Students use graphs of historical data and research historical and societal events to determine and analyze energy trends in the United States over the past 50 years.

Energy Perspectives booklet and NEED’s Secondary Energy Infobook.

National Standards: 5-8

• INT-B: 3.a. Transfer of energy: Energy is a property of many substances and is associates with heat, light, electricity, mechanical motion, sound, nuclei, and the nature of a chemical.
• INT-B: 3.b. Energy is transferred in many ways.
• INT-B: 3.g. The sun is the major source of energy for changes on the earth’s surface. The sun loses energy by emitting light. A tiny fraction of that light reaches earth, transferring energy from the sun to the earth. The sun’s energy arrives as light with a range of wavelengths.
• INT-D: 3.b. The sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on the earth’s surface, such as growth of plants, winds, ocean currents, and the water cycle.
• INT-E: 2.c. Technological solutions are temporary and have side effects. Technologies cost, carry risks, and have benefits.

Science Content Standards: 9-12

• SEC-F: 3.a. Human populations use resources in the environment to maintain and improve their existence.
• SEC-F: 3.b. The earth does not have infinite resources; increasing human consumption places severe stress on the natural processes that renew some resources, and depletes those resources that cannot be renewed.
• SEC-F: 3.c. Humans use many natural systems as resources. Natural systems have the capacity to reuse waste but that capacity is limited. Natural systems can change to an extent that exceeds the limits of organisms to adapt naturally or humans to adapt technologically.