Energy in the Balance
Adapted from The NEED Project

Preparation
Make enough copies of the five Energy Source Rating Sheets so that each group of three students has a complete set. Make one transparency of each rating sheet on which to record a class summary of the group results.

Procedure
Divide your class into groups of three students. Provide one set of rating sheets to each group. For younger students, you may want to complete the first rating sheet with the students as a class.

Explain to the students that they will be working in groups to complete rating sheets about the ten major sources of energy used in the United States. They will complete the rating sheets by reading each statement and deciding as a group if it is:

• Fact: If the statement isn't a good or a bad thing about the source, then it's a fact. For Example: We're going on a field trip today.
• Advantage: If the statement is a good thing about the energy source, then it's an advantage. For example: We'll have cake and ice cream on the field trip.
• Disadvantage: If the statement is a bad thing about the energy source, then it's a disadvantage. For example: The bus for the field trip is late.

Tell the students to disregard the Rating column as they complete the forms. They will complete this column later, after they have read all of the rating sheets.

• Disagreements: If the students in the group cannot agree on a statement after a brief discussion, they should note that on the sheet and move on to the next statement.
• Finish: Have the groups write their names on the back of the rating sheets, collect them, and explain that the students will work in the same groups the next day.

Have the students return to their groups. Explain that they will begin deciding how important the advantages and disadvantages are by rating them. The groups will complete the rating sheets one at a time, then compile a class average, before moving on to the next rating sheet. Give the students the following explanations:

• Fact: If the group decided the statement is a fact, the rating for that statement is a zero. There is no rating (0) to a fact that is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage.
• Advantage/Disadvantage: If the group decided that the statement is an advantage or a disadvantage, they must decide the importance of the advantage or disadvantage-its rating.

Grade Levels: 4-6

Science SOLs: 4.8, 5.7, 6.3, 6.5, 6.11, PS.6, ES.7

Materials Needed:

• Rating sheets, sets of 5
• Transparencies (5)
• Pens and markers

Objectives:
This cooperative activity encourages students to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the major energy sources through a series of rating activities.

Vocabulary Words:
atom
advantage / disadvantage
biomass
carbon dioxide
coal
electricity
fission / fusion
geothermal energy
greenhouse gas
hydroelectric power
import / export
kinetic
mining
natural gas
nuclear energy
nucleus
petroleum
photovoltaic cell
potential
propane
reclamation
renewable / nonrenewable
reservoir
solar energy
uranium
wind energy