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Fuel for Thought: Building Energy Awareness in Grades 9-12


Edited by: Steve Metz
$27.96 - Member Price  
$34.95 - Nonmember Price


$36.35 - Member Price  
$45.44 - Nonmember Price
$22.72 - Member Price  
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Details

Type of Product:NSTA Press Book (also see downloadable PDF version of this book)
Publication Date:11/20/2011
Pages:409
Stock Number:PB310X
ISBN:978-1-936137-20-6
Grade Level:High School
Read Inside:Read a sample chapter: A Life-Cycle Assessment of Biofuels: Tracing Energy and Carbon Through a Fuel-Production System
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Our reviewers—top-flight teachers and other outstanding science educators—have determined that this resource is among the best available supplements for science teaching.
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Description

The concept of energy is central to all the science disciplines, seamlessly connecting science, technology, and mathematics. For high school and upper middle school teachers, this compendium comprises inquiry-based activities, lesson plans, and case studies designed to help teach increased awareness of energy, environmental concepts, and the related issues. Drawn from NSTA’s award-winning, peer-reviewed journals, the book is divided into three overarching segments for learning and teaching: Student Investigations includes several activities that tackle such topics as “Energy, Heat, and Temperature,” “Vehicles and Fuels,” and “Living Connections.” Projects and Case Studies includes examples of extensive, question-driven student projects, and the last section, Issues in Depth, provides background content knowledge for deeper understanding of the critical energy issues facing the world today. These interesting and meaningful investigations demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of energy, preparing students for the complex reality of our global energy economy.


Ideas For Use

Additional Info

Science Discipline: (mouse over for full classification)
Global climate change
Environmental change
Nonrenewable resources
Renewable resources
Circuits
Electromagnetism
Conservation of energy
Energy transfer
Energy transformation
Kinetic energy
Potential energy
Electromagnetic forces
Conduction
Convection
Radiation
Temperature
Analyzing data
Asking questions
Experimenting
Hypothesizing
Interpreting data
Measuring
Modeling
Scientific habits of mind
Intended User Role:High-School Educator, Teacher
Educational Issues:Teacher content knowledge, Teacher preparation, Teaching strategies

Contents

Introduction By Steve Metz
Part I: Student Activities & Investigations

Energy, Heat, and Temperature
1. What Exactly is Energy? By William Robertson
2. Burning a Candle at Both Ends: Classrooms as Complex Systems By Thomas O'Brien
3. Make Your Own Digital Thermometer! - Using the 5E Instructional Model to Design and Calibrate a Scientific Instrument By Timothy Sorey, Teri Willard, Teri and Bom Kim
4. Evaporating is Cool By Richard Hand
5. Save the Penguins: Teaching the Science of Heat Transfer Through Engineering Design By Christine Schnittka, Randy Bell, and Larry Richards
6. Warming to Global Warming: Sunspots and Sea Surface Temperature By Erich Landstrom
7. Modeling Convection - A Simple Apparatus for Dynamic Modeling of Paired Convection Cells Teaches Students About Earth’s Processes By James R. Ebert, Nancy A. Elliott, Laura Hurteau, and Amanda Schulz
8. Convection in a Fish Tank By Chris Freeman
9. Celebrate with SATELLITES - An International Polar Year Partnership to Study Earth’s Materials
By Mikell Lynne Hedley, Kevin Czajkowski , Janet Struble, Terri Benko, Brad Shellito, Scott Sheridan,and Mandy Munroe Stasiuk

Electricity, Magnetism, and Light
10. Taming Energy By William Robertson
11. The Science Behind Nanosunscreens - Learning About Nanoparticulate Ingredients Used to Block the Sun’s Ultraviolet Rays By Alyssa Wise, Patricia Schank, Tina Stanford, and Geri Horsma
12. Juan's Dilemma - An Electrochemical Twist on the Lemon Battery By Timothy Sorey, Vanessa Hunt, Evguenia Balandova, and Bruce Palmquist
13. A Virtual Circuits Lab - Building Students’ Understanding of Series, Parallel, and Complex Circuits By Matthew Vick
14. Measuring Wavelength with a Ruler By Paul Hewitt
15. Shedding Light on the Inverse-Square Law Students Demonstrate the Quantitative Relationship Between Light Intensity and Distance By Richard E. Uthe
16. A 50-Cent Analytical Spectroscope By John Frassinelli

Energy on the Move - Vehicles & Fuels
17. Fueling the Car of Tomorrow - An Alternative Fuels Curriculum for High School Science Classes By Mark Schumack, Stokes Baker, Mark Benvenuto, James Graves, Arthur Haman, and Daniel Maggio
18. The Interdisciplinary Study of Biofuels - Understanding Questions and Finding Solutions Through Biology, Chemistry, and Physics By Philip D. Weyman
19. A Life-Cycle Assessment of Biofuels - Tracing Energy and Carbon Through a Fuel-Production System By Sara Krauskopf

Living Connections
20. Fall Colors, Temperature, and Day Length - Students Use Internet Data to Explore the Relationship Between Seasonal Patterns and Climate By Stephen Burton, Heather Miller, and Carrie Roossinck
21. A Useful Laboratory Tool - Students Build and Test a Thermal Gradient to Conduct Meaningful Labs By Samuel A. Johnson and Tye Tutt
22. Fire and the Role of Ecological Disturbance: A 5E Lesson to Address an Important Misconception By Michael Dentzau
23. A Cooperative Classroom Investigation of Climate Change - Students Investigate Environmental Changes and Their Impact on Penguin Communities By Juanita Constible, Luke Sandro, and Richard E. Lee, Jr.

Carbon, Climate & the Environment
24. Climate Physics - Using Basic Physics Concepts to Teach About Climate Change By William Space
25. Seeing the Carbon Cycle By Pamela Drouin, David J. Welty,Daniel Repeta, Cheryl A. Engle-Belknap, Catherine Cramer, Kim Frashure,and Robert Chen
26. How Much Carbon Is in the Forest? - A Project-Based Science Investigation of Trees’ Role in Offsetting Global Warming By Leah Penniman
27. Thinking Like an Ecologist - Students Make Connections Between Their Influence on Global Change and Current Field Research By Jenn Carlson
28. Teaching About Energy By Amanda Beckrich

Alternative Energy Sources
29. Solar Radiation: Harnessing the Power - Using NASA Data to Study Alternative Energy Sources By Teri Rowland, Lin Chambers, Missy Holzer, Susan Moore
30. Solar Panels and Alternative Energy in the Eighth Grade Classroom By Laura Bruck
31. Windmills Are Going Around Again By Richard H. Moyer and Susan A. Everett
32. A First Energy Grant: Pinwheel Electrical Generation By John Schaefers

Part II: Student Projects and Case Studies
33. Doing Science With PBS By Steve Metz
34. Students for Sustainable Energy - Inspiring Students to Tackle Energy Projects in Their School and Community By Regina Toolin and Anne Watson
35. The State High Biodiesel Project - Reducing Local Waste While Learning About Alternative Energy By Paul L. Heasley, William G. Van Der Sluys
36. The Sidewalk Project - Students Work With Their Community to Invent a Heated Sidewalk Powered by an Alternative Energy Source By William Church
37. Asking Authentic Questions with Tangible Consequences By Anne Watson
38. The Quiet Skies Project - Students Collect, Analyze, and Monitor Data on Radio Frequency Interference By Steve Rapp

Part III: Issues in Depth
Fuels
39. In the Hot Seat - Analyzing Your Heating Options By Janna Palliser
40. Connect the Spheres with the Coal Cycle By Renee Clary and James Wandersee
41. Petroleum and the Environment - Teaching About Petroleum and the Future of Energy Resources By Travis Hudson and Geoffrey Camphire

Energy & the Environment
42. An Earth-System Approach to Understanding the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill By Edward Robeck
43. Converting Sunlight Into Other Forms of Energy - Using Photovoltaic Cells Made From Silicon Alloys for Solar Power By Robert A. Lucking, Edwin P. Christmann, Robin Spruce
44. Everybody Talks About It By Steve Metz
45. School Greenhouse Design Tips By James Biehle

Energy Safety
46. Circuit Safety By Ken Roy
47. Battery Safety Basics By Ken Roy
48. Sun Safety: The Stats By Ken Roy


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National Standards Correlation

This resource has 34 correlations with the National Standards.  
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This resource has 34 correlations with the National Standards.  
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  • Physical Science
    • Chemical Reactions
      • Chemical reactions may release or consume energy. (9-12)
      • Some reactions such as the burning of fossil fuels release large amounts of energy by losing heat and by emitting light. (9-12)
      • Radical reactions control many processes such as the presence of ozone and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, burning and processing of fossil fuels, the formation of polymers, and explosions. (9-12)
    • Motion and Forces
      • Electricity and magnetism are two aspects of a single electromagnetic force. (9-12)
      • Moving electric charges produce magnetic forces, and moving magnets produce electric forces. (9-12)
      • The effects of moving electric charges help students to understand electric motors and generators. (9-12) (Electricity)
    • Conservation of energy and increase in disorder
      • The total energy of the universe is constant. (9-12)
      • Energy can be transferred by collisions in chemical and nuclear reactions, by light waves and other radiations, and in many other ways. (9-12)
      • Energy can never be destroyed. (9-12)
      • As energy transfers occur, the matter involved becomes steadily less ordered. (9-12)
      • All energy can be considered to be either kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion; potential energy, which depends on relative position; or energy contained by a field, such as electromagnetic waves. (9-12)
      • Heat consists of random motion and the vibrations of atoms, molecules, and ions. (9-12)
      • The higher the temperature, the greater the atomic or molecular motion. (9-12)
      • In all energy transfers, the overall effect is that the energy is spread out uniformly. Examples are the transfer of energy from hotter to cooler objects by conduction, radiation, or convection and the warming of our surroundings when we burn fuels. (9-12)
    • Interactions of energy and matter
      • Waves, including sound and seismic waves, waves on water, and light waves, have energy and can transfer energy when they interact with matter. (9-12)
  • Earth Science
    • Energy in the earth system
      • Earth systems have internal and external sources of energy, both of which create heat. (9-12)
      • The sun is the major external source of energy. (9-12)
      • Two primary sources of internal energy are the decay of radioactive isotopes and the gravitational energy from the earth's original formation. (9-12)
      • Global climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun at and near the earth's surface. (9-12)
      • The greenhouse effect is the warming effect on the air caused by heat rising from the surface of the Earth and being trapped by gases in the troposphere. (9-12)
  • Science as Inquiry
    • Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
      • Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations. (9-12)
      • Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence. (9-12)
      • Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and models. (9-12)
    • Understandings about scientific inquiry
      • Historical and current scientific knowledge influence the design and interpretation of investigations and the evaluation of proposed explanations made by other scientists. (9-12)
  • Science and Technology
    • Understanding about science and technology
      • New technologies often extend the current levels of scientific understanding and introduce new areas of research. (9-12)
  • Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
    • Types of resources
      • The supply of many resources is limited.
    • Natural resources
      • Human populations use resources in the environment in order to maintain and improve their existence. (9-12)
      • Natural resources have been and will continue to be used to maintain human populations. (9-12)
      • The earth does not have infinite resources. (9-12)
      • Increasing human consumption places severe stress on the natural processes that renew some resources, and it depletes those resources that cannot be renewed. (9-12)
      • Humans use many natural systems as resources. (9-12)
    • Environmental quality
      • The depletion of the ozone layer allows more ultraviolet light to reach the Earth's surface. (9-12)
      • A factor that influences environmental quality is resource use. (9-12)
  • History and Nature of Science
    • Nature of science
      • In areas where active research is being pursued and in which there is not a great deal of experimental or observational evidence and understanding, it is normal for scientists to differ with one another about the interpretation of the evidence or theory being considered. (5-8)


Published Reviews

“The editor, Steve Metz, has compiled an exceptionally useful handbook for energy instruction. Hands-down, this is one of the most exciting publications to cross my desk. … Fuel for Thought is outstanding because it offers a host of successful programs, rife with references that prompt reflection on one’s existing curriculum. My copy is already tabbed and dog-eared with ideas for my chemistry, physical science, and environmental classes this fall. Fuel for Thought challenges any teacher to consider how he or she can include more instruction that is student driven, inquiry-based, authentic, and relevant, while providing specific ideas for every science discipline.”
Science Books & Films, July2012


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