Energy Lesson 3 : Generating Michigan's Electricity

WindWise Education is broken into 5 main conceptual areas. Each unit includes a variety of lesson plans, handouts, and support and background materials. While the lessons are not designed to be done in any particular order they do offer you some recommended pathways depending on your subject expertise and the time you want to spend teaching about wind energy. Retrieved July 21, 2016 from http://www.kidwind.org/#!windwise-1/ovnrg.

Annual Energy Outlook 2016, on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) website, is a yearly midterm forecast and analysis of U.S. energy supply, demand, and prices through 2025. The projections are based on results from the EIA’s National Energy Modeling System. Retrieved July 27, 2016, from http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/.

Electric Utilities in Michigan, a page on the Michigan Public Service Commission’s website, contains contact information for investor-owned, cooperative, and municipal electric utilities operating in Michigan. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/mpsc/electric/address.htm.

The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book is the online version of the third edition (1995) of this popular publication, jointly produced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Environment Canada, which contains a wealth of information and graphics about the Great Lakes and their watersheds. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/atlas/index.html.

How Electricity Works is an article by Marshall Brain, founder of HowStuffWorks.com, that provides an overview of important energy concepts and terminology, how people use electricity, and links to more detailed information. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from http://science.howstuffworks.com/electricity.htm.

The U.S. Department of Energy has a section for educators. Retrieved October 21, 2010 from http://www.energy.gov/science-innovation/science-education.

Michigan Electric Utility Service Area Map, a page on the Michigan Public Service Commission’s website, identifies the service areas of utilities that deliver electricity to Michigan customers and has links to search features by city, township, or county. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/mpsc/electric/map.htm.

Poor Richard’s Energy Almanac, in the Energy Library section of the California Energy Commission’s Energy Quest website, puts an energy-savings spin on sayings from Benjamin Franklin and compares energy-related issues in his time to modern life. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/library/ben/index.html.

2014 Summary Statistics, a section of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration website, contains a series of tables with Michigan electric power generation and use trends in recent years (data may have been updated since the time of this writing). Retrieved October 21, 2010, from http://www.eia.gov/electricity/state/.

U.S. Electric Power Industry Infrastructure: Functions and Components is Chapter 3 of The Changing Structure of the Electric Power Industry 2000: An Update which is a publication on the U.S. Department of Energy’s

Energy Information Administration web site. It addresses generation, transmission, and regulatory issues. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/chg_stru_update/chapter3.html#trans.

How to Make a Generator is an experiment that is fairly easy to do and will help students understand how generators work. Students can move the magnet along the generator and see how much energy they can create. Retrieved September 13, 2016 from http://sciencewithkids.com/Experiments/Energy-Electricity-Experiments/how-to-makegenerator.html.

Creating a turbine is a great way to show how energy is created. The instructions provided are very easy to follow and show how turbines use resources like water or air to create energy. Retrieved September 13, 2016 from http://www.alliantenergykids.com/wcm/groups/wcm_internet/@int/@aekids/documents/document/mdaw/mdiy/~edisp/022820.pdf.

The U.S. Department of Energy uses a pizza box solar oven to show how much energy can be created from the sun. It is a great way to expose students to how energy is used in their lives and discusses other energy resources. Retrieved September 13, 2016 from http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/02/f20/PizzaBoxSolarOven.pdf.

Energy from Garbage is an experiment that helps to show students the potential of using biofuels in the production of gas. Beans are placed in different environments and left overtime to produce biogas. After the experiment, students should explain how this gas would be able to produce electricity and how that electricity would travel to their homes. Retrieved September 13, 2016 from http://www.need.org/Files/curriculum/sciencefair/EnergyFromGarbage.pdf.

This video from A2C Arts and Crafts shows how to make an easy generator at home. This video can be shown directly to the class instead of making a generator, or be used to make your own generator. Retrieved September 15, 2016 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osZ49tzKmks.

This informational video is a good way to explain electricity and the types of energy to students. This resource provides a good overview of the ideas covered in this lesson. Use this resource if students are struggling with the ideas in this lesson. Retrieved September 15, 2016 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATEWuk-prck.