Lesson

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Objectives:

1) Students will recognize the significance of petroleum energy and its byproducts          

2) Students will understand the importance of more efficient (green) energy, whether it be renewable or nuclear

3) Students will understand the positive and negative effects of both renewable energy and nuclear power.

Lesson:

Online quiz: Climate Hero Carbon Calculator

Intro Q: What will our planet look like in the future? What can we expect?

Part 1: Why Should We Swap? Greenhouses gasses and global warming.

The Industrial Revolution and the following growth of petroleum based power, meaning natural gas, crude oil, and the like has dumped exponential amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere surrounding the Earth. Burning petroleum products releases this compound (“Global Warming”). 

Q: What is carbon dioxide’s effect on the environment? Does anybody know what a greenhouse gas is?

What is a “greenhouse gas?”

Greenhouse gasses trap heat in the atmosphere through the absorption of infrared waves. Methane and carbon dioxide are the largest contributors to the trapping of infrared waves within the ozone layer (“Global Warming”).

Carbon Dioxide and GHGs (the science)

Specifically, carbon dioxide waves exist on the same wavelengths (2,000 to 15,000 nanometers) as the infrared waves (700 nanometers) of the sun, and thus the waves trap heat through absorption (Fecht).

Part 2: Choices for the future

Q: What do we have for power options within the future?

Nuclear power stands as one of the major options. The process of fission that is utilized within most reactors splits uranium atoms, and then boils water with the heat to spin a turbine. Only steam is released into the environment. However, the spent uranium pellets are stored in permanent containment areas. Processes of enriching the fuel after usage are being researched for the future (U.S. Energy)

The other major option is renewable energy. Renewable energy utilizes naturally occurring and non-depletable resources such as wind and the water. Wind turbines and dams are popular options (Shinn). 

However, renewable energy sources still have their issues. Turbines and dams have been known to disrupt the natural flow of both fish and bird migratory patterns (Walsh). Furthermore, wind turbine blades cannot be recycled as they are high density fiberglass, so just as depleted uranium is stored, the blades are dumped into repositories (Martin).

Q: Knowing this, would you consider nuclear power green? How about wind energy?

Part 3: International opinion and action

The EU has pioneered the inclusion of nuclear energy in the power grid. Some countries are wary of the power, such as Germany (due to the Fukushima Daiichi accident), but some are more accepting, like Sweden and France. The debates about the future of power within the EU serve as an interesting microcosm for the future of the planet as a whole (“Europe Chart”).

Q: What have you learned? What would you like to see implemented and/or changed as a nation or internationally?

Materials:

Gallon of motor oil

1 quarter

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Bibliography

“Europe chart of the week: Nuclear power in the EU.” Country Report: France, 15 Oct. 2021. 

Gale In Context: Global Issues. Accessed 19 Jan. 2022.

Fecht, Sarah “How Exactly Does Carbon Dioxide Cause Global Warming?” Lamont, 25 Feb. 

2021. Accessed 2 Feb. 2022.

"Global warming." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 16 Mar. 2021. Accessed 14 Jan. 

2022.

"Going nuclear; Charlemagne.” The Economist, 30 Oct. 2021. Gale In Context: High School. 

Accessed 19 Jan. 2022.

Henry Walsh. “Renewable Energy Still Impacts the Environment.” Choose Energy, 20 Jun. 2018, 

Accessed 2 Feb. 2022.

Martin, Chris. “Wind Turbine Blades Can’t Be Recycled, So They’re Piling Up in Landfills.” 

Bloomberg.com, 5 Feb. 2020. Accessed 6 Feb. 2022.

Physics World. “How Green Is Nuclear Energy?” Accessed 19 Jan. 2022.

Shinn, Lora. “Renewable Energy: The Clean Facts.” NRDC, 25 Aug. 2021. Accessed 2 Feb. 

2022.

U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).“Nuclear explained.” 24 Mar. 2021,  

Accessed 24 Sept. 2021.