Lesson 3: power grid and integrating renewable resources
Grade: 7
Standards: SPI 0707.7.7 Analyze and evaluate the impact of man’s use of earth’s land, water, and atmospheric resources.
This lesson is intended to be a cross-curricular lesson working with the English Language Arts teacher(s). Students willwatch a news clip and complete the reading for information portion of the lesson in their science class and complete the writing assignment in their English Language Arts class. Students will turn in 2 copies of their final essay, one to their science teacher for content evaluation and one to their ELA teacher for writing evaluation.
By this lesson students have learned about what the power grid is, renewable and nonrenewable resources used to generate electricity, and how solar panels work. In this lesson students watch a news clipwill read a report regarding the integration of solar power into the electric grid and write an informative essay on why a mix of resources is best for the U.S. Power Grid.
Engage (10-20 min): Ask students what they would think of going to a restaurant that earned a D from the health code inspector. Ask students why they would or would not go to that restaurant. Ask students what they would think if their doctor earned a grade of a D, would they feel comfortable using that doctor? Would they want to continue going to that doctor or would they want to find another doctor with a higher “grade”. Would they want to ride in a car, buy a videogame system, skateboard, etc that had earned a D. Once students have had a time to think about grades in a variety of contexts show students the NBC Nightly News Video: U.S. Power Grid Barely Makes the Grade
I will show this video more than once, allowing students to ask me to stop it, replay a part, ask questions, etc. As we are working through this part of the lesson I require students to write down their questions, ideas, thoughts that are either generated from the video or from what other students are saying/asking.
Research: Give students the article “Solar Power and the Electric Grid” published by NREL
Step 1 (this will vary depending on the level of the class but ~20 min): First have students scan the article for vocabulary they don’t understand or that a classmate might not understand. Work through the vocabulary with the students so that all students are able to understand the article. The article has 5 sections. Take the article section by section to help break it down for the students into more manageable chunks.
Step 2 (15 min): Understanding the writing prompt/task
Writing prompt: The U.S. Power Grid has earned a grade of a D. In NREL’s energy analysis report Solar Power and the Electric Grid the claim is made that a mixture of sources for electricity production are necessary. Using evidence from the news story and the report write an informative essay that explains why we need an electric grid, where renewable energy fits into the grid and why the energy need cannot be met with just solar energy.
Help students understand the prompt by using the Do-What t-chart strategy.
Do / WhatWrite / An informative essay
Explain / Why we need an electric grid
Explains / Where renewables fit in
Explains / Why energy needs cannot be met with solar alone
Step 3(1 class period): Once students are clear on what they are expected to do have students read individual sections. As students read their assigned section they are to annotate looking for evidence that will support the claim that energy needs cannot be met with just one technology. Students need to locate at least 3 facts from their section. Students reading the same section discuss their annotations with one another. This allows students to hear what their peers have pulled out and determine if they want to use it or not. Students will return to their home table groups to share their section with one another.
Write: Now that students have all the information for the article sections they are ready to begin writing their first draft. At this time the English Language Arts teacher will take over and wrap up the writing portion of this lesson. Students will submit one copy of their final paper to their ELA teacher for a writing grade and a second copy to their science teacher.
Debate/Discuss (1 class period): In science class students will debate the topic of adding renewables to the power grid. Students will be presented with a final article “Will New Technologies Give Critical Boost to Solar Power”. Students will first complete a vocabulary search for vocabulary terms that they or a classmate might struggle with. After a whole class discussion regarding content and vocabulary students will be instructed to read section by section, looking for information in favor of solar power research and against solar power research. Students will be reminded to use the information from the Lesson 1 energy source posters in the classroom, the videos regarding the power grid, as well as the articles they have read leading up to their paper and this discussion. They are to use evidence from all these sources to develop an argument either for or against investing in renewable energy.
Article: