ELECTRICITY
The United States Office of Nuclear Energy offers a middle school science curriculum that focuses on nuclear science and energy, entitled The Harnessed Atom. It offers a student guide, as well as a teacher book with lesson plans and activities. It is a great resources that can be accessed at http://energy.gov/ne/services/harnessed-atom.
For the Electricity lesson plan, follow chapter two of The Harnessed Atom.
For student guide, click here.
For teacher guide with lesson plan, activities, and assessment, click here.
For power point presentation, click here.
Also, incorporate the discussion questions and lab of the lesson plan "How Electricity is Generated" on Earthecho International website. This lesson plan provides engaging questions for the students, as well as highlights the environmental costs of the different methods of generating electricity. The lab activity of building a turbine (and follow up questions) will be taken from this lesson plan, and not of The Harnessed Atom.
As stated in the teacher lesson plan of The Harnessed Atom, upon completion of the lesson the students should be able to:
OUT OF CLASS ASSIGNMENT
The main out-of-class assignment will be an At Home Audit, found in the teacher edition of The Harnessed Atom, lesson 2. For this assignment, the students will determine their home's main energy consuming devices. They will also describe two ways in which their family saves energy at home, a well as describe one way that they can reduce energy consumption at home. It is important that the students understand what personal changes they can make in their lives to reduce energy consumption, before they make suggestions for the larger scale (city-wide) changes.
The students will submit their written assessment, as well as use their findings for a class discussion about their home energy usage.
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES
The Energy Kids website by the US Department of Energy discusses home energy uses - the amount and type we use in our home, the effect of electronics and appliances, and the use in different types of homes.
The Energy Efficiency lesson plan by National Geographic addresses how buildings can be made more energy efficient.
For the Electricity lesson plan, follow chapter two of The Harnessed Atom.
For student guide, click here.
For teacher guide with lesson plan, activities, and assessment, click here.
For power point presentation, click here.
Also, incorporate the discussion questions and lab of the lesson plan "How Electricity is Generated" on Earthecho International website. This lesson plan provides engaging questions for the students, as well as highlights the environmental costs of the different methods of generating electricity. The lab activity of building a turbine (and follow up questions) will be taken from this lesson plan, and not of The Harnessed Atom.
As stated in the teacher lesson plan of The Harnessed Atom, upon completion of the lesson the students should be able to:
- Identify electricity as being caused by the flow of charged particles called electrons
- Demonstrate the principle of using mechanical energy to turn generators, through building a turbine
- Evaluate the reasons that governments regulate utilities (electricity has become a necessity which requires adequate capacity, reliability, and reasonable pricing)
- Explain the steps in delivering electricity to customers (generation, transmission, and distribution)
- Give specific examples of when the power grid would be used to transmit electricity between different interconnections and regions
- Identify the costs associated with delivering electricity to consumers
- Explain the complex and time-consuming nature of making future energy choices
OUT OF CLASS ASSIGNMENT
The main out-of-class assignment will be an At Home Audit, found in the teacher edition of The Harnessed Atom, lesson 2. For this assignment, the students will determine their home's main energy consuming devices. They will also describe two ways in which their family saves energy at home, a well as describe one way that they can reduce energy consumption at home. It is important that the students understand what personal changes they can make in their lives to reduce energy consumption, before they make suggestions for the larger scale (city-wide) changes.
The students will submit their written assessment, as well as use their findings for a class discussion about their home energy usage.
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES
The Energy Kids website by the US Department of Energy discusses home energy uses - the amount and type we use in our home, the effect of electronics and appliances, and the use in different types of homes.
The Energy Efficiency lesson plan by National Geographic addresses how buildings can be made more energy efficient.