From Grid to Home

Marie Johnson, SERC - On the Cutting Edge Collection

In this classroom activity, students analyze regional energy usage data and their own energy bills to gain an understanding of individual consumption, regional uses, costs, and sources of energy.

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Notes from our reviewers

The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials.

Carefully analyze the worksheet to make sure it is appropriate for your students - modify as appropriate. The worksheet will likely need scaffolding for younger students and higher level questions for older students. Younger students may require pre-teaching to calculate the percentages of CO2 emission. This activity could be used as an introduction to the Lifestyle Project [http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/enviroprojects/lifestyle.html] (also part of the CLEAN collection).
Students use real data. Data is well referenced. Links are given to find and use additional data about the source of energy in the individual region. As this information will change over time, seek up-to-date data as needed. Comments from expert scientist: All of the sources are credible and provide up to date information. Because every student might not be able to bring their energy bill, it would be useful to use the teacher's bill, or have example bills from different regions.