Energy and Climate Change Educator Guide

Climate Portal

The focus of this introductory activity is on energy/electricity sources and generation between 2001 and 2018. Students listen to a podcast about electricity generation and then are tasked to interpret graphs that coincide with the content of the podcast.

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Notes from our reviewers

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Teachers should read through the activity in its entirety to identify where the activity may fit in a curriculum. Listening to the podcast may be an out-of-class assignment. Visit the [link https://www.eia.gov/ 'US Energy Information Administration website'] website to access the most recent data.
This educator guide helps understand the distinction between energy and electricity to better evaluate energy-related climate solutions. This is a data driven podcast that allows students to interpret graphs of energy use and draw conclusions based on the data. Background materials are present and laid out in an easily digestible manner. The data is from Energy Information Administration (EIA), and additional references are from reputable sources. Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
This guide is really impactful because it includes a short podcast episode, an educator guide and teacher/student pages, including how to use podcasts in the classroom. The podcast and activity are simple, straightforward, interesting, and easy to use. The teaching guide lays out introduction questions, wrap up questions, and climate solutions. The general nature of this activity provides for flexibility in its implementation, but it lacks descriptions of how to support students with each of the five sections of the activity. Teachers will need to consider how best to provide this support. Because this is a podcast that students will be listening to, the difference in delivery of the material can be beneficial to students to get them to engage and might appeal to auditory learners. The activity is self contained, meaning that all the materials can be accessed from the website. Although students are analyzing "real" data, they may need support with the interpretation.