The Great Energy Debate

Let's kick off this unit with a SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT!

There are soooo many windmills around Tarifa, Spain. This town is the southernmost point of continental Europe, and is an especially windy corridor at the Strait of Gibraltar. The turbines produce a sunstantial amount of renewable energy (wind power accounts for about 25% of Spain's electricity generation), creates jobs in the region, and generates income for landowners who lease their land for windmills. On the other hand, the Strait of Gibraltar is a major migration point for migratory birds and the spinning blades can injure and kill birds. Additionally, windmill blades are made from composite materials, making it costly and complex to recycle them after replacement. Most windmill blades, then, end up in landfills which is counter to the goals of sustainable energy production. Do the positive externalities outweigh the negative? Are alternative energy choices any better or worse? Let's debate.

Next: Energy Calculations & Conservation

Laughing Gullville is getting better, but needs more help.

The efforts to improve the problems in Laughing Gullville have been making an impact. The population of the city has been growing and there is a need for more electricity generation. For the last 86 years, Laughing Gullville has been supplied energy by a coal power plant. Teams consisting of experts in their own area of energy production will be presenting the merits of their energy resource to the Gullville Community Board to win the contract to develop a new power plant, in a melee debate. The site for the new power plant has already been selected and identified as suitable for any and all of the energy resources attending the board presentation.

Summative Criteria

Students will be able to list and identify the economic and environmental advantages and disadvantages of the major energy sources.

The two benchmarks that will be evaluated are ENG Energy conversions underlie all ecological processes and SEP7 Constructing Arguments using Evidence. Seventy-five percent of your summative score will come from your participation in the debate, and 25% of the score will come from a written reflection after the debate. There is no resubmission opportunity for this summative.

Students absent either or both of the two days that are used for preparing for and engaging in the debate will not have this summative included in their body of assessed works in the semester.

01 Summative: The Great Energy Debate

Summative Timeline

Day 1

Introduce the debate process, expectations, assessment
Evaluate the statements as facts, advantages or disadvantages

Day 2

Debate
Complete two brief written reflection

Students who are absent from either day will not have this summative included in their assessed benchmarks. There is no resubmission opportunity for this summative.

3.S1 Great Energy Debate Infocards

Debate Infocards

Evaluate all the statements in this document as facts, advantages or disadvantages. You will do this regardless if you are defending that energy resource or not; these are your notes for the S1 and APES Exams.

You will be using this document during your debate to establish your primary (dis)advantage in your argument.

Rubric

During a turn where an energy source is presented by a team, each member will engage in their own mini-debate around one primary (dis)advantage using CER. After finishing this argument, the second team member will begin their own mini-debate around one primary (dis)advantage using CER. The two arguments do not need to be directed toward/against the same energy resource.

At the end of the debate, recognize that all sources of energy have advantages and disadvantages. Individually, provide a written response to two of the following seven questions, in complete sentences. Use CER, claim-evidence-reasoning, to develop your response. Limit the length of each response to one paragraph, and highlight just one specific example from the debate and materials as your evidence. This will constitute 25% of the final grade. Neither the debate nor reflection are eligible for resubmission.

Why is there no clear “best” energy source in this debate?
If this debate continued indefinitely, do you think a winning energy source would eventually emerge? Why or why not?
Why do we continue using energy sources with negative environmental impacts?
What other considerations should influence our choice of energy sources beyond just environmental impact?
What role does technology play in making certain energy sources more viable? Give an example from the debate.
How might local or regional factors affect which energy sources are best suited for a community?
How might future energy demands change our reliance on certain resources, and what adjustments should we consider making now?

2020-21 Debate Performance, Notes

Ged 20-21 notes.pdf

2021-22 Debate Performance, Notes

Ged 21-22 notes.pdf

2022-23 Debate Performance, Notes

Ged 22-23 notes.pdf

2023-24 Debate Performance, Notes

GED 23-24 notes

Interested in More? Check this out!

01a Energy Resources

Resource Deck

Within these slides, you may find a summary of the definitions, advantages and disadvantages of each energy resource. This material represents 10-15% of the APES exam. All the energy resources you should be familiar with include: fossil fuels, nuclear power, energy from biomass, hydroelectric power, geothermal energy, hydrogen fuel cell, and wind energy.

The Great Energy Debate

Laughing Gullville is getting better, but needs more help.

Summative Criteria

Summative Timeline

Day 1

Day 2

Debate Infocards

Rubric

2020-21 Debate Performance, Notes

2021-22 Debate Performance, Notes

2022-23 Debate Performance, Notes

2023-24 Debate Performance, Notes

Interested in More? Check this out!

Resource Deck

The End of Oil, Explained

FULL EPISODE | Vox + Netflix

Social instability around fossil fuels

Strait of Hormuz

Lebanon

EU, India

Cuba