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Provided by: MIT Climate Action Through Education |Published on: January 28, 2025
Lesson Plans
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Synopsis
In this lesson, students will look at where energy primarily comes from in their state, discuss what is using energy in their homes, and determine what can be done to reduce energy use.
Students will calculate the cost of electricity in Massachusetts (or their home state) and determine the impacts of a 5-10% reduction in energy use per person.
The resource also includes an optional science lesson for students to test the energy use of household appliances.
The state-specific data will help students better connect to the problem.
Thinking about the consequences of tasks they do daily, such as leaving a phone charger plugged in, is important for students to feel a sense of ownership in their energy use.
Prerequisites
In the Teacher Background Sheet, the Energy Vampire Calculator link is broken.
When using the Electricity Guide for U.S. States, students will have to click states in the upper lefthand corner to select their home state.
Differentiation & Implementation
Using the New York Times article, students can compare their state's energy sources to that of another state and discuss what may have caused these differences.
While some of the information is specific to or defaults to Massachusetts, much of the data can be found for or applied to other states, and teachers can have students calculate for their state instead of Massachusetts.
After doing the activity, students can learn about the health and climate impacts of each nonrenewable source of energy. Students can use the video Nonrenewable Energy Resources to facilitate this.
Scientist Notes
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Related Teaching Resources
All resources can be used for your educational purposes with proper attribution to the content provider.
