SC15.ES.14 | ALEX

Science (2015) Grade(s): 09-12 - Environmental Science

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Systems and System Models

Students know:

National and global patterns of energy consumption and production.
State and federal regulations for mining and reclamation of mined land, and the environmental consequences of mining.
Factors that influence the value of a fuel.
The advantages and disadvantages of the following: fossil fuels, nuclear energy, and alternative energies.
The uses of mineral resources as well as how they are formed.
The components of a cost-benefit of ratio.
The basic economic principle of supply and demand.
When evaluating solutions, it is important to consider cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as cultural, social, and environmental impacts

Students are able to:

Evaluate the evidence for each design solutions, including societal needs for the energy or mineral resource, the cost of extracting or developing the energy reserve or mineral resource, the costs and benefits of the given design solutions, and the feasibility, costs, and benefits of recycling or reusing the mineral resource.
Use logical arguments, based on empirical evidence, evaluation of the design solutions, costs and benefits (both economical and environmental), and scientific ideas, to support one design over the other.

Students understand that:

All forms of energy production and other resource extraction have associated economic, social, environmental, and geopolitical costs and risks as well as benefits. New technologies and social regulations can change the balance of these factors.
Scientific knowledge indicates what can happen in natural systems - not what should happen. The latter involves ethics, values, and human decisions about the use of knowledge.
Modern civilization depends on major technological systems. These systems are continuously modified to increase benefits while decreasing costs and risks.
New technologies can have significant impacts on society and the environment, including some that were not anticipated.
Analysis of cost-benefit ratios is an essential component to making decisions regarding the use of technology.

mineral resources — ore mineral, metal, non-metal, subsurface mining, surface mining, placer deposit, smelting, subsidence, reclamation
hydrothermal solutions
solar evaporation
sustainability
fossil fuels
electric generator
petroleum
natural gas
fracking
oil reserves
nuclear energy
nuclear fusion
renewable energy
nonrenewable energy
active solar heating
biomass fuel
geothermal energy
energy efficiency
energy conservation
ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC)
fuel cell
hybrid
biodegradable
source reduction
compost
economics
gross national product
no till farming
land use planning