Energy Justice Lesson Plan

Our Climate Future, Action for the Climate Emergency

This resource utilizes an easy-to-use tool to discuss energy justice and household energy burdens. The lesson plan covers a variety of different topics that discus the complexity of energy use and socioeconomics. It is hands on while using the tool, yet also includes discussion based activities and several extensional activities that can engage students in different ways of learning.

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Notes from our reviewers

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The lesson provides limited background on the climate science, including a description of the greenhouse effect. Teachers may want to expand this either by teaching a lesson on the greenhouse effect prior to this lesson, or using this as an opportunity to extend the lesson. The lesson also includes very good ideas for extending the sense-making piece, and for providing more time to work with the LEAD tool. Encourage students to think about what energy burdens represent and caution them to think critically about how we use data and metrics to understand a problem (i.e., a percentage is not entirely useful if you don't have information about the raw whole numbers and if all parties pay the same raw amount for electricity but have a lower income, we would expect this burden percentage to be higher). Instead of focusing on the difference in energy burden as a percentage, encourage students to think deeper about how communities with differing energy burdens may behave differently (i.e., keep the heat off in winter, restrict air conditioning in summer) and how measuring "energy use" in KwH could differ from the metric of "energy burden". The educator may wish to encourage students to think about how energy costs are affected by population density and differing climates. The teacher's guide contains some bias about the harmfulness of energy sources and does not describe the nuances of energy sources or uses. For example, renewable energy sources may be a solution to rising greenhouse gasses, however, the materials used to create them carry risks to the people who work in the industry. Additionally, this tool only describes which energy sources are being used in households, and does not show the proximity of residential areas to energy sources such as fracking wells or oil refineries. Teachers may want to address these various nuanced aspects of energy use and the costs associated with each form of energy discussed.
This primarily student-led lesson encourages students to understand patterns of energy burdens across the US by using the Low Income Energy Affordability (LEAD) tool. The tool can be used to generate endless questions about why communities utilize certain energy types, what drives differences in energy burdens across counties, and how building age and type can effect energy choices and costs. The students collect evidence for claims, but this is not structured as a scientific investigation. There are explanations of how the science contributes to our understanding of climate phenomena. Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
This resource will appeal to students who work best with models and simulations. This resource is appropriately targeted to 4th grade students, as indicated by the standards, although that is not explicitly stated in the teacher guide. Assessment is integrated into the lesson through inquiry, but there is no final assessment other than collection of the worksheet as an artifact.