Fossil Fuels
This lesson unit discusses coal, gas, and petroleum fossil fuels.
For an overview of how fossil fuels are made, as a class watch this 2.5 minute video on the PBS website
COAL
For the coal lesson, use the coal study guide found on the US Department of Energy website, as reference.
Follow the lesson description "Got Coal?" on the Rethinking School website. Upon completion of the lesson plan the students will understand the widespread use of coal in the US, the social and environmental impact of coal mining, and the cost associated with mining.
Have the students do the Cookie Mining activity, as explained on the website. The direct link to the activity lesson plan can be found on the American Coal Foundation website - click here. Through this activity, students will:
For a more simplified version of the activity listed in the lesson plan, you may choose to follow the instructions for the Chocolate Chip Cookie Mining. While "mining" the cookies, the students will learn that some places are easier to mine than others; also some places have more coal than others.
Class discussion will provide an informal assesment.
NATURAL GAS
For this lesson plan "Evaluating Natural Gas" found on the National Geographic website, the students will use an interactive computational model and real-world data to evaluate the environmental impact of extracting natural gas to generate electricity. They will also explore some of the benefits and potential environmental costs of extracting natural gas.
Upon completion of this lesson plan, students will
OIL
For this lesson plan "Geography of oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico", follow the instructions on the National Geographic website. Students will read about oil production, refinement, and use and make connections to their personal energy needs in their daily lives. They will use a map to identify the scale of oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and discuss ways to reduce the need for oil and the threat of future oil spills.
ACTIVITY
For the activity the student breaks into groups of four so that they can research and develop a proposal to decrease the carbon footprint for their city's public transportation system. The students will research hydrogen fuel, ethanol fuel, vehicle engineering, and hybrid and electrical cars and each group will present their results to the class. Following all the presentations, the class will decide which transportation, or combination of plans, is best for their community, considering short and long term implications, as well as feasibility of making the change. This will be included in their final project with recommendations to the city officials. The complete lesson plan entitled "Car of the Future", including student worksheet and research links, can be found on the PBS website.
For an overview of how fossil fuels are made, as a class watch this 2.5 minute video on the PBS website
COAL
For the coal lesson, use the coal study guide found on the US Department of Energy website, as reference.
Follow the lesson description "Got Coal?" on the Rethinking School website. Upon completion of the lesson plan the students will understand the widespread use of coal in the US, the social and environmental impact of coal mining, and the cost associated with mining.
Have the students do the Cookie Mining activity, as explained on the website. The direct link to the activity lesson plan can be found on the American Coal Foundation website - click here. Through this activity, students will:
- participate in a simulated “mining” of chocolate chips from cookies, using play money to purchase the necessary property, tools, and labor;
- understand the various costs associated with mining coal, including environmental remediation, as demonstrated in the simulation; and
- calculate costs and profits from cookie mining and relate them to the mining industry.
For a more simplified version of the activity listed in the lesson plan, you may choose to follow the instructions for the Chocolate Chip Cookie Mining. While "mining" the cookies, the students will learn that some places are easier to mine than others; also some places have more coal than others.
Class discussion will provide an informal assesment.
NATURAL GAS
For this lesson plan "Evaluating Natural Gas" found on the National Geographic website, the students will use an interactive computational model and real-world data to evaluate the environmental impact of extracting natural gas to generate electricity. They will also explore some of the benefits and potential environmental costs of extracting natural gas.
Upon completion of this lesson plan, students will
- explain how groundwater could be contaminated by the extraction of shale gas
- describe some precautions that can be taken to prevent groundwater contamination during the extraction of shale gas
- describe some benefits of using shale gas over coal for generating electricity
OIL
For this lesson plan "Geography of oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico", follow the instructions on the National Geographic website. Students will read about oil production, refinement, and use and make connections to their personal energy needs in their daily lives. They will use a map to identify the scale of oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and discuss ways to reduce the need for oil and the threat of future oil spills.
ACTIVITY
For the activity the student breaks into groups of four so that they can research and develop a proposal to decrease the carbon footprint for their city's public transportation system. The students will research hydrogen fuel, ethanol fuel, vehicle engineering, and hybrid and electrical cars and each group will present their results to the class. Following all the presentations, the class will decide which transportation, or combination of plans, is best for their community, considering short and long term implications, as well as feasibility of making the change. This will be included in their final project with recommendations to the city officials. The complete lesson plan entitled "Car of the Future", including student worksheet and research links, can be found on the PBS website.