Provides technology educators with an overview of the electric utility industry and present and future developments in energy technology. Discusses the process of teaching about energy in technology education programs. (SK)

Recommends that simulation games be used to teach high school students in social studies courses about contemporary and controversial issues such as nuclear power. A simulation is described which involves students in deciding whether to build a nuclear power plant in the California desert. Teaching and debriefing tips are also provided. (DB)

Uses the teaching method of models or analogies, specifically the model called "Piekara's chair," to show how teaching classical mechanics can familiarize students with the notion of energy levels in atomic physics. (MDH)

The proceedings of the International Conference on Energy Alternatives and Risk Education contains papers which examine science teaching in relation to societal aspects of risk assessment. A challenge for the conference was to show how science education can help students learn the concepts of acceptable and unacceptable risks, leading to rational…

Some of the topics that might be included in a nuclear chemistry section are explored. Offers radioactivity, closed shells in nuclei, energy of nuclear processes, nuclear reactions, and fission and fusion as topics of interest. Provided are ideas and examples for each. (MVL)

Designed to test the effects of knowledge acquisition on attitude formation and change, this study investigated whether knowledge-oriented instruction would have a different effect on students' nuclear attitudes than attitude-oriented instruction. High school students (N=331) from six schools who had not studied nuclear energy in any class or…

Presented in this course guide are seven units of study focusing on: (1) animal identification; (2) environmental testing; (3) ecological concepts; (4) wildlife abuse, depletion, and extinction; (5) water pollution; (6) air pollution; and (7) nuclear energy and the environment. Each unit includes a general objective, followed by specific…

Describes two methods to teach radioactive decay to secondary students with wide ranging abilities. Activities are designed to follow classroom discussions of atomic structure, transmutation, half life, and nuclear decay. Includes "The Tasmanian Empire: A Radioactive Dating Activity" and an exercise to teach concepts of half life without…

Describes an exercise to develop interest and understanding about nuclear energy in which students make presentations regarding a proposal to build a hypothetical nuclear power plant. Students spend two weeks researching the topic; give testimony before a "Senate Energy Committee"; and vote on the proposal. Background information is…

This teacher's guide was designed to be used with senior high school level classes as a supplement to existing programs in the areas of science and social studies. Each of the 12 chapters included in the guide may be used independently or may be combined into a separate course on the relationships between science, technology, and society. The…