New trends in physics teaching, v.4; The ... - unesdoc - Unesco

New Trends in Physics Teaching IV
C. Environmental effects of energy production, transport and consumption
(1) Effects of extraction
(2) Effects of transport and distribution
(3) Effects of consumption and discharge
D. Societal effects of energy production and consumption
(1) Economic effects
(a) Capital use, prices, employment
(2) Lifestyle and other domestic effects
(3) International Policy and National Security
E. Energy policy
(1) State, Local, Federal, etc. roles
(2) Costbenefit consideration
(3) Production stimulating strategies
(4) Conservation stimulating strategies
F. Energy futures
(1) Mid-term (1980-2000) options
(2) Long term (2000) options
(3) Social, economic, and environmental effects of future options
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It is intended to be taught in a spiral fashion. Children need an early introduction to the abstract
notion of energy. ‘E the Magnificent’ in the PEEC kindergarten packet, is a puppet who can
change form from light to heat to motion. ‘E’ represents potential energy when he or she is resting
and kinetic energy when active.
The energy basics are returned to at higher grade levels with more sophistication. The technologies
for converting energy from one form to another are introduced and energy is presented
as something that flows through systems. It drives biological cycles and in analogous ways drives
our industrial society. The basics continue into the high school level where the two natural laws
of energy, the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics, are presented in the PEEC classroom
packet, The Natural Laws of Energy.
At the upper elementary or middle school level (students 10 to 14 years old), the viewpoint
is broadened beyond energy to include the effects of energy production, transportation and
consumption on the environment. Strip mining, oil spills, air pollution and acid rain are seen as
part of the E/E/E picture. And economics enter here. Energy is a commodity that is bought and
sold. It is something that can be invested in (the PEEC packet Energy as an Investment Choice).
The economic laws of supply and demand can be readily illustrated with oil for example (Energy
in the Global Marketplace).
Filling out the E/E/E picture then requires an understanding of laws, policies and political
strategies. The American legislative process can be taught with a PEEC packet called How a Bill
Becomes a Law to Conserve Energy which follows the 55 mile per hour national speed limit law
through Congress. The making of policy by the Executive Branch is shown in the PEEC packet,
US. Energy Policy; Which Direction? which presents the historical picture of how the 1977
National Energy Plan was established by the Carter Administration.
There are also packets for mathematics teachers (Mathematics in Energy, The Exponential
Energy Century, The Arithmetic of Energy Conservation) and for English classes (Critical
Thinking in Energy),
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