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Energy Conservation on Planet Earth

Provided by: MIT Climate Action Through Education

Lesson Plans

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Synopsis

In this lesson, students will learn about the chemical and physical factors that contribute to the trapping, reflecting, and storing of heat energy on Earth and to sea level rise.
Students will explore climate models, the Earth's energy budget, the thermal expansion of water, melting sea and land ice, and the albedo effect.
This lesson is recommended for grades 10-12.

Subjects: Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics

Authors: Gary Smith

Region: Global

Languages: English

Positives

The Albedo Demo is a great hands-on activity for students to understand the effects of albedo on the climate.
The student worksheet is broken up in a way that allows students to learn about the aspects of energy conservation in a step-by-step manner.

Prerequisites

Students should be comfortable with calculating the area of a circle and solving equations.
The answer key, Student Version With Solutions (pdf), is no longer available so teachers will need to create their own for the assignment.
Additionally, teachers will need to request access to the Albedo Demo (pdf).
The link for Global Impact may be broken.

Differentiation & Implementation

Teachers can have students work in groups, using strategic grouping and ensuring that each group has a student strong in reading comprehension and a student strong in solving equations.
Students can research the impacts of melting sea ice and sea level rise on animal habitats and coastal communities.
To learn more about albedo, students can check out the activity Demystifying the Greenhouse Effect and Albedo.

Scientist Notes

Teaching Tips

Standards

Resource Type and Format

All resources can be used for your educational purposes with proper attribution to the content provider.