does Mother Nature Know Best?
Investigate herbal medicine in the science or health classroom with this lesson from the New York Times. After a discussion about class members beliefs about and experiences with herbal medicines, pupils read an article that might impact...
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Limited Resources - Understanding Our Cultural Resources
High schoolers examine and compare preserving natural resources and preserving cultural resources. They conduct Internet research on two topics, and write a position paper on whether cultural resources or natural resources are more...
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Water Conservation
Open learners' eyes to the challenge of finding safe drinking water – something we often take for granted in our country. The PowerPoint presentation includes images, graphs, diagrams, and even a video to stimulate discussion on how we...