Lesson summary
This lesson is Cool’s one-stop-shop on fossil fuels, renewable energies, and how they impact climate change.
It comes with a guided lesson plan for teachers, presentation slides with relevant information, and guided student worksheets for independent inquiry.
Students explore a range of methods of energy generation and how they impact the climate. Students write information summaries of each method. Finally, students write a persuasive summary advocating for one method of energy generation.
Learning intentions:
Students will...
- demonstrate ways in which net-zero carbon emissions can be reached by 2050.
Success criteria:
Students can...
- describe, using scientific vocabulary, different methods of producing energy
- demonstrate a connection between different methods of producing energy and carbon emissions
- advocate for a certain method of energy production with the primary goal of producing net-zero carbon emissions from energy production by 2050.
Lesson guides and printables
Curriculum links
Select your curriculum from the options below.
Lesson details
Curriculum mapping
Australian Curriculum content descriptions:
Year 6 Science:
- Electrical energy can be transferred and transformed in electrical circuits and can be generated from a range of sources (ACSSU097)
Relevant parts of the Year 6 Science achievement standards: Students analyse requirements for the transfer of electricity and describe how energy can be transformed from one form to another when generating electricity
Year 7 Science:
- Some of Earth’s resources are renewable, but others are non-renewable (ACSSU116)
Relevant parts of the Year 7 Science achievement standards: Students analyse how the sustainable use of resources depends on the way they are formed and cycle through Earth systems
Syllabus Outcomes: ST3-6PW, SC4-12ES
General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking
Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability
Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – Discuss the IPCC report with students, lead students through explicit teaching about various methods of energy generation, and support students in independent research and independent creative work
Resources required
- A device capable of presenting a video to the class
- Individual devices capable of accessing the internet – one per student (optional)
- Factsheet – Everything you need to know about energy
- Powerpoint – Everything you need to know about energy and the climate
- Whiteboard
Skills
This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:
- Communication
- Critical thinking
- Digital literacy
- Global citizenship
Additional info
Cool would like to thank the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation and The Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation for generously supporting the development of these lessons.
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