In this online activity, students review both sides of the "clean coal" issue by reading transcript excerpts from a debate between Joe Lucas, vice president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity and David Roberts, a senior writer for the environmental news blog Grist.
In this lesson, students are introduced to the five types of renewable energy resources by engaging in various activities to help them understand the transformation of energy (solar, water and wind) into electricity. Students explore the different roles engineers who work in renewable energy fields have in creating a sustainable environment – an environment that contributes to greater health, happiness and safety.
Students will analyze a real-world environmental case of building an oil pipeline through British Columbia. They will explore the geographical, cultural, and environmental context of building the pipeline, identify the stakeholders and their role and impact, and map out the intended and unintended consequences of the decision they make.
Students will construct a topographical map of the United States, including the outer continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, that shows the major land and underwater formations. Students are then divided into groups to research and prepare short presentations on the various resources, where they are located, how they were formed, how they can be recovered, their uses and economic benefits, and the environmental impacts associated with their recovery.
Students will work cooperatively to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the energy sources used to generate electricity by developing energy plans for a fictitious country and presenting the plans to the class.
This module explores the basic processes and issues associated with fracking. Students will identify and reflect on the various stakeholders involved in fracking operations and their respective viewpoints, then consider whether or not they would approve a fracking operation in their own community.
In this lesson, students will consider how the war on terrorism makes it urgent for the American people to make some hard choices on what to do about the nation's dependence on foreign oil. A set of discussion questions is provided. In an associated activity, students will evaluate conservation measures and energy alternatives and then write a letter to one of their U.S. senators on this question: "Should we open the ANWR for oil production in order to reduce our dependence on foreign imports?"
This resource provides several articles describing the most common energy sources used by people, including: the sun, electricity, fossil fuels, nuclear energy, renewable resources, and emerging technologies.
In this lesson, students will learn the difference between confining layers and aquifers in a basic water table aquifer scenario. They will also contour groundwater elevation and petroleum product thickness data.
As the number of ice-free days in the seas surrounding Alaska increases over time, so do opportunities. Oil and gas companies are ramping up offshore exploration and drilling in the Arctic and the shipping industry is increasing traffic around and through the region. As a result, Arctic residents may have new opportunities for jobs and development across the region. Theres also a downside to the increased activity. Oil and gas extraction operations occasionally have accidentsevents that can result in massive oil spills.
Students explore how geoscientists use technology and computer modeling to find oil and natural gas.
In this archived webinar, conservation biologist Joe Kolowski leads us into the Peruvian Amazon, a rich, fertile, and essential part of our planet. He shows how the technique of ?camera trapping? helps scientists to understand the creatures that move about the jungle?particularly mammals that may be endangered by oil exploration. Kolowski is working with other scientists to develop a conservation initiative for the area. They are incorporating biodiversity principles and new scientific research in an attempt to minimize the negative effects of oil exploration and development in this area.
In this lesson, students conduct research using various websites in order to develop a cohesive argument about the benefits or disadvantages of the Three Gorges dam.
In this unit, students review the difference between forms and sources of energy and learn about the environmental, economic and social trade offs of electrical energy generation.
This is a comprehensive encyclopedia entry that contains information about marine ecosystems, ocean zones, ocean currents, marine resources, and environmental issues associated with oceans. Text for this entry is appropriate for the middle and high school grade levels.