LESSON 6 (Approximately 2 hours)
MODEL-ELICITING ACTIVITY (M.E.A.)
Overview
Teacher and student laptops with internet access Digital projector
Dictionaries Digital projector screen
Carbon footprint calculator Smartphones or tablets for recording video
Voice recorders Colored Pencils
Blank white paper Markers
Lined paper
Key Words
Model-eliciting activity | Parabola | Parabolic solar oven | Carbon footprint | Greenhouse gas | Carbon dioxide | Electricity | Natural gas | Liquid propane | Fuel oil | Rate | Kilowatt | Kilowatt-hour | Therm | British thermal unit (Btu) | Gallon | Solar energy | Green energy | Interpreting tabular data | Conversion rates | Developing mathematical models | Life cycle analysis
TEACHING PLAN
Introduction
Today we will be looking more closely at the outward importance of the parabolic solar ovens we have constructed and critiqued. To do that, we will be studying data about the types of energy we use at home, cost of energy, and how much carbon dioxide we emit into our air. We will use a carbon footprint calculator courtesy of Forterra.org to approximate our carbon emissions at home. We will also be looking at average rates within the United States before developing ideas about how we might use our solar ovens to combat some of the emissions. Specifically, you and your classmates will develop individual proposals for your household about how solar ovens reduce costs and waste for your family and the planet. Lastly, we will also turn our attention to how fuel is used in the Brazilian Amazon and write, record, or film an ad campaign that promotes solar oven usage. Let’s field some questions?
ASK Questions and discuss as a class (10 minutes)
Task
Wrap Up
Discuss
Distribute
Web Resources
FormativeAssessments
Summative Assessments
MODEL-ELICITING ACTIVITY (M.E.A.)
Overview
- Calculating individual carbon footprint limiting scope to home energy usage today
- Calculating how individual carbon footprint would change if utilizing student-designed and student-built parabolic solar ovens (See Lessons 3-5)
- Developing and presenting infographics about energy usage and leveraging these infographics to advocate for solar oven usage
- Deliberating on a potential, self-determined, percent-based reduction in primary fuel use when solar ovens are utilized at home
- Calculating the carbon footprint for a family of four in an area of the Brazilian Amazon threatened by aggressive deforestation practices
- Designing an advertisement campaign that promotes the use of design teams’ parabolic solar ovens in said region of Brazil
Teacher and student laptops with internet access Digital projector
Dictionaries Digital projector screen
Carbon footprint calculator Smartphones or tablets for recording video
Voice recorders Colored Pencils
Blank white paper Markers
Lined paper
Key Words
Model-eliciting activity | Parabola | Parabolic solar oven | Carbon footprint | Greenhouse gas | Carbon dioxide | Electricity | Natural gas | Liquid propane | Fuel oil | Rate | Kilowatt | Kilowatt-hour | Therm | British thermal unit (Btu) | Gallon | Solar energy | Green energy | Interpreting tabular data | Conversion rates | Developing mathematical models | Life cycle analysis
TEACHING PLAN
Introduction
Today we will be looking more closely at the outward importance of the parabolic solar ovens we have constructed and critiqued. To do that, we will be studying data about the types of energy we use at home, cost of energy, and how much carbon dioxide we emit into our air. We will use a carbon footprint calculator courtesy of Forterra.org to approximate our carbon emissions at home. We will also be looking at average rates within the United States before developing ideas about how we might use our solar ovens to combat some of the emissions. Specifically, you and your classmates will develop individual proposals for your household about how solar ovens reduce costs and waste for your family and the planet. Lastly, we will also turn our attention to how fuel is used in the Brazilian Amazon and write, record, or film an ad campaign that promotes solar oven usage. Let’s field some questions?
ASK Questions and discuss as a class (10 minutes)
- Take a moment to define greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, kilowatt, kilowatt-hour, therm, gallon, and green energy using class dictionaries and online resources.
- How many pounds of carbon dioxide do you think you and your loved ones emit each year by using fossil fuels, natural gas, electricity, and propane to do things like things like cook, heat, cool, and run other devices at your house?
Task
- Before we move on, please bundle your Solar Oven Final Project. Remember to collect pertinent photocopies of your team members’ role-specific work and attaching that to your work before submitting your completed project as a group. (5 minutes)
- (Distribute: Home Energy Rates, Current Consumption, and Current Carbon Footprint) Take a few minutes to study the average rates, consumption, and carbon footprint by Americans. (15 minutes)
- Let’s discuss, based on averages provided in the table, which type of energy do Americans seem to spend the most money on? Which type of energy do people living in the U.S. seem to use the least?
- Can anyone think of a fuel source or fuel sources that are not listed here? Where does this fuel come from?
- Solar energy is a fuel source! We will come circle back to this point in just a bit.
- Consider which fuel source based on home usage seems to be most polluting on average? Which fuel source seems least polluting? Elect one member of your table group to write your two answers on the board.
- Head online to Forterra’s Carbon Footprint Calculator to complete the table and determine approximately how many pounds of carbon dioxide your house is responsible for emitting. Remember, we are not factoring travel (ie. cars, buses, trains or airplanes) nor are we looking at our total carbon footprint which includes life cycle analysis for the production and disposal of the goods we consume. Please remember to convert tons of carbon dioxide produced each year to pounds of carbon produced each year. The conversion rate is: 1 ton equals 2,000 pounds. I will be circling the room so feel free to ask myself or any of your classmates for help. (10 minutes)
- Dynamic stretch (1 minute)
- Head back to your desks. Take the data we have collected and synthesize it graphically. Design two infographics that explain 1) your current household energy usage and 2) your current carbon footprint. If you prefer to create your infographic using ‘Rhinoceros’ please do so. (35 minutes)
- Next, we will be watching a video on indoor air pollution and energy use in rural India (“Indoor Air Pollution: The Silent Killer”) (10 minutes)
- Next, in your parabolic solar oven build groups, share your takeaways from the video. Then brainstorm how, when, and under what circumstances your solar oven can be used at home to reduce your primary energy source for cooking. This will inform your third and fourth infographic. It is up to you to decide how often your solar oven would realistically be used in favor of traditional cooking methods such as natural gas and electricity. Take your time. Identify what percentage of the time you might use your solar oven instead of the fuel sources you typically use. (10 minutes)
Wrap Up
Discuss
- Return to your individual desks. For the last few minutes of class, we will be acting as potential independent contractors for the I.M.F—the International Monetary Fund—which is looking to assess the carbon footprint of families of four in Brazil living in the Amazon region. We will consider those families’ fuel and energy usage to be similar to those families in rural India. (1 minute)
- (Distribute: Client Letter I.M.F.) Read the letter from the International Monetary Fund. (1 minute)
- Review homework deliverables due next class: (5 minutes)
- (Distribute: Ad Campaign Rubric) Design an ad campaign for the I.M.F. that can be presented in 4-5 minutes (either live, pre-recorded or written). Be sure to include the status quo of the typical energy usage of a family of four in the Amazon region as well as persuasive reasons for implementing the use of your team’s solar ovens. This is an individual activity.
- For the next ten minutes, feel free to explore and even download free online infographic tools. Past students have mentioned how they like ‘Venngage’ and ‘Piktochart’. While you won’t have to use either of these, they are free and you are welcome to use them for your infographics. (10 minutes)
Distribute
- "Home Energy Rates, Consumption, and Carbon Footprint"
- "Client Letter I.M.F."
- "Ad Campaign Grading Rubric"
Web Resources
- Forterra Carbon Footprint Calculator: http://forterra.org/carbon-calculator-individuals
- United States Environmental Protection Agency Carbon Footprint Rates and Calculator: https://www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator/
- “Indoor Air Pollution: The Silent Killer”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4x1I03LZFc
- Venngage: Make Infographic for Free: https://venngage.com/
- Household Fuel and Energy Use in Developing Countries: A multicountry study: https://esmap.org/sites/esmap.org/files/Report_FuelUseMulticountryStudy_05.pdf
FormativeAssessments
- Oral response to discussion questions posed to the whole class
- Calculations for individual carbon footprints
- Conversations between parabolic solar oven design team members about how their solar oven could be used to reduce non-renewable energy usage and how solar oven use can be directed towards decreasing one’s carbon footprint
- Sketches of two inforgraphics completed in class advocating the use of parabolic solar ovens at home
Summative Assessments
- Ad campaign for I.M.F.