Powering our City

Module 3 Lesson 7

LESSON 7: POWERING OUR CITY: EXPLORING RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES OVERVIEW:

The goal of this lesson is for students to explore their greenhouse gas emissions and potential alternative energy sources. Using an online simulation, students explore the economic and environmental impacts of these different sources and recognize that no single alternative energy source will currently provide enough power for a city. However, by combining power from a number of sources, they can minimize the impact on the environment. Students will also discuss the strengths and limitations of this simulation. Finally students will discuss what alternative energy sources might be most viable in their own area.

SUB-QUESTION:
What are other sources of fuel to power societys needs?

WAYS OF KWOWING URBAN ECOLOGY:

Understand
Students will Understand the benefits and drawbacks of various sources of alternative energy. Recognize the impact of different energy sources on greenhouse gas emissions. Support choices of alternative energy sources to power a simulated city. Make informed choices about which energy sources to use to power a simulated city. No specific goals connected with acting on urban ecology in this lesson.

Talk Do Act

SAFETY GUIDELINES:
No specific safety issues are associated with this lesson.

PREPARATION:
Time: 2 class periods Day 1: Activities 7.1 & 7.2 Day 2: Activity 7.3 & closing Materials: Day 1: Activity 7.1 Copies of student handouts

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Module 3 Lesson 7

Optional: access to computers with Internet or additional information on power sources Day 2: Activity 7.2 For each 2-3 students, access to a computer with Internet. Closing the Lesson Copies of the Renewable Potential Map from the DOE website (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/reps/rpmap/rp_contents.html) or a projector and computer with the map downloaded Student notebooks

INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE
Teacher Background Knowledge: For more information on energy sources, check out this website by the U.S. Department of Energy (http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/index.html).

For the more technologically inclined, visit TechCrunchs Alternative Energy: A Guide to Greening Your Home (http://tcrn.ch/alt-energy-guide).

Activity 7.1: How would you power your city? Making the choices.
1. Put students into small groups of 2 to 3 students. (These groups should remain the same as the groups that will use the computer in Activity 8.3) 2. Pass out the handout, and review as a class the different power sources in the table. 3. In their groups, students should use the information provided to choose energy sources for their city. Students need to have eight sources of energy but may count one source for more than one (e.g., they could have two coal plants, and would then need to fill in two boxes with coal. Concluding the Activity: 4. Have a few groups share their energy choices and justifications 5. Tell students that in the next class they will be using an online simulation to see how their choices play out. Teaching Alternative If time and interest allows, you might provide students with more information about each power source (either in print or online). A good source of information is the US Department of Energys kids page (http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/index.html).

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Module 3 Lesson 7

Activity 7.2 Powering your city: Modeling your energy choices.

Introducing this activity: 1. Tell the class today they will use an online simulation to test their choices for energy use in a city. 2. Give students some to review their choices and make changes if theyd like. Running the simulation: In this activity, students work on computers to model their energy choices 3. Students should work in the same groups as in Activity 8.2. Each group needs access to a computer with Internet access. They will be using the website to http://www.willyoujoinus.com/energyville/. The simulation can be started by clicking on the Play Energyville. 4. Students should first enter their data from their charts into the simulation. 5. Students may have to modify their plan based on the computers limitation. For example, they are required to have petroleum (the simulation was developed by Chevron). If they make changes, they should record these in the space provide on their student handouts. Students should follow along with their student handouts while completing the simulation. Reflecting on the results: 6. In their groups, have students reflect on the results of their simulation by answering the questions. 7. Once students have completed these reflections, lead a class discussion about the results. Some important points to drive home for students include: o Choosing energy sources is a complicated issue with many factors to balance including environment, economics, reliability, and security. o Not all power sources are created equal. Some produce no greenhouse gasses, other produce a small amount, while others comparatively produce a lot. Some power sources are relatively inexpensive (like coal) whereas others are currently costly (like solar panels). o Renewable energies cannot currently provide enough power to replace fossil fuels, but can contribute significantly to the power grid. o Energyville is a simulation, and one funded by an energy company. It is therefore bounded by the limitations of being a simulation. 8. Below are a few potential discussion questions to help you guide this discussion. o Were your groups surprised by anything in the simulation? Were you surprised the simulation required you to use petroleum? Is this reasonable? o Would you make any different changes if you were to run the simulation again? o What do you think would happen if we used only petroleum and coal? o Do you think this is a reasonable/fair simulation? How would you change it? Do you think the funder had any influence on the choices?

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Module 3 Lesson 7

Teaching Alternative If there is time, you might allow students to run the simulation again, making changes based on their initial results and/or using only sources of energy that emit greenhouse gasses to see the differences in their outcomes.

Closing the Lesson: Focusing on our city.

1. Show students the Renewable Potential Map for their region (at http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/reps/rpmap/rp_contents.html) 2. What renewables are possible for their area? Do they give off any greenhouse gasses? 3. Have the students reflect in their notebooks: o If you were in charge of restructuring where your cities energy comes from, based on your analysis of the simulation and this map, which power sources would you choose?

Powering our City Name: _________________________________ Date: _________

Module 3 Lesson 7 Class/Period:________

LESSON 7: POWERING OUR CITY: EXPLORING SOURCES OF ENERGY

ACTIVITY 7.1. HOW WOULD YOU POWER YOUR CITY? MAKING THE CHOICES.
Below is a list of potential sources of energy for a city. Review the different sources of energy below. As you read through them, think about which ones produce greenhouse gasses, such as carbon dioxide, and which do not.

Source of Energy
Biomass

Description
Biological material that is used as a fuel source. Sources of biofuel include corn, corn stalks, soybeans and wood chips. Biomass includes fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. Biomass is called a carbon neutral fuel since the release of carbon from burning the fuels may be offset by the growing of new biomass. Coal is a sedimentary rock composed mostly of carbon and hydrocarbons and is the most abundant and inexpensive source of fuel. It is also one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gasses. Hydro refers to water and is one of the oldest sources of energy. Hydroelectric dams convert the energy in the flow of water to electricity. Natural gas contains gasses found in the same locations as petroleum products. These include methane, butane, and propane. Natural gas burns cleaner than coal or oil (petroleum). While it may release fewer pollutants, natural gas does produce greenhouse gasses including carbon dioxide. Nuclear power uses the energy found in the nucleus of an atom through a process called nuclear fission. Nuclear fission splits an atom apart into two smaller atoms releasing energy. Generating nuclear power does not create carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases, but does produce radioactive wastes. Petroleum is also referred to as oil and is found in underground reservoirs. It is the result of millions of years of pressure and heat being applied to the remains of marine organisms. The burning of petroleum for fuel releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and unburned hydrocarbons. Solar energy is energy that comes directly from the sun. Solar energy is captured and converted into electricity using photovoltaic cells, or solar panels. Wind turbines convert the energy from wind into electricity. There are small wind turbines that can be used to power a single home and large wind turbines that may be grouped together into a wind farm to provide power to a city. 1

Coal Hydro

Natural Gas

Nuclear

Petroleum

Solar

Wind

Powering our City

Module 3 Lesson 7

1. Which of these sources do not produce greenhouse gasses?

How would you power a large city of 3.9 million people? It is unlikely that one source of power will be able to generate enough power for such a large city. Youll also need to consider the environmental and economic costs of each. Youll want to choose energy sources which your city can afford to pay for and which wont cause too much pollution. Below are some data on each source of power. For these data, the small the bar graph, the less negative impact it has on the economy or environment, respectively.

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Module 3 Lesson 7

2. Based on what you learned above and the economic and environmental costs, choose sources of power for your city. You must choose up to 8 sources of energy for your city and explain why you picked that particular source. Note: you may add the same source of power more than once. For example you may have two Coal power plants. In this case, you should fill in coal for two boxes. Power Source Reason for choice
Example. Hydrogen Hydrogen fuel produces no direct greenhouse gasses. Cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells are three times more efficient than combustion engines.

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Module 2 Lesson 8 What Would You Do? Imagine that you are an urban planner in a city that is facing a shrinking human population. What land use practices would you recommend? Why? Refer to the ideas of the ecosystem services model in your response. I would

What new ideas or interesting points did your classmates bring up in the classroom discussion? Some new ideas or interesting points were