2/27/15

Nice job with the debates today! This weekend's homework is to read "The Facts on Fracking" reread/read p. 309 through 312 in Botkin and Keller to become familiar with natural gas and how it is obtained/used.

Remember that tomorrow's AP review session will take place from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Museum School (17th Street and 8th Avenue). If you are asked about a permission slip, remember that you submitted one to me for the previous session, so I have yours.

2/26/15

Today's task is to evaluate the benefits and costs of drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. You have been assigned to either argue for or against exploratory drilling (and the subsequent drilling and pumping that would follow). Remember: in 11BD, the left sides of each table is arguing against drilling in the ANWR, while the right side of each table is arguing for it and in 12BD, the left sides of each table is arguing for drilling in the ANWR, while the right side of each table is arguing against it.

You will produce a 1 to 2 page debate brief that:

- clearly indicates your position
- argues in favor of your position
- contains textual and statistical evidence to support your arguments and position
- refers to sources of its evidence/statistics

This is a controversial topic that is regularly discussed by legislators so information abounds. To help you get started, check out...

Committee on Natural Resources
anwr.org
National Resources Defense Council

Our debate will take place tomorrow in class and you will be evaluated on:

- your completed debate brief
- the persuasiveness of your debating
- the strength of your arguments and evidence

Your debate brief will be collected and reviewed to help determine the depth of your knowledge.

Also, here is the PowerPoint from today's class.

2/25/15

Tonight's homework is to complete Assignment 51. Look over 15.2 and "A Closer Look - 15.1" (p. 306-309 and 312-314). Remember that the Home Electricity Audit is due on Thursday, 3/5. Last, the AP review session will be on Saturday from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm.

Interesting article - "4 months after the West Virginia chemical spill, 6 things to know" Al Jazeera

Interesting video clips - "Germany's Coal Addiction" NY Times. "Chemical spill shuts off water to 300K in West Virginia" CBS News

Assignment 51 Coal Usage Calculation and Comprehension Questions

Answer all of the following questions to the best of your ability. Write in complete sentences where appropriate and show your work.

1. A large, coal-fired electric power plant produces 12 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each day. Assume that an input of 10,000 BTU’s of heat is required to produce an output of 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity.

a. Showing all steps in your calculations, determine the number of

i. BTU’s of heat needed to generate the electricity produced by the power plant each day,

ii. pounds of coal consumed by the power plant each day, assuming that one pound of coal yields 5,000 BTU’s of heat,

iii. pounds of sulfur released by the power plant each day, assuming that the coal contains one percent sulfur by weight.

b. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standard for power plants such as this one is that no more than 1.2 pounds of sulfur be emitted per million BTU’s of heat generated. Using the results in part a. above, determine whether the power plant meets the EPA standard.

c. Describe two ways by which a fuel-burning electric power plant can reduce its sulfur emissions.

d. Other than mining and reclamation, describe two environmental impacts of using coal for energy.

e. Explain why per capita coal consumption in the United States is likely to increase.

2. Which of the following is a provision of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977?

A. All deep shaft mines must be filled in when they are shut down.

B. Strip mining is not allowed on public lands.

C. Mining companies must replant vegetation on land that was strip-mined.

D. Mining companies must replant vegetation on land that was deep-mined.

E. Mining companies must clean up the water supply on land that was strip-mined.

3. Which form of coal has the highest sulfur content?

A. Peat                                                                         D. Anthracite

B. Lignite                                                                    E. Sub-bituminous coal

C. Bituminous coal

4. Which of the following has the largest proven coal reserves?

A. South America                                                       D. Indonesia

B. The United States                                                   E. Africa

C. Australia

5. Which of the following forms of coal burns the hottest?

A. Peat                                                                         D. Anthracite

B. Lignite                                                                    E. Sub-bituminous coal

C. Bituminous coal

6. How does today’s lesson relate to sustainability?

Home Electricity Audit Part 2 Extra Credit Resources

NYS energy consumption breakdown by source - for the Extra Credit questions 1 and 2

2/24/15

Tonight's homework is to complete/revise Assignment 50 and begin working on Part 2 of the Home Electricity Audit - due on Thursday, March 5th. There will be a brief math check-in at the beginning of class tomorrow.

Home Electricity Audit – Part 2

Answer each of the following questions to the best of your ability on a separate piece of paper in complete sentences. SHOW YOUR WORK (especially since there are multiple ways to calculate some of the answers). You can use a calculator to complete these exercises. Your completed product is due on Thursday, March 5^th.

Conversion Factors

                                                1 kWh = 3.41 x 10³ BTU

                                                1 pound bituminous coal = 12,000 BTU

                                                1 barrel oil = 5.6 x 10⁶ BTU

                                                1 ft³ natural gas = 1,030 BTU

                                                1 g Uranium 235 = 4.0 x 10⁷ BTU

1. Based on your measurements, how much electricity do you consume in a year? NOTE: Based on the information you have, there are multiple ways to answer this question).

2. Suppose the electricity in your region was supplied entirely by the burning of natural gas.

a. How many cubic feet of natural gas is needed to support your energy usage?

b. 1,000 ft³ of natural gas contains about 20.2 kg of methane and when burned completely produce 122 lb of carbon dioxide. How much methane would you consume in one year, and how many pounds of carbon dioxide would you produce?

3. Suppose only coal were used in the generators instead of natural gas.

a. How much coal would be burned to provide your energy?

b. When coal is burned, about 2.3 lb of CO₂ is produced for every kilowatt-hour of electrical energy consumed. How much carbon dioxide would be produced by your yearly electricity use?

4. Suppose the electrical power was produced by nuclear power. How much uranium would be needed for your yearly consumption?

Extra Credit 1 – In reality, your electricity comes from a variety of resources, both renewable and nonrenewable. Using data accessed through the class website, more accurately recalculate your values for answer 2-4.

5. Calculate comparative costs for the fuels used to produce your electricity.

a. The cost for uranium oxide (U3O8), the primary nuclear reactor fuel, is $35.50 per pound or about $0.078 per gram. What would be the cost of the uranium to generate your electricity?

b. On average, coal costs about $45.36 per ton. Calculate the cost of the coal needed to produce your yearly electricity.

c. The cost of natural gas for electric utilities, on the average, is about $10.33 per 1,000 cubic feet. How much would it cost to generate your electricity solely natural gas?

d. Con Edison (your electricity supplier) charges about $0.102 per kilowatt-hour of electricity, however consumers can opt to purchase electricity from Green Mountain Energy, which produces electricity via wind turbines for $0.121 per kilowatt-hour. Calculate what your yearly electricity bill with each billing option would be based on your yearly consumption.

Extra Credit 2 – In reality, your electricity comes from a variety of resources, both renewable and nonrenewable. Using data accessed through the class website, more accurately recalculate your values for answer 5a-c.

6. Based on what your have calculated and determined, where do you think your electricity should come from? Support your answer by discussing both economics and environmental impacts such as the method of obtaining or usage of the fuel.

7. Describe and discuss five methods for reducing your electricity consumption.

Extra Credit 3 – For at least two of those methods, calculate by how much this method would reduce your electricity consumption and your electric bill.

Energy Consumption Audit Rubric

	Mastery – 4	Proficient – 3	Satisfactory – 2	Needs Revision – 1
Claim about energy usage (Skill)	States clear, nuanced, well-reasoned claim regarding where/how your electricity should be generated	States clear, well-reasoned claim	States a logical, but vague claim	States an illogical or indefensible position
Support of claim (Skill)	Thoroughly supports claim(s) with several detailed, convincing, specific reasons/pieces of evidence as well as refuted counterclaims	Thoroughly supports claim(s) with multiple detailed, specific reasons/pieces of evidence as well as attempts at forming counterclaims/ refutations of them	Supports claim(s) with multiple detailed, convincing specific reason/piece of evidence	Supports claim(s) with reasons/ evidence that are not convincing due to lack of detail, specificity, or clarity OR not having enough pieces of evidence to support each claim
Mathematical fluency (Skill)	Very consistently completes mathematical problems correctly (no more than 2 total errors with no major errors).	Consistently completes mathematical problems correctly (3 or 4 total errors and up to one major error).	Sufficiently completes mathematical problems correctly (5 or more total errors or more than one major error).	Does not sufficiently completes mathematical problems correctly (5 or more total errors and/or more than two major errors).
Demonstrates knowledge of class material (Content)	Very consistently demonstrates deep knowledge of related material by correctly using vocabulary and explaining examples clearly.	Consistently demonstrates knowledge of related material by correctly using vocabulary and explaining examples.	Demonstrates knowledge of related material by using vocabulary and explaining examples, but with some errors.	Does not demonstrate sufficient knowledge of class material through errors or lack of usage/ explanation.
Writing conventions (Work Habits)	Writes elegantly and in a sophisticated manner while very consistently adhering to spelling and grammar conventions. Shows work and answers for mathematical problems clearly and neatly.	Very consistently adheres to spelling and grammar conventions. Shows work and answers for mathematical problems clearly and neatly.	Consistently adheres to spelling and grammar conventions. Shows work and answers for mathematical problems but work is unclear or vague at times.	Mostly adheres to spelling and grammar conventions. Shows work inconsistently for mathematical problems.

2/23/15

Tonight's homework is to complete Assignment 50. To support you in this, you can check out 14.2 and 14.3 from Botkin and Keller from background information about energy and here (paper) or here (video) for help with math/unit conversions.

Here is the link to today's Powerpoint.

Energy Basics and Conversion Practice Questions

Answer all of the following questions to the best of your ability. SHOW YOUR WORK and write in complete sentences. You are going to need looseleaf. Do not try to be that kid that scrunches their lame answer in between questions and does not show work. Please and thank you.

1. A 100 Watt incandescent light bulb uses 100 J/sec of electrical energy. If it is 20% efficient, then the bulb converts 20% of the electrical energy into light and 80% is wasted by being transformed into heat (light bulbs are hot).

a. How does this demonstrate the 1^st and/or 2^nd Law of Thermodynamics?

b. How much energy (in joules) does the light bulb consume in a week?

c. Convert your answer to 1b. to kilowatt-hours (kWh).

2. Wes wants to help his mom save money by not vacuuming the house daily. He suggests that the house only needs to be vacuumed once a month. If their vacuum cleaner uses 1500 watts and it takes one hour to vacuum the house, how much can Wes save a year if his mom accepts his plan? Assume 1 kWh costs $0.10.

3. The environmental impact of washing a load of dirty dishes in an electric dishwasher differs from that of washing them by hand in a sink. Use the information and data below to answer the questions that follow. Show your calculations.

Assume the following:

·         The dishes all fit in one load.

·         The water coming into the water heater for the sink and into the water heater in the dishwasher is at 50°F.

·         The water heaters for the sink and the dishwasher are both 100 percent efficient.

·         In one complete cycle, the electric dishwasher uses 10 gallons of water heated to 140°F and the dishwasher also uses 0.500 kilowatt-hour of electrical energy for its mechanical operation.

·         Washing the dishes by hand requires 20 gallons of water heated to 110°F.

Other Information:

1 gallon of water = 8 pounds of water

1 BTU = the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water by 1°F

1 kilowatt-hour = 3,400 BTU

a. Calculate the total energy (in BTU’s) used to heat the water and run the electric dishwasher to wash a load of dishes.

b. Calculate the energy (in BTU’s) used to heat the water for washing the load of dishes by hand.

c. Discuss the economic and environmental costs and benefits of

            1. using the electric dishwasher (including its manufacture and disposal)

            2. washing the dishes by hand

4. Answer the questions below regarding the heating of a house in Minnesota. Assume the following.

• The house has 2,000 square feet of living space.

• 80,000 BTUs of heat per square foot are required to heat the house for the winter.

• Natural gas is available at a cost of $5.00 per thousand cubic feet.

• One cubic foot of natural gas supplies 1,000 BTUs of heat energy.

• The furnace in the house is 80 percent efficient.

Calculate the following, showing all the steps of your calculations, including units.

a. The number of cubic feet of natural gas required to heat the house for one winter

b. The cost of heating the house for one winter

5. How does today’s discussion of energy relate to sustainability?

2/12/15

Your homework for tonight (and thus, the midwinter break) is to read and take notes on Chapters 15 and 16 of Botkin and Keller and complete Home Electricity Audit.

Mining Powerpoint from class today

30 Days - Season 3: Episode 1 (part 2 and part 3)

Average Attendance: 11BD = 91%    12BD = 89%

Sign-Up for AP Review Session #2

Manhattan – N.Y.C. Museum School February 28, 2015 - 9:00am to 3:00pm

2/10/15 and 2/11/15

Welcome back! Your homework (all due Thursday) is the following:

1. Review and revise the midterm (up to 20 multiple choice and 5 free response questions). Record your revisions on a separate piece of paper.
2. Read 12.1 (p. 236 to 248) in Botkin and Keller. Add to your notes.
3. Complete Assignments 49A and 49B. Read "Death of Pine Tree" by Henry David Thoreau in order to answer the last few questions.
3.5. Prepare for Thursday's small Check-In about forestry.

Assignment 49A

Thinking and reflecting about forests

¨Why are forests important?

¨How are forests related to sustainability and the Tragedy of the Commons?

¨How can forests be managed more sustainably?

Useful Resources
WWF - Deforestation and Climate Change

Interesting Resources
National Geographic - Surrounded by Fire
Michael Green: Why we should build wooden skyscrapers
Richard Preston: The mysterious lives of giant lives

Spring Semester Attendance - 11BD = 96%, 12BD = 88%