Energy Street

Topic:  Energy Efficiency

Source:  Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Education Office and Friends of Fermilab, NREL & US Dept of Energy

Web address: http://www.nrel.gov/education/energystreet

Grade Levels:  6-8

Learning Strategies:  Reading comprehension, role play

Frameworks Connections:

Science and Technology/Engineering

• Physical Sciences, Grades 6-8

  Heat Energy

• Technology/Engineering, Grades 6-8

  2. Engineering Design

Mathematics, Grades 5-6, 7-8

• Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability

Cost:  Free

Description: In this debate activity, students use current energy handouts and their prior knowledge of energy and current information they are given to relate the concepts to their own involvement with energy efficiency at home or elsewhere.  Students are required to complete a variety of activities to complete before they participate in a role-playing debate.  These activities include:

• completion of background reading relating to the debate subject
• research for their side of the debate
• analysis of their research
• an oral/visual presentation of what they have found for discussion with the class

The lesson plan contains a teacher’s overview of the activities section, including a time frame, rubric, and student learning objectives.  Rules are provided for the debate/role-play and a complete list of Internet resources are provided for research purposes .  The expected outcome of this exercise is for students to apply the information they accumulate to real-life situations.