Lesson Plan 3

Energy

Objectives To understand what energy is, what humans need for energy, alternative renewable energies, and how they
differ from fossil fuels with advantages and disadvantages from each type of energy
Vocabulary Producers those who make their own food (trees, flowers, plants, grasses, etc.)
(5 min) Consumers those who cannot make their own food, but consume plants and animals (giraffe, elephants,
Have students help define baboons, mice, lions, tigers, cheetahs)
these terms. It can be done Decomposers feast on decaying plant and animal matter (fungi, algae, bacteria, maggots, caterpillars,
at the beginning or spiders, lady bugs, fire flies, dragon flies)
throughout each lesson Invasive Species exotic or non-native plants or animals that are introduced and invade ecologically,
environmentally, and economically
Energy when objects move in motion caused by a physical force
Alternative Energy any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel sources without the undesired
consequences of the replaced fuels
Non-renewable energy a natural resource which cannot be produced, grown, generated, or used on a
scale which can sustain its consumption rate
Fossil Fuels resources that exist in fixed amounts and/or consumed more quickly than nature can create
them (coal, petroleum, natural gas, nuclear)
Renewable energy energy that comes from natural resources such as sun, wind, hydro (water), and
heat
Energy conservation the efforts made to reduce energy consumption in order to preserve resources for
the future
MA Frameworks Science
Grades 6, 7, 8 Strand: Life Science
Topic: Living Things and Their Environment
13:Give examples of ways in which organisms interact and have different functions within and ecosystem to
survive.
Topic: Energy and Living Things
14: Explain the roles and relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in the process of
energy transfer in a food web.
15: Explain how dead plants and animals are broken down by other living organisms and how this process
contributes to the system as a whole.
Topic: Forms of Energy
13: Differentiate between potential and kinetic energy. Identify situations where kinetic energy is transformed into
potential energy and vice versa.
Opening Game Instructions: Instruct the group to take one starburst or jolly rancherand not eat it yet. Each color will
Sweet Questions correspond to a different question that they need to answer in front of the group. Make and post a visual key so
(10 min) students can easily see all of the questions, but reveal it after the candy is passed out.

Color 1 = Why is learning about the environment important to yoube specific.

Supplies Needed Color 2 = Do you see yourself as an environmental steward (leader) and if so, how?
Bag(s) of Starburst or Jolly Color 3 = If you could change one law or write a new law to help the environment and become a more
Rancher, list of questions sustainable community, what would it be and why?
Color 4 = What do you and your family do to be environmentally friendly?
Color 5 = Have you ever been part of a team to better the environment?
Color 6 = What environmental organizations or companies do you know about? Share your knowledge.
Learning Moment/Teachback Qs (5 min): What have you learned from your classmates about the
importance of environment? Why are these specific items important?
LEADS Skills: Knowledge of others/community, ethics, importance of education
Activity One Food Web
(15 min) Instructions: This activity will tie in ecosystems, resources, and energy together. A food web represents a
predator-prey relationships within an ecosystem or habitat. The activity is to show the interconnectedness
Supplies Needed between producers, consumers, and decomposers and how they are negatively affected when given certain
stickers/labels with one scenarios. With the pre-written stickers faced down, have each student pick one sticker and then stick it on
producer, consumer, or themselves. In the middle of the room or in a large area, have the students get in three groups depending on
decomposer written on the what they are (producer, consumer, or decomposer with sun, river, and soil in a separate group) then see if they
sticker and pick a theme are correct. Then, have the students get into a food web (or chain) asking them questions as they are doing this
like jungle theme. like, How is each one connected? Can you be connected to more than one producer, consumer, or
Examples of producers, decomposer? Then, you will give scenarios which will break the chain and have those students affected sit
consumers, and outside of the web depending on the scenario. Here is a list of possible scenarios:
decomposers are in the
A power plant is being built
vocabulary section. There
Poachers for skin and tusks have come into the area to hunt
should also be one sun,
Campers planted invasive trees
river, and soil.
Fishing boats have caused water pollution
Journals
Man-made fires in a nearby village has caused
Ask who in the ecosystem does it impact? Short-term, long term? Is there a trickle-down effect to other
ecosystems, humans? (i.e. not as much food source, shelter, cannot rely on other food when it creates
competition just from one move, etc.)
Learning Moment/Teachback Qs (5 min): How can we decrease the negative impact? What decisions
can we make to make a positive change? (leave the way or better than you found it, do not feed the
animals = dependent on humans and can affect their diet, dont take anything out or bring anything in
except for pictures and memories).
Activity Two Energy is Everywhere
(30 min) Instructions: Introduce Life without energy: Energy figures into almost every human activity; providing food,
Sources: www.wikipedia.com , www.earthday.net , www.rprogress.org , Sustainability Camp 2010 PowerPoint presentation, CIA World Factbook

Supplies needed
Energy is Everywhere
attachment, Renew Our
Future informational packet
one per group, Energy is
Everywhere worksheet one
per group, Energy is
Everywhere worksheet
answer key,
Journals

heating our homes, fuels our cars, ploughs our soil, and powers our machinery. Harnessing the worlds energy
supply has brought standards of living to new heights. We are so accustomed to energy use that one can
scarcely imagine surviving at a time before it existed. Yet, two billion people lack access to electricity about
1/3 of humanity.
As a class, discuss how easy access to energy and electricity in the US has greatly improved our standard of
living. Be specific: transportation of people and goods, various forms of entertainment, communication,
computers and access to information, better medical care, more comfortable homes, etc. Also, consider how
peoples lives are different who do not have easy access to energy and electricity such as people in other
countries or people who live more than 150 years ago. How do they manage without computers, light bulbs,
televisions, stereos, video games, cars, telephones, heaters, air conditioners, and cars?
Culture can have an impact as well with what we need/not need and can go without. For example, in Thailand,
does not use toilet paper. They use water from a bucket In Romania, the electricity that runs in the hotels are
run on generators and only at a certain time during the day are the generators on to create hot water and guests
are given one hour per day to use hot water for showering. Use other examples if you have them.
Where does energy come from: many people do not know where their energy comes from or how
fundamental it is to everything we do. The energy that powers our lights or heats our homes may come
from coal, natural gas, nuclear energy, water, the wind, or the sun. Read Renew Our Future with students
taking turns reading each energy source paragraph aloud. They will learn about various sources of energy
including fossil fuels, nuclear energy, solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, biomass energy, and
hydroelectric power. Once read, complete the worksheet and then discuss the forms of energy and the
positive and negative traits. Use the answer key to assist where needed.
Learning Moment/Teachback Qs (5 min): What are some major disadvantages of using fossil fuels for
energy and electricity? (pollution and global warming) How does the pollution caused by generating energy
from fossil fuels in one part of the world affect people living in another part of the world - called externalities
spillover incurred by a party who did not agree to the action that is causing a cost to that country? (Like when
the smoke from fires from Canada caused air pollution in New England, or the Gulf oil spill and the impact it may
have on the underwater life in Africa) What about the effect on plants and animals?

Reflection Journal Question (5min/10 min): As we said before, about two billion people lack access to
electricity roughly one third of all humanity. How are their lives different from yours due to their lack of access
to electricity? Give five examples of things you cannot do without, and figure out what those items are made
out of.
Sources: www.wickipedia.com , www.earthday.net , www.rprogress.org