The shape of the lesson
By the end of the lesson, learners can
- Trace it to the source: Explore each resource and follow its energy back to where it began.
- Two kinds of resource: The dividing line is simple: does the resource refill as quickly as we draw on it?
- Renewable: replenished as fast as used; non-renewable: finite.
- From the Sun: most resources, except nuclear, geothermal and tidal.
- Trade-offs: reliability against environmental impact.
One picture every idea returns to
Energy resources are either non-renewable (fossil fuels and nuclear fuel, which run out) or renewable (replenished as fast as they are used). Most of our energy can be traced back to the Sun, with a few exceptions.
Forty-five minutes, phase by phase
| Time | Phase | What happens in the room | Grouping |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 min | Hook: predict | Open with the question in the title, Where our energy comes from.. Every kilowatt we use is drawn from somewhere: ancient sunlight locked in coal, the pull of the Moon on the seas, or heat rising from deep inside the Earth. | Whole class, then pairs |
| 5 to 17 min | Teach and check: Trace it to the source | Explore each resource and follow its energy back to where it began. Project tab 7 of the lab (Energy resources) and let a student drive it while the class predicts. | Whole class, then pairs |
| 17 to 30 min | Teach and check: Two kinds of resource | The dividing line is simple: does the resource refill as quickly as we draw on it? | Jigsaw |
| 30 to 36 min | Check | The four Stage 1 questions from the student lesson, answered on mini whiteboards or by show of fingers. Re-teach the one most get wrong. | Individual, then whole class |
| 36 to 43 min | Plenary | The exam-style questions from Stage 2, one at a time: thirty seconds alone, then a random call. The feedback lines in the key give the examiner's wording. | Individual, random call |
| 43 to 45 min | Exit and homework | Set the worksheet below (6 questions, 14 marks). Learners self-assess against the objectives before they leave. | Individual |
Protect the parts that carry the learning
The sequence carries about fifty minutes of material, so the lab is driven by one student while the class predicts rather than explored freely. Times are a guide.
Protected: the check at 30 minutes. It is the only individual read on whether the key idea landed, and it is not cut.
Cut first if the build overruns: the last check in Two kinds of resource, never the check or the plenary.
In a 60 minute block: run worksheet questions 1 to 3 in class as a Rally Coach set and model both the hardest worked example and its check live.
Jigsaw
Split the content into expert pieces. Expert groups master one piece each, then regroup so every home team has one expert per piece, and each expert teaches their piece to the team.
The full structure, with its variations and the other twelve, is on the cooperative-learning page.
What to head off, and how
| Trap learners fall into | Teaching move that pre-empts it |
|---|---|
| Most resources trace back to the Sun: it drives the weather (wind and waves), the water cycle (hydroelectric), and plant growth (biofuels and fossil fuels). | The clear exceptions are geothermal (heat from inside the Earth), tidal (mainly the Moon gravity) and nuclear (energy stored in the fuel). Learn those three exceptions and you can reason out the rest. |
Energy resources: worksheet
6 questions, 14 marks. Written in the style of the papers; no past paper question is reproduced.
State the difference between a renewable and a non-renewable energy resource.
Name three fossil fuels and state one environmental problem caused by burning them.
Name three energy resources whose energy does not originally come from the Sun.
Explain why solar and wind power are often described as unreliable, and name one renewable resource that is more reliable.
Explain how the energy stored in coal originally came from the Sun.
Compared with a fossil-fuel power station, give one advantage and one disadvantage of a nuclear power station.
Answer key and marking notes
- A renewable resource is replenished as fast as it is used, so it does not run out. ✓
- A non-renewable resource is finite and will eventually be used up. ✓
- Coal, oil and natural gas. ✓
- Burning them releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. ✓
- Nuclear (energy from the atomic nucleus). ✓
- Geothermal (heat from the Earth’s interior). ✓
- Tidal (the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun). ✓
- Solar power needs daylight and sunshine, so it gives nothing at night or in cloud. ✓
- Wind power needs the wind to be blowing, which varies, so neither supplies energy on demand. ✓
- A more reliable renewable is hydroelectric (or geothermal, or tidal). ✓
- Plants captured energy from sunlight by photosynthesis, storing it as chemical energy. ✓
- Over millions of years the buried, compressed plant remains became coal, keeping that stored energy. ✓
- Advantage: it produces no carbon dioxide (and gives a large, steady output). ✓
- Disadvantage: it produces radioactive waste that must be stored safely for a long time. ✓
1 multiple-choice questions on this lesson
From the topic question bank. Assign them in the app for a marked score in your gradebook, or run the topic as a class game.
Which energy resource does not ultimately get its energy from the Sun?
- Awind
- Bwaves
- Cgeothermal
- Dbiofuel
Quiz key
Geothermal energy comes from heat in the Earth's interior (largely from radioactive decay), not from the Sun. Wind, waves and biofuels all trace back to solar energy.
What to project
The student lesson embeds these tabs. Open them full screen on the projector; every slider has a drag handle on the stage.
Slides for this lesson
A projectable deck for every pack is on the way. Until then, present the student lesson full screen: its sections, figure and lab tabs follow the same order as the plan above.