Unit Question: What does climate change have to do with power outages, and what can our community do to become more energy resilient?

Humans rely on electrical energy, but sometimes the power goes out. Students begin by exploring this phenomenon and wondering where electrical energy comes from and how it gets to our homes and schools. These questions motivate students’ exploration of how energy is produced and transmitted to homes, the effects of weather events and a warming climate on power transmission, and how communities can take action to ensure fair decisions around energy resilience.

Learning Goals:

1. Students will brainstorm initial explanations about why power outages are occurring and develop an initial explanatory model.
2. Students will investigate California’s power grid using hands-on materials and case studies.
3. Students will explore the effects of power outages on different communities and ways to adapt and mitigate the outages.
4. Students will use the class consensus final explanatory model to develop an action plan addressing one or more aspects of power outages in California.

Handouts

• Download Unit from Ten Strands for handouts, slides, and student work examples (free registration required)

Class Supplies

• 2 Clear 8-9oz plastic cups or jars
• 2 Thermometers
• Plastic wrap
• Butcher paper, chart paper, whiteboard, or digital equivalent
• (Optional) Sticky notes

Group Supplies (per pair or group)

• 1 LED light
• Coin battery (CR2032 or similar)
• 2 6×0.5in Strips of aluminum foil
• Tape
• Chart paper
• Markers
• Colored pencils
• (Optional) Stickers

Important Links

• Unit Summary
• Lesson origin at Ten Strands’ Seeds to Solutions
• PhET Circuit Construction Kit: DC
• YouTube Video: Cal Matters Electricity Grid Video
• Climate Change – NASA Science
• NASA Kids Greenhouse Gas Video
• NASA Climate Kids
• NASA Extreme Weather

Next Generation Science Standards

• NGSS 4-PS3-2: Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transformed from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electrical currents.
• NGSS 4-ESS3-1: Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and that their uses affect the environment.
• NGSS 4-ESS3-2: Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.