Lesson 8: Energy Warms Maine
Overview
What sources of heat are available to Maine people to keep their homes warm? In this lesson, students are introduced to Maine residents who are asking for students’ help in recommending a home heating fuel before the upcoming winter.
Key Ideas
- Energy in fuels used to heat our homes can be traced back to the sun.
- People use resources – both renewable and nonrenewable- to maintain and improve their existence.
- Perfectly designed solutions do not exist. All solutions have trade-offs, such as safety, cost, efficiency, aesthetics, and environmental impacts.
- Solutions have constraints.
Lesson Goals
Students will:
- identify different fuels used for heating Maine homes.
- describe several factors that need to be considered when selecting a
- fuel for heating.
- describe the benefits and challenges of using various fuels to heat Maine homes.
Lesson Resources
Download Lesson Plan (12 pags 792 KB)
Student Handout 8.1: Consumer Profiles (1,008 KB)
Student Handout 8.2: Fuel Information Sheets (1 MB)
Student Handout 8.3: Fuel Recommendation Guidelines and Scoring Rubric (540 KB)
Student Handout 8.4: Consumer Profile and Fuel Information Sheet Group (528 KB)
Discussion Guide (528 KB)
Online Extensions
Chewonki Foundation's interactive poster, Pathways to a Sustainable Future Renewable Energy, contains a wealth of information about sustainable energy and includes a number of follow up activities.
Review the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Energy Kids page that describes renewable and non renewable energy sources and while not specific to thermal energy this resource includes information about energy used to heat homes.
Participate in the National Energy Education Program (NEED)'s Great Energy Debate. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the major energy sources in an innovative debate format.
Investigate historical weather events in Maine:
- WMTW TV Channel 8 News Clip of Ice Storm of 1998
- Maine kids talk about surviving the Ice Storm of '98
- MPBN: Ice Storm Remembered
Connection to Maine Agencies
The Maine Energy Education Program (MEEP) has a Great Energy Debate Game (4th-12th grade). In this debate, students take on the real world challenge of convincing others that one energy source is best. A MEEP representative will come to interested schools, free of charge, to guide this activity.
MEEP also has a Coal-fired Power Plant activity in which students learn how electricity is made in a power plant. Students discuss the pros and cons of using coal and discover alternative ways to spin a turbine to run a generator.
For schools in Aroostook County, a Maine Public Service (MPS) representative will come to interested schools, free of charge, to guide and support the concepts developed in this lesson.
