Students discuss affordable energy and create a working definition of the concept. They discuss factors that could affect future energy supplies, conduct research, and then debate the topic: Will there be enough affordable energy in the United States in the near future? They create a multimedia presentation to support their position.

Students will determine the sources of energy that are utilized to power their schools (i.e., conventional and/or alternative). They will then explore the economic and environmental benefits of changing over a portion of this energy to renewable sources such as wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal. Depending on area-specific factors such as available funding (funding by state) and climate, this can involve the purchase of alternative energy credits and/or the creation of an on-site system such as a wind-turbine or solar panels.

In this series of inquiry-based activities, students research and investigate energy sources and the ways we use energy.

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Students examine the sources of energy that are used to generate electricity. Students use maps to identify the locations of energy resources. Then, they consider how energy resources are converted into electricity and how that electricity is transmitted and delivered to people at various locations.

This series of videos highlights each of the 7 Essential Principles of Energy.

This guide provides a framework for student literacy analysis of the Essential Principles of Energy--the Energy Literacy video series and the 7 Energy Literacy Principles.

This blog is designed for North Carolina's K-12 teachers and students who are interested in the topic of energy and alternative energy (nuclear and renewables). This blog is maintained by Dana Haine, K-12 Science Education Manager for UNC-Chapel Hill's Institute for the Environment, with funding provided by Progress Energy.

In this lesson, students will come to understand the different types of energy sources and how they affect the people living around them by looking at energy use in Japan and the United States. Students will also compare and contrast the nuclear events at Fukushima and Three Mile Island. Then, students will write essays on energy options and effects.

Students will define hydrofracking, identify how the demand for natural gas is changing, then research and map how natural gas development may impact a community.

This three-part teacher guide encourages a multi-disciplinary approach to many issues and topics related to geothermal power development, including the scientific fundamentals as well as the social, economic, environmental and political aspects.

In this lesson, students analyze data detailing global energy sources and sinks (uses) and construct a diagram to show the relative scale and the connections between them. Discussions of scale, historical, socio-environmental and geographic variation in this data and implications for future energy use are included.

In this lesson, students evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the major energy sources in an innovative debate format. Students learn about potential energy sources, then are assigned to represent one specific energy source. Working collaboratively, students develop arguments on the merits of their source over the others.

These thematic lessons introduce students to the various phases involved in mining, different types of mines, how ore is processed, how mineral deposits were formed, how modern mines can operate safely and sustainably, and why minerals are important to our everyday lives.

This theme teaches students about open pit and underground mining, including safety and environmental considerations. It also introduces students to a wide range of mining careers. Students will build models of open pit and underground mines, with increasing complexity in each age category.

This theme covers the processes involved in mining, from exploration and site development to reclamation. The core lesson plan is a game in which students explore the various phases involved in the development of a mine and the economic aspects of these phases. Through this game, students will gain an understanding of the decision-making processes involved in determining whether an ore body can be profitably mined.

This theme explores the different methods that can be used to extract and purify valuable minerals from mined ore. Students will conduct a series of experiments to learn about the processes of crushing, milling, extraction, leaching, flotation and purification.

Students explore the processes involved in unconventional oil and gas resource production (hydraulic fracturing), how we monitor seismic activity and draw correlations (or lack thereof) between fluid injection (related to hydrofracking or from wastewater disposal) and earthquake activity, and ways that we might establish a better understanding of correlations between the two. Lastly, geothermal activity at the Geysers in California will also be investigated to illustrate the difficulty in assessing natural versus induced seismicity in such a geologically complex region.

At the end of this lesson, students should be able to describe the methods used to find hydrocarbons, describe the 5 main play elements needed for success, and interpret whether a fictional location has all of the necessary play elements.