Clean Energy Topic: Natural Resources
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Future Needs of the PNW Hydropower System
Students will evaluate the arguments for breaching the snake river dams, and the arguments against the breach. They will assess cost/benefit assessments, stakeholder positions, and possible solutions.
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How Can a Dam Affect a River?
This pair of activities explore aquatic food pyramids in the river and reservoir. Inviting students to explore the impact a reservoir makes on a river ecosystem, how that can be studied, and what causes the differences in species observed. This is a teacher recommended lesson by Foundation for Water & Energy Education (FWEE).
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Who Makes Decisions About Dams? Stakeholder Role Play
This lesson empowers students to explore the roles of the stakeholders who are at play. Through role-playing, students will learn about the varied opinions regarding the dam removal and will ultimately have to reach a compromise as a class after a mock public forum.
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Evaluating River Restoration Projects
This lesson will introduce the role of the Snake River dams and the impacts they have on the Chinook population. Students will examine the pros and cons of various scenarios that have been presented by research scientists.
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Ecological Interactions Between PNW Keystone Species
Students will examine the decline in chinook salmon and how the loss of this keystone species is impacting the South resident killer whale populations.
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Environmental Challenges to PNW Keystone Species
Students learn about the dwindling orca population, and the contributing factors. One of which is the decline of chinook salmon and how the loss of this keystone species is impacting the SRKW populations.
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Waste to Power
This unit guides students through exploring how humans harness the natural environment to create clean power from anaerobic digestion and its role in clean energy production. Additionally, they will explore solutions that benefit the environment, their communities, and all humanity.
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Introduction to Waste to Power and Digestion Lab 1
Students begin to build their understanding of how waste becomes power with the exploration of waste utilizing the phenomena infographic. Students learn about anaerobic digestion and hydrolysis. The class will perform part 1 of an experiment which will be finished in Lesson 9: What are the costs of our current use of power and waste?
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Designing a Sustainable City of the Future
The concept for this unit is to teach students about natural resources and renewable energy in the context of how these things impact people, communities, and the environment. They will study the actions of current and past environmental activists, learn to look critically at current energy systems, and possible solutions. The final outcome of the…
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Designing a City That Addresses Energy Needs
Students work collaboratively to design a sustainable city of the future with attention to water, energy, carbon footprint, waste, and city layout needs.
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How Does Human Use of Resources Impact the Environment?
Students learn about how human use of natural resources can impact the environment. Students create a fog catcher to make sense of the phenomenon. Students assess the impact of their actions on the environment through an ecological footprint/handprint activity.
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Natural Resources
This lesson introduces students to natural resources and creates a foundational understanding of how people use natural resources. Students will begin to understand the different forms of energy and how human activity and use of resources can impact the environment.