Your Energy Footprint
Information for Teachers

About this lesson plan portfolio

This lesson plan portfolio contains 13 sequential units. Each unit has been designed for use by teachers.

The primary objective of Your Energy Footprint is to make a personal assessment of the environmental impact created from one's domestic use of energy. Major attention has been paid to the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, the principle agent responsible for global warming.

Your Energy Footprint has been designed to facilitate teaching topics related to the environmental impact of the domestic use of energy. These topics include concepts covered in Mathematics, Science and Technology, and Geography, such as: working with the everyday units of energy and power, the cost of various energy sources, and the costs of the energy that we use.

Your Energy Footprint is best suited to elementary science students, in grades 6-8, who are beginning studies in physical science, environmental science and geography.

The complete details of the physics and the chemistry of energy transformations, especially as they relate to the combustion process, are exceedingly complex. Nevertheless the examples given in this resource have been selected and designed so they are both simple and scientifically accurate. Working through the activities which are provided, students will get a very realistic assessment of their "Energy Footprint".

Preparing to use Your Energy Footprint

Experience has shown that the best way to use this resource is to:

  1. Begin by printing out the entire portfolio. Transparency masters can be printed directly onto colour (or gray scale) transparencies, or printed on ordinary paper and then photocopied onto transparencies.
    Hint: Gray scale transparencies are helpful as they can be highlighted with colour markers when you are discussing them in class.
  2. Read over the material. Make margin notes for yourself, so that you can easily align it to your student's backgrounds and abilities.
  3. Print or photocopy the student assignments and activities so that they may be handed out to your class at the appropriate time.
  4. Read the answer keys for the student assignments and activities before giving the assignments to the students. The answer keys contain explanations and topics for further discussion. They will be helpful in addressing student questions as they progress through the assignments.

Using Your Energy Footprint as a basis for teaching topics in energy transformations will give students an insightful understanding of the concepts of energy, its use, and the environmental issues related to the production of electricity for consumer and commercial applications.

Within each unit are:

  • printable pages with explanatory notes;
  • transparency masters for overhead projectors;
  • meaningful student problem sets; and
  • research activities.

    • What this module is not . . .

    Your Energy Footprint is not a self-directed student web-search.

    Expected Student Background

    In order to use this unit effectively students should be familiar with the following:
    1. The ability to solve simple linear equations such as P = E/t;

    2. The ability to read information from graphs and to solve simple ratio problems;

    3. Familiarity with metric prefixes such as mega and kilo;

    4. Familiarity with the unit joule as a unit of energy and the watt as a unit of power.

    How to use Your Energy Footprint

    There are many possible ways to use this resource. Generally however, teachers use the sets of notes as the basis of their explanations of concepts to students. The transparencies can be used to illustrate the concepts and focus further class discussion. Key points are recorded on the board or chart paper and copied by students into their notebooks for reference.

    Student assignments are usually printed, copied, and handed out.

    After the students have had a chance to work through each assignment it should be "taken-up."

    Problems are provided as samples to help students become familiar with concepts and definitions. In order (for the student) to develop fluency and insight, it is helpful to generate additional problems for students. The problem sets which are provided can be used as templates for creating further questions.

    Please Note: This resource is designed to focus on concepts related to electricity production. Although it covers topics in energy transformations, the law of conservation of energy, global warming and other environmental issues, it is not meant to be a definitive treatment of these subjects.

    Assessment Rubric
    Knowledge/Skills
    Level 1
    Level 2
    Level 3
    Level 4
    approaches the standard
    the standard
    exceeds the standard
    Understanding of Basic Concepts
    The student: demonstrates limited understanding of energy, its use, and the environmental issues related to the production of electricity for consumer and commercial applications demonstrates some understanding of energy, its use, and the environmental issues related to the production of electricity for consumer and commercial applications demonstrates general understanding of energy, its use, and the environmental issues related to the production of electricity for consumer and commercial applications demonstrates thorough understanding of energy, its use, and the environmental issues related to the production of electricity for consumer and commercial applications
    by providing partial explanations by providing partial explanations by providing complete explanations by providing complete explanations
    with significant misconceptions with minor misconceptions with no significant misconceptions with no misconceptions
    Application of Inquiry Skills: Initiating and Planning, Performing and Recording, Analyzing and Interpreting
    The student:
      		rarely applies appropriate skills/strategies to solve problems related to energy use and consumption applies some appropriate skills/strategies to solve problems related to energy use and consumption applies most appropriate skills/strategies to solve problems related to energy use and consumption applies all or almost all appropriate skills/strategies to solve problems related to energy use and consumption
      Communication of Required Knowledge
      The student: communicates unclearly or imprecisely communicates with some clarity and precision communicates with general clarity and precision communicates clearly and precisely
      rarely using appropriate scientific terminology or symbols sometimes using appropriate scientific terminology or symbols usually using appropriate scientific terminology or symbols always using appropriate scientific terminology or symbols
      Relating Science and the World Outside the School
      The student: makes very simple connections between energy consumption and its impact on the environment makes simple connections between energy consumption and its impact on the environment makes connections of some complexity between energy consumption and its impact on the environment makes complex connections between energy consumption and its impact on the environment
      YES I Can! Science