Carnegie Mellon University
Understanding Electricity Mix Tradeoffs
Use the accompanying presentation and colorful technology sheets to introduce your class to the 10 different energy technologies. Connect kids to an interactive computer tool that allows them to combine different types of power...
Carnegie Mellon University
International Perspectives to Climate Change 2
A couple PowerPoint presentations are used to stimulate discussion about the perspectives of different countries on the issue of energy consumption. Afterward, they play a game in which each team is assigned a country, considers its...
Carnegie Mellon University
International Perspectives to Climate Change 1
After a lecture about how the first industrial revolution triggered the path to climate change, your environmental studies class discusses what the impacts are. In a culminating activity, they get into groups and identify countries on a...
Carnegie Mellon University
Technical Sketching Worksheets
How do you create a technical drawing? Cover the basics of technical sketching with a few practice sketches of simple shapes. A technical sketching lesson introduces the proper precision measurement techniques. Pupils progress to draw...
Carnegie Mellon University
Debate
Set your environmental studies class up to debate a current topic regarding your choice of six suggested statements about energy use in the United States. Teams read material that you have gathered and then form their arguments. The...
Carnegie Mellon University
Home Energy Audit
Youngsters make a mental assessment of electricity-consuming appliances in their homes and then evaluate them for the amount of energy consumed. They learn how to use power meters and measure the electrical consumption of several...
Carnegie Mellon University
Consumer Preferences in Lighting
What is a watt? This tongue-twisting, mind-bending question and others are answered through this lesson on the different lighting options available. With the support of a PowerPoint, teach your physical science class about units of...
Carnegie Mellon University
Introduction to Climate
Begin a full lesson on climate change by demonstrating how carbon dioxide gas contributes to increased temperatures. Be aware that pressure inside the antacid-containing bottle in Activity 2 may cause the lid to fly off; keep viewers at...
Carnegie Mellon University
Ocean Acidification
After brainstorming what they know about ocean acidification, youngsters place eggs in acid to determine the effects on calcium-containing organisms, and add carbon dioxide to solutions with sea shell material to discover the impact on pH.
Carnegie Mellon University
Transportation
Teach your environmental studies, life science, or engineering class how an internal combustion engine works using the first few slides of the accompanying presentation. Then, focus in on the resulting carbon emissions. Finally, take a...
Carnegie Mellon University
Renewables Workshop
Youngsters examine resource maps to find out which states are using solar and wind power and discuss as a class various other renewable energy sources. They use a provided data table to record pros and cons to each technology, build and...
Carnegie Mellon University
Natural Gas and Pennsylvania’s Future
Beginning with a general discussion about natural gas, methane, and hydrocarbons, a few videos and diagrams are projected to support the lecture. Individuals participate in a brief activity by drinking juice through a straw, and then...
Carnegie Mellon University
Nuclear Energy
Extensive background material, clear objectives, and more are provided to help you teach an introduction to nuclear power. Learners will be able to explain how nuclear power is generated and how it compares to coal-created power. Provide...
Carnegie Mellon University
Hydroelectricity
Use a simple PowerPoint presentation to introduce you environmental studies class to hydropower. Hold a debate about the pros and cons of developing this form of alternative energy. Power up your class with this simple lesson on a topic...
Carnegie Mellon University
How Power Plants Work 3
Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble! Find out what drives a turbine to generate electricity and whether or not it has an impact on the environment. A discussion and lecture is divided by a hands-on activity in...
Carnegie Mellon University
How Power Plants Work 2
For this second of three lessons on power plants, future engineers find out how we generate electricity and how coal-powered plants operate. They work in small groups to make electromagnet generators to light LED bulbs. A set of...
Carnegie Mellon University
How Power Plants Work 1
First of three lessons, this is a great start to a unit on energy. As you demonstrate, learners discover different types of energy and how it is converted from one form to another. They then focus in on the generation of electricity by...
Carnegie Mellon University
Marcellus Shale: Who Pays?
After viewing short clips of unfortunate events, your class will consider two sides of a homeowner's court case, and then learn about the Marcellus shale deposit beneath the state of Pennsylvania and the hydraulic fracturing process. In...
Carnegie Mellon University
Battery Workshop
Introduce your class to the workings and parts of a battery-operated circuit. Pairs of pupils use lemons to make batteries and measure voltage and current with a multimeter. An accompanying worksheet is used for recording values and...
Carnegie Mellon University
Bathtub Model
Using a colorful infographic handout and a guide sheet, hold a class discussion about how a bathtub can serve as a model for the greenhouse effect created by Earth's atmosphere. Participants will understand that as energy or matter is...
Carnegie Mellon University
Lab Report
A set of instructions and a 100-point grading rubric have been designed for writing lab reports. Appropriate for middle schoolers, this lays out what to include for each of the six steps in the scientific method: title, hypothesis,...