Examine this graph from FRONTLINE/NOVA: What's Up with the Weather? Web site to see dramatic increases in three greenhouse gases over the last two hundred years.

Students analyze international oil consumption and production data. They make several graphs to organize the data and draw conclusions about the overall use of oil in the world.

Students learn about using renewable energy from the Sun for heating and cooking as they build and compare the performance of four solar cooker designs. They explore the concepts of insulation, reflection, absorption, conduction and convection.

In this activity, students examine how to grow plants the most efficiently. They imagine that they are designing a biofuels production facility and need to know how to efficiently grow plants to use in this facility. As a means of solving this design problem, they plan a scientific experiment in which they investigate how a given variable (of their choice) affects plant growth. They then make predictions about the outcomes and record their observations after two weeks regarding the condition of the plants' stem, leaves and roots. They use these observations to guide their solution to the engineering design problem. The biological processes of photosynthesis and transpiration are briefly explained to help students make informed decisions about planning and interpreting their investigation and its results.

This board game is used to introduce the concepts of energy use in our lives and the very real impact that personal choices can have on our energy consumption, energy bills and fuel supply. The game begins as each student selects cards that define their mode of transportation and home design. The players roll dice and move around the board, landing on "choice" or "situation" blocks and selecting cards that describe consumer choices and real life events that impact their energy consumption and annual energy bills. As the players pass gasoline stations or energy bill gates, they must pay annual expenses as defined by their original cards, with amounts altered by the choices they've made along the way. Gasoline cards are collected to represent their total consumption. Too many gas guzzling vehicles can result in total depletion of their gasoline supply -- at which point everyone must walk or ride the bus. At the end of the game, the players count their remaining dollars to determine the winner. Discussion questions probe the students to interpret what choices they made and situations they encounter have the most impact on their energy consumption and energy bills. All game board, card and money files are available on-line free of charge.

Students are introduced to the idea that energy use impacts the environment and our wallets. They discuss different types of renewable and nonrenewable energy sources, as well as the impacts of energy consumption. Through a series of activities, students understand how they use energy and how it is transformed from one type to another. They learn innovative ways engineers conserve energy and how energy can be conserved in their homes.

This course will explore how Americans have confronted energy challenges since the end of World War II. Beginning in the 1970s, Americans worried about the supply of energy. As American production of oil declined, would the US be able to secure enough fuel to sustain their high consumption lifestyles? At the same time, Americans also began to fear the environmental side affects of energy use. Even if the US had enough fossil fuel, would its consumption be detrimental to health and safety? This class examines how Americans thought about these questions in the last half-century. We will consider the political, diplomatic, economic, cultural, and technological aspects of the energy crisis. Topics include nuclear power, suburbanization and the new car culture, the environmental movement and the challenges of clean energy, the Middle East and supply of oil, the energy crisis of the 1970s, and global warming.

An active way for students to find a few critical facts about how we use energy and how much energy we use. Each student has a "clue" , some of which are pertinent energy facts and others are silly statements that are clearly not related. The students ask each other for clues and mingle until they have collected all the facts they need. This provides a more interactive way to communicate energy statistics without a lecture and introduction with board work. The goal is to introduce students to some key terms and issues associated with energy as a necessary prerequisite for the remainder of the unit.

Students utilize data tables culled from the US DOE Energy Information Agency to create graphs to illustrate what types of energy we use and how we use it. An MS Excel workbook with several spreadsheets of data is provided. Students pick (or the teacher assigns) one of the data tables for the students to create a plot from and interpret the information provided. Each group of students then shares their interpretation and new perspectives on energy resources and use with the rest of the class.

Several activities are included to teach and research the differences between renewable and non-renewable resources and various energy resources. The students work with a quantitative, but simple model of energy resources to show how rapidly a finite, non-renewable energy sources can be depleted, whereas renewable resources continue to be available. The students then complete a homework assignment or a longer, in-depth research project to learn about how various technologies that capture energy resources for human uses and their pros and cons. Fact sheets are included to help students get started on their investigation of their assigned energy source.

Fact sheets are provided for several different energy resources as a starting point for students to conduct literature research on the way these systems work and their various pros and cons. Students complete a worksheet for homework or take more time in class for research and presentation of their findings to the class. This approach requires students to learn for themselves and to teach each other rather than having a teacher lecture about the various sources and systems.

Posters are provided for several different energy conversion systems. The students are provided with cards that give the name and a description of each of the components in the energy system. They have to match these with the figures on the diagram. Since the groups look at different systems, they must also describe their results with the class to share their knowledge.

This activity is way for students to discover that they already know a lot about energy through their own life experiences. They are active consumers of various forms of energy and are aware of energy purchases for transportation, electricity and (possibly) home heating. A pedagogical technique of a "carousel" is used to get all students involved in brainstorming and contributing ideas. The goal is to introduce students to some key terms and issues associated with energy as a necessary prerequisite for the remainder of the unit.

Young students are introduced to the complex systems of the Earth through numerous lessons on the Earth's natural resources, processes, weather, climate and landforms. Key earth science topics include rocks, soils and minerals, water and natural resources, weather patterns and climatic regions, wind, erosion, landforms, and the harvesting of fossil fuels all presented from an engineering point-of-view. (See the Unit Overview section for a list of topics by lesson.) Through many hands-on activities, students build and test sand castles for construction strength, measure snow melt as a potential water source, use colored ice cubes and salt water to learn about ocean currents, make 3-D water catchment basins, make surface tension/surfactant-powered paper boats, build and use wind vanes, build and test model wind turbines, model and observe five types of erosion, model acid rain using chalk and kitchen supplies, build transportation systems across their own 3-D model landscapes, take core samples from a clay model of the Earth's crust, read and create graphs and charts as they learn about international oil production and consumption, act as engineers by specifying the power plants to build for communities, given scenarios with budgets, energy needs and environmental impacts. They learn the steps of the engineering design process as they hypothesize ways engineers might obtain water for communities facing water crises.

This lesson introduces students to the concepts of air pollution and technologies that have been developed by engineers to reduce air pollution. Students develop an understanding of visible air pollutants with an incomplete combustion demonstration, a "smog in a jar" demonstration, construction of simple particulate matter collectors and by exploring engineering roles related to air pollution. Next, students develop awareness and understanding of the daily air quality and trends in air quality using the Air Quality Index (AQI) listed in the newspaper. Finally, students build and observe a variety of simple models in order to develop an understanding of how engineers use these technologies to clean up and prevent air pollution.

In this lesson, students investigate sources of fossil fuels, particularly oil. Students will learn how engineers and scientists look for oil by taking core samples from a model of the Earth. Also, students will explore and analyze oil consumption and production in the United States and around the world.

A quantitative illustration of how non-renewable resources are depleted while renewable resources continue to provide energy. The activity requires students to remove beads (units of energy) from a bag (representing a country). A certain number of beads are removed from the bag each "year." At some point, no non-renewable beads remain. Groups of students have different ratios of renewable and non-renewable energy beads. A comparison of the remaining beads and time when they ran out of energy shows the value of utilizing a greater proportion of renewable resources as a sustainable energy resources.

Students are introduced to the concepts of air pollution and air quality. The three lesson parts focus on the prerequisites for understanding air pollution. First, students use M&Ms to create a pie graph that expresses their understanding of the composition of air. Next, students watch and conduct several simple experiments to develop an understanding of the properties of air (it has mass, it takes up space, it can move, it exerts pressure, it can do work). Finally, students develop awareness and understanding of the daily air quality using the Air Quality Index (AQI) listed in the newspaper. In an associated literacy activity, students explore the environmental history timeline.

During this activity, students will learn how oil is formed and where in the Earth we find it. Students will take a core sample to look for oil in a model of the Earth. They will analyze their sample and make an informed decision as to whether or not they should "drill for oil" in a specific location.