Brainstorming and Discussion

Here are some questions that could be asked in order to get the students thinking about what they know about electricity and how it is generated. I've included some examples that I've gotten from different classes, and some that I think are important to get the students' thinking going in the right direction.
 

1. What is electricity used for?
• students have suggested: TV, lights, computer, overhead, radio, microwave, appliances, fans, powertools, electric cars, clocks
• other ideas that I have added: life-support equipment, the Internet, traffic lights
• This question will get the students thinking about how electricity affects their daily lives and how important it is to modern living.

 
2. Why is electricity important to you?
• students have suggested: watching TV, reading at night, using computers, washing clothes, cooking food, transportation, hospitals
• other ideas I have added: source of heat, manufacturing
• This question will get the students to identify how electricity personally affects their daily lives. It is important to emphasize that electricity is involved in almost every aspect of our daily lives when discussing the students' answers.

 
3. Where does electricity come from?
• students have suggested: electrical outlets, power lines, lemon batteries, batteries, lightning, generators, power plants
• This question will get the students thinking about where electricity originates from and how it gets from a power plant to their homes.

 
4. What are some different kinds of power plants?
• students have suggested: nuclear, hydroelectric dams, coal, oil, gas, solar panels, wind turbines
• other ideas I have added: fossil fuels (clarify that coal/oil/gas are all fossil fuels), geothermal
• This question will get the students thinking about the different sources of energy used to produce electricity. It is important to point out what the source of energy is for each of the different power plants as the students volunteer their answers.

 
5. Do any of these types of power plants have problems with pollution or resource depletion? Which ones and what are the problems?
• nuclear power plants
• meltdown - radiation exposure
• radiation - can cause cancer in humans and animals
• uranium is non-renewable
• susceptible to terrorism
• radioactive waste can be used to make weapons

 
• fossil fuels
• fossil fuels are non-renewable
• air pollution from burning them
• water pollution from oil and gas spills
• ground pollution from pipeline breaks and underground tank leakage
• global warming from release of carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas

 
• hydroelectric
• blocks rivers
• hurts fish stocks that use the river for spawning
• floods land that could be used for other purposes

 
6. Can you think of any ways of generating electricity that don’t cause as much pollution or that don’t use up resources? What are they?
• wind
• good because wind is virtually unlimited
• doesn't work well in areas with infrequent wind or where wind is not very strong
• could be more useful if electricity could be stored for later use

 
• geothermal
• good because heat from molten rock or superheated water is very abundant
• can only be utilized in areas that have access to molten rock or superheated water in the ground

 
• hydroelectric
• good because almost unlimited source of energy, unless rain patterns change
• difficult to build new dams because they require a large area to be flooded and they change the water levels of the river, which might be used for irrigation, drinking water, or to support fish stocks

 
• solar
• good because sunlight is virtually unlimited
• doesn't work well if not exposed to direct sunlight and requires very large areas to be covered with solar panels in order to collect enough energy to power a city
• could be more useful if electricity could be stored until needed

 
• fuel cells
• good because they can be used to convert hydrogen to electricity with almost 100% efficiency
• good because water could be electrolized into hydrogen using solar or wind power in order to store the energy for later use
• unfortunately, they are not ready for mass production yet and it may be 10-15 years before they are