Photo Attribution Wind Energy Institute of Canada, North Cape PEI Canada By NNECAPA

Unit 10: Resources and Environment Challenges

Big Idea:  Protecting the human interests of health, safety and resource management depends upon an understanding of natural hazards and human impact on Earth systems.
Learning Targets:

  • I can identify differences in the origin and use of renewable (e.g., solar, wind, water, biomass) and nonrenewable (e.g., fossil fuels, nuclear) sources of energy.
  • I can describe natural processes in which heat transfer in the Earth occurs by conduction, convection, and radiation.
  • I can identify the main sources of energy to the climate system.
  • I can explain how energy changes form through Earth systems.
  • I can explain how elements exist in different compounds and states as they move from one reservoir to another.
  • I can describe renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy for human consumption (electricity, fuels), compare their effects on the environment, and include overall costs and benefits.
  • I can explain how the impact of human activities on the environment (e.g., deforestation, air pollution, coral reef destruction) can be understood through the analysis of interactions between the four Earth systems.
  • I can explain ozone depletion in the stratosphere and methods to slow human activities to reduce ozone depletion.
  • I can describe the life cycle of a product, including the resources, production, packaging, transportation, disposal, and pollution.

Powering the Future: The Energy Planet 

Follows the search for a single, clean energy source that will eliminate society's need for fossil fuels. Dr. M. Sanjayan, lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy, looks at how the abundance of the planet's energy fuels every aspect of life on Earth. From wind, water, the sun, volcanoes, and hurricanes, to the smallest cells to the tallest trees, Earth has the natural energy to power the planet, but humans are not using it. What can humans learn from the creation of the natural world that will help create energy? The program examines promising technologies in the fields of synthetic biology and geoengineering.


Science Channel,  (2010). Powering the Future: The Energy Planet. [Full Video]. Available from http://www.discoveryeducation.com/

Powering the Future: The Green Revolution
Follows the search for a single, clean energy source that will eliminate society's need for fossil fuels. Dr. M. Sanjayan, lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy, explores the beginnings of a shift in energy use that will change the world. The program travels to Germany, Spain, and the western U.S. to meet pioneers in the field of renewable energy. These engineers, architects, and scientists hope that wind and solar power will produce the bulk of the world's electricity by mid-century.


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Powering the Future: The Green Revolution Science Channel, 2010. Full Video 
Discovery Education. Web. 11/5/2016. http://www.discoveryeducation.com.