Map and Activity
Lesson Plan - Electricity Resource Mapping Activity Overview
Developed by 2008-2009 TESSE Graduate Fellows from Penn State University (http://sites.psu.edu/drlauraguertin/)
Description
This group activity will ask students to develop relationships between US states’ various sources of electricity, and the location and availability of their corresponding resources.
Objective
- To familiarize students with interpreting various states’ electricity source data when provided as pie charts.
- To show students how they can apply this data spatially (mapping) to gain other useful information (location and availability of US resources)
- To emphasize to students how important coal is as an electricity resource
Skill sets
- Mapping
- Pattern recognition
- Graph interpretation
- Teamwork
Materials Needed
- Electricity Resources PowerPoint Pre- and Post- versions (optional)
- Blank US maps for every student
- Blank Transparency US Map (Outline the 7 geographic regions of the US with a black marker in advance to make it easier to distinguish among the groups)
- Electricity Resource Mapping Activity Worksheet
- Electricity Pie Charts
- US Coal Reserves Map
- US Hydroelectric Potential map
- US Natural Gas Pipelines Map
- US Oil & Gas Resources Map
- US Uranium Concentrations Map
- Transparency markers in four different colors: red, blue, yellow, green and purple
- Colored Pencils (or crayons) in four different colors: red, blue, yellow, green and purple
Files
| File Name | Type and Size |
|---|---|
| Electricity Resource Mapping Activity - Lesson Plan | MS Word - 42.5 KB |
| Electricity Resource Mapping Activity - Worksheet | MS Word - 54 KB |
| Electricity Resources Pre-Presentation | MS PowerPoint - 880 KB |
| Electricity Resources Presentation | MS PowerPoint - 42 MB |
| Electricity Resources Post-Presentation | MS PowerPoint - 91 MB |
| File Name | Preview / Type and Size |
|---|---|
| Historic Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Map |  PDF File - 56 MB |
| View image of a blank US Map (or link to download your own) |  JPG File - 72 KB |
| View image of US coal reserves |  JPG File - 85 KB |
| View image of US hydroelectric plants |  GIF File - 524 KB |
| View image of US natural gas pipelines |  GIF File - 58 KB |
| View image of US gas reserves |  JPG File - 43 KB |
| View image of Alaska |  PNG File - 632 KB |
| View image of Hawaii |  PNG File - 139 KB |
| View map of US nuclear sites |
| File Name | Type and Size |
|---|---|
| Compiled pie charts | PDF File - 600 KB |
| Electricity Source Data for States | MS Excel - 475 KB |
List of Resources
- American Coal Foundation (2010), US Coal Reserves Map
- Biewick, L.R.H. (2008), Areas of Historical Oil and Gas Exploration and Production in the United States
- Blakey, R. (2010), Western Interior Seaway from Late Cretaceous Period (75 Ma)
- Blank Labeled US Map (2010) and unlabeled map.
- Electricity Resource Data
- Interesting Energy Facts (2008), US Hydroelectric Potential map
- Energy Information Administration (2009), US Natural Gas Pipelines Map
- Idaho National Laboratory. 2004. Water Energy Resources of the United States.
- Mast et al. (1998), US Oil Gas Resources Map
- Uranium Concentrations (ppm eU)
